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86% of Westminster computers targeted by malware in last year

A Liberal Democrats MP has revealed that a good number of computers used by MPs at the Palace of Westminster have had their online security compromised and infected by malware in the last year.

Nick Harvey, a member of the House of Commons Commission, has stated that 86 per cent of the 4,991 computers in the premises have suffered a malware attack over this period.

However, 78 per cent of the infected machines were automatically cleaned by the anti-virus software installed by parliament, he added, while the attacks in eight per cent necessitated a visit by an engineer.
Mr Harvey was responding on Wednesday (May 13th) to a parliamentary question from Tim Loughton, who wanted to know how many computers in the complex had been exposed to online threats.

The online security of MPs has been put in the spotlight in the past by incidents such as the hacking of justice secretary Jack Straw's email account.

Several people in his address book were contacted by Nigerian crooks in an email claiming the MP was stuck in the country and needed money to travel back to the UK.

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