Vol. 529 No. 1
747 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of occasions on which viruses occurred in incoming e-mails in his Department in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2542/01]
748 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of occasions on which hackers have attempted to breach his Department's e-mail security in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2557/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 747 and 748 together.
Several hundred messages, at a minimum, are routed through my Department's mail infrastructure everyday. A small percentage of these messages are infected with viruses. Specialist software is used to detect and quarantine suspect messages in order to reduce the risk of contamination to the Departments systems. It is not possible to quantify how many suspect messages are actually infected with viruses.
With regard to breaches of security by hackers on my Department's e-mail system, a security infrastructure consisting of hardware, software and policy procedures has been implemented and is subject to review by independent consultants. It is not possible to know the number of occasions of attempted hacking on the e-mail system.
