A spokesman for the Cabinet Office has told CW360 that the British
government's IT infrastructure is safe against terrorist
attack.
"All government installations have contingency planning that
includes IT systems and networks," the spokesman said. "Appropriate
back-up facilities are in place to ensure maximum resilience."
The Cabinet Office is developing a back-up site in an attempt to
improve security. "It will be implemented as soon as possible and
will be at another government site," the spokesman said. "In the
meantime, we have implemented a temporary second site that will
mirror the primary site in its full capacity and functionality.
This site will be used if and when it is needed."
The Government Gateway, which sits behind the main government
information site, UKonline, is the hub of electronic government
services. The multi-server system uses a variety of disk storage
subsystems and power supplies. However, a small fire in one of the
Gateway's data centres was enough to shut down the system last
week.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, has tightened security throughout
the country following the terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington, and UKonline will play an important role in supplying
security-related information.
"Ukonline is as a focal point for government information online. It
was always envisaged that this would be the case in an emergency.
The site will continue to provide government news and links to
official information on the crisis as well as emergency helpline
numbers," the Cabinet Office said.
The City of London police urged businesses to be more aware of the
threat posed by terrorism if they are to avoid financial ruin. Tim
Parsons, a police spokesman, , said: "We would reiterate to London
firms the importance of putting into action the recommendations we
made after 1993's Bishopsgate IRA bombing. You must have a business
continuity scheme, with plans such as rapid relocation and IT
back-up systems to get you working again as soon as possible.
"Individual firms and institutions must decide how much to invest
in areas such as disaster recovery and back-up systems, and this is
a commercial decision. One would hope that events in the US would
serve to illustrate the real cost of not having these plans in
place."