Question
Just a few weeks ago, I hosted an event in Parliament with ambassadors from Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Finland on this exact topic. There were two common themes in the plans they are implementing. One was building public trust, and hopefully what we are seeing today in the national conversation is part of that. The second was the need to engage with businesses—and, indeed, the benefits of doing so—to inform employees and potentially use them as a resource, and to say that they could be the targets of something like a cyber-attack but also part of the response. Will the Minister confirm that he will speak to those allies specifically about the importance of engaging businesses, and that that point will be considered?
Answer
My hon. Friend makes an important point about engaging businesses. We are certainly doing that. We are also working closely with our allies, including the countries to which he referred. Trust is important. The polling we have done shows that 84% of the public expect the Government to provide this information and only 13% of households think that they are properly prepared. It is important that we establish that honest conversation with the public to give them good, common-sense, practical advice that will make them more resilient in their own households. That is what we are doing.25% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (42/100)
The reply agrees that engaging businesses matters and says the Government is working with the allies the Member named, but it does not commit to raising business engagement, employee information, or business involvement in cyber-attack responses with those allies. It does say the Government is 'certainly doing' business engagement, but it names no concrete mechanism for doing so. Throughout, the answer stays general, so the person who asked would likely need to come back for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Minister confirm that he will speak to the allies from Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Finland specifically about the importance of engaging businesses on cyber resilience, including informing employees and using businesses as part of the response to cyber-attacks. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply agrees the business-engagement point is important and says the Government is working closely with the allies the Member named, but it never confirms that the Minister will raise business engagement, employee information, or business involvement in cyber-attack responses with those allies. |
| Will the Government consider the point about engaging businesses on cyber resilience, including informing employees and using businesses as part of the response to cyber-attacks. | Addressed | Hedged | The reply accepts the point and states that the Government is 'certainly doing that', which answers whether it will act on engaging businesses. However, it names no concrete business-facing mechanism, so the specificity is weak even though the coverage is complete. |