Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

185. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the actions his Department is taking to strengthen against cyber attacks after the National Treasury Management Agency website was temporarily down for several hours after a suspected hacking attack; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6879/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Education and Skills is highly dependent on information and communications technology, for the conduct of its business and is cyber-security aware.

My Department has a number of security policies and safeguards in place to mitigate the threats and risks as far as possible. Policies and procedures cover a wide range of issues, including Internet access, e-mail usage, mobile device and remote access arrangements, password management and user authentication methods.  To this end my Department uses industry leading security products to filter e-mail and web traffic to automatically stop spam, viruses and other malware agents from infiltrating my Department’s computer networks.

My Department has a contract with an external IT security firm, to advise on system hardening procedures.  My Department also monitors communications regarding cyber security threats from the governmental Computer Security Incident Response Team, CSIRT-IE, in the National Cyber Security Centre, and undertakes the appropriate follow-up action.