Vol. 558 No. 6
95 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance if all information electronically stored in his Department is adequately protected against hackers; if there have been breaches in this security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25276/02]
My Department has a stringent policy and set of procedures for protecting electronically stored information and has, for considerable time now, used various mechanisms to enforce this policy. Both the policy and mechanisms used are continuously monitored and updated as technologies change and improve. These mechanisms include very strong multi-tiered firewalling; mail and attachment sweeping and filtering systems; a three-tier anti-virus protection architecture that facilitates automatic quarantining and deletion of detected viruses; and access, authentication and security technologies. In addition, members of staff are required to remain vigilant at all times and are regularly reminded of the security procedures and practices in place.
Given the global nature of the Internet, dealing with hacking attempts and e-mail viruses is now a regular occurrence. Although some attempts have been made to disrupt business in my Department, these have been detected and have not been successful because of the policies and mechanisms employed.
