Source · Select Committees · National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted
The Government’s resilience assessments must take greater account of the worsening security environment over the...
Recommendation
The Government’s resilience assessments must take greater account of the worsening security environment over the next 5–10 years. The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review set out serious preparations for future crises. However, the Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms suggested that exploring the risks of a co-ordinated attack on subsea infrastructure was unhelpfully “apocalyptic”. We disagree. Focusing on fishing accidents and low-level sabotage is no longer good enough. The UK faces a strategic vulnerability in the event of hostilities. Publicly signalling tougher defensive preparations is vital, and may reduce the likelihood of adversaries mounting a sabotage effort in the first place. (Conclusion, Paragraph 37)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to strengthen security, with DSIT writing to operators to request emergency 'good enough' repair plans within 12 months and defining standards. They are also reviewing legislation and will explore similar exercises with European counterparts.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We agree with the Committee on the need to strengthen the security of UK cable landing stations, including target hardening to deter state- backed sabotage. The NPSA and NCSC have already carried out security assessments of certain landing stations and provided tailored advice to the owners and operators. However, we recognise that more is required to improve their security across the board. The Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will write to all UK landing station operators to emphasise the importance of robust security standards and request the development of emergency ‘good enough’ repair plans over the next 12 months. In doing so, we will define what constitutes a ‘good enough’ repair plan, providing guidance to industry on our expectations. We are currently reviewing UK legislation relating to subsea cable infrastructure and will determine whether further obligations need to be placed on landing station operators to ensure they produce such repair plans. DSIT will work with the NPSA and European counterparts to explore the possibility of conducting a similar exercise at key landing stations on the continent to ensure both ends of the cable are secured to equivalent high standards.