asked Her Majesty's Government:

In respect of the Northern Ireland Office, on how many occasions in the past year malicious programs have compromised departmental computer systems; for each occasion, how many machines were affected; how long it took to remove the programs from the system; and what the impact was on the department's activities. [HL2987]

It is not in the interest of the UK's national security for the Northern Ireland Office to confirm whether information is held about attacks on its IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the Northern Ireland Office is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the Northern Ireland Office's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.