NATO
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects NATO's Computer Incident Response Capacity to reach full operating capacity. [189682]
Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy: NATO's Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC's capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC's capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with (a) the NATO Secretary-General and (b) his NATO counterparts on bringing cyber-attacks against a member state under the Article 5 framework; and if he will make a statement. [189683]
Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy: The NATO Defence Ministerial on 26-27 February 2014 discussed a number of capability related issues including cyber defence. While cyber defence remains primarily a national responsibility, we want to improve NATO's ability to address cyber threats by focusing on the Alliance's ability to protect its own networks, share information and best practices, and conduct cyber defence training and exercises. Any decision to invoke article 5 of the Washington treaty is taken by NATO's North Atlantic Council.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy on the use of cloud computing by NATO is; and if he will make a statement. [189687]
Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy: Cloud computing by NATO is under active consideration by Allies. We will be careful to ensure that the technical, security and financial aspects are rigorously examined.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many NATO cyber exercises took place in each year from 2010; and how many such exercises are planned for 2014. [189696]
Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy: In 2010 there was one cyber exercise at NATO. In 2011 there were two exercises with a significant cyber dimension. In 2012 and 2013 there were five such exercises. There are seven NATO wide cyber exercises planned for 2014.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on improving NATO's cyber defence governance; and if he will make a statement. [189823]
Dr Murrison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy: We have made good progress on improving cyber defence governance in NATO. We have focused on NATO's ability to protect its own information to ensure the Alliance is better able to respond effectively across the phases of a crisis.