Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Hybrid and Cyber-enabled Threats: Covid-19

Monday 21 September 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The MOD is developing protective measures to rebut, contest and respond to foreign hostile state activity against UK interests at home and abroad.
  • The Government takes disinformation incredibly seriously, focusing on disinformation laid by hostile states to subvert or undermine UK policy.
  • The Government works with the National Cyber Security Centre to ensure a fused approach in tackling hybrid and cyber-enabled threats.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Linden SNP
Defence Foreign Affairs
Context

The question follows concerns over the increased vulnerability of UK interests due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in relation to foreign hostile state activities.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the UK's ability to tackle (a) hybrid and (b) cyber-enabled threats in the context of the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Ben Wallace

The MOD is developing protective measures to rebut, contest and respond to foreign hostile state activity against UK interests at home and abroad. We continue to work with others in Her Majesty's Government, including the National Cyber Security Centre, to ensure a fused approach. We take the threat seriously, as demonstrated by the £1.9 billion of cyber spending announced alongside the national cyber security strategy.

Answered
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Q2 David Linden SNP
Context

Concerns over the potential impact of disinformation on vaccine uptake and public health outcomes if another wave of coronavirus occurs.

Question

A second wave of coronavirus could be accompanied by a second wave of covid-19 disinformation, which, if not properly dealt with, could lead to an impact on the uptake in vaccine and ultimately endanger life. What steps are the Government taking to improve the UK's preparedness against further disinformation and are they co-operating with online platforms to curb the distribution of this material in such circumstances?

Answer from Ben Wallace

The Government take disinformation incredibly seriously; that is to say that we focus on disinformation, not misinformation. Disinformation is deliberately laid, often by hostile states, to subvert us or undermine our policy. It is, however, a difficult subject to deal with given how it often uses its agents to deliver that into the mainstream, or indeed through the deep web and into the surface web. That is a challenge; it is not easy for either local government or national Government, and I am sure that the Scottish Government find that similarly challenging.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific measures and cooperation plans with online platforms were not detailed.

How: Focusing On The Difficulty Of Dealing With Disinformation

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