Agencies including NCSC and CDDO will examine the impact of the recent global incident, with the aim of informing how departments and ministers respond to similar issues in the future
Following the global Microsoft outage earlier this summer, government’s tech and cyber agencies will assess the impact, establish “lessons learned” from the incident, and work to improve the state’s response to future major service shutdowns.
On 19 July, a faulty update to software from security firm CrowdStrike caused millions of Windows machines around the globe to crash. UK public services were impacted, with the NHS announcing that the majority of GP surgeries suffered disruption, while several of the country’s largest train operators were also affected.
At the time, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that a number of his ministerial colleagues were “working with their sectors and respective industries on the issue, [and] I am in close contact with teams coordinating our response through the COBR response system”.
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Almost seven weeks on from this initial emergency, government intends to launch further review of the fallout of the outage, and how this can inform its response to similar incidents in the future. Several of government’s technology and cyber agencies will take part in this exercise, according to the recently appointed minister for AI and digital government, Feryal Clark.
“As we live in a world that is dependent on interconnected systems, it is essential to be prepared for global IT outages,” she said. “The government will work with the National Cyber Security Centre to review the lessons learned from the recent outage. The Central Digital and Data Office will work to implement any improvements to the existing response plans to cover technical and cyber resilience failures. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, announced in the King’s Speech, will also strengthen our defences and ensure that more digital services than ever before are protected.”
Clark’s role includes oversight of CDDO and its sister agency, the Government Digital Service, both of which were recently moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from their previous home of the Cabinet Office.
Her comments were made in answer to a written parliamentary question from fellow Labour MP Luke Charters.
