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Ministry of Defence: Cybercrime

Asked by James CartlidgeConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 6 September 2025UIN 70671

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 47 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the risk of cyber attacks on legacy systems currently in use by his Department.

Answered by Luke Pollard

After years of underfunding and hollowing out under the previous administration, we recognise there is a need to invest more to bring our systems up to date.

Defence routinely completes assessments of its digital systems. Understanding these risks is critical to Defence’s ability to defend against cyber-attacks.

Based on these assessments, Defence continually implements security improvements to mitigate risks, addressing known vulnerabilities and the expansion of our Detect & Respond capabilities to identify and block threats. The greater attention to the cyber and Electro Magnetic domain promised in the Strategic Defence Review will strengthen our ability to deliver our critical outputs.

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