Events have transpired exactly as predicted on This Site:

Tory MP Nadine Dorries’ attempt to defend Damian Green over his alleged viewing of pornography on his parliamentary computer led to her rash admission that she routinely lets her staff use her credentials to log onto her own parliamentary computer – and that she often has to ask them to remind her what her password is.

This revelation sparked social media astonishment on the part of IT professionals.

It seems that the IT managers of Parliament’s Digital Service were equally appalled, as demonstrated by an email sent to all parliamentary personnel… The email drips with the exasperation of someone who works hard to achieve an objective only to see it all undone by idiocy, along with a tone of suppressed panic:

No matter how many technical systems we put in place, we also rely on you to help us to protect yourself, your office and the wider parliamentary community from cyber attack. Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility.

A strong password, known only to you, is an essential first- line defence . As the attack in June demonstrated, weak and shared passwords can put the entire parliamentary network at risk.

Parliament’s ICT Security Policy, which we all agree to comply with as a condition of using parliamentary digital services, clearly states:

“Passwords must be considered as confidential and must be used only by the originator (and so not shared with other users)”. If you share your password, or login as anyone other than yourself, you are in breach of this policy.

If you have been working in an insecure way by sharing your password with others, or by logging in to someone else’s account, we would like to help. In most scenarios, the solution is to provide colleagues with delegated access to your email and calendar via their own accounts. Contact the Support Desk on 020 7219 2001 to set this up. If your issues are more sensitive or more complex, please contact [email protected] , and someone will call or email you back.

Source: Exclusive: panicked email exposes massive parliamentary IT security flaw | The SKWAWKBOX

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