Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 10: To ask the Minister for Defence the preparations the Defence Forces have made for cyber warfare; the training that has been undertaken and resources allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24561/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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My colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, is devising a national cyber security policy aimed at protecting economic infrastructure and informing and assisting citizens in this regard. I understand his Department is also preparing an awareness campaign focused on cyber security and aimed at individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, the education sector, the public sector and business. The Defence Forces have provided assistance to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the national cyber security response.

In the context of the roles of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, considerable resources are invested in minimising the threat associated with cyber attacks and malicious security breaches, including investment in training. The Defence Forces take comprehensive security measures in deploying their information and communications systems, whether in Ireland or overseas. Details of measures taken are not publicised for security reasons. The European Commission published a proposal for a directive on attacks against information systems in September 2010 and the Department of Justice and Equality is closely engaged in the progress of that proposal.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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We have observed on previous occasions in this House that the criminal world is adept at exploiting new technologies for all the wrong reasons, which is something against which we must remain vigilant. In the United Kingdom, for example, we have seen a large number of critical websites taken down as a form of protest. Government websites containing private data relating to citizens are particularly vulnerable to such attacks. How many Defence Forces personnel are engaged in the area of information technology protection and security? Are there external consultants undertaking strategy work in this regard on behalf of the Defence Forces? Second, how much has been invested by the Defence Forces in their own information technology systems in order to ensure they are fully secure against any potential outage?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Two members of the Defence Forces and two members of An Garda Síochána with expertise in this area are part of a committee which is led by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. This is an issue I raised very soon after my ministerial appointment. As chairman of the Government task force on emergency planning, I have briefed the committee on issues relating to possible cyber attacks and related issues. The challenges for cyber defence fall into two areas, namely, prevention and the response to emergencies or incidents arising from cyber attacks or systems failures. Activity is taking place across several Departments and agencies in an effort to guard against systems failure.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is the central Department in dealing with this issue. We have already had cases of cyber attacks in this State, including an organised attack on the website of the Department of Justice and Equality in the context of an inordinately large numbers of individuals seeking simultaneously to access the site, resulting in problems which persisted for several hours. Counter action has been taken to address this and it is my understanding that a second subsequent attempt to disrupt the site proved unsuccessful. As I said, work in this area comes under the centralised remit of the Minister, Deputy Pat Rabbitte's, Department and the Government task force will be kept informed of progress in this regard. It is an issue in which I have a particular interest, even though the Department of Justice and Equality is not engaged centrally on the technical aspects of the work.