Daily Telegraph - 12/09/09

Security advisers have told the Commons authorities there is a potential threat from unscreened researchers and interns using the parliamentary network, which could give them access to sensitive information about MPs, peers and the Palace of Westminster itself.

Staff working in MPs' Westminster offices are required to undergo background checks by Special Branch and MI5. Staff based in MPs’ constituency offices are not vetted, but can still be given access to the parliamentary email system and intranet, which holds information about the parliamentary estate.

To close that loophole in security, all staff working in MPs' constituencies have now been told to submit themselves for screening.

All new constituency staff will also have to undergo vetting before getting access to the network.

The new screening requirement was set out in a private letter to MPs from Jill Pay, the Serjeant at Arms. The Daily Telegraph has seen a copy of the letter, which was sent last month.

Miss Pay wrote: "The security clearance of constituency staff is the most immediate and major change that we need to implement to help us strengthen our security regime."

The new checks follow an agreement by authorities in the Commons and House of Lords that “a programme should be established for the security clearance of Members’ existing constituency staff to increase network security.”

That agreement is understood to have followed advice from the police and Security Service about unvetted staff with access to the parliamentary information network.

All constituency staff were told to submit security vetting forms to the Commons authorities by the end of this week.

However, Miss Pay said that “spouses and partners” who work as constituency aides are exempt from the vetting process.

The security parliamentary computer system has already come under question this year.

In April, the entire network was temporarily shut down when it was infected with a computer virus known as conficker.

IT security experts said that incident showed that the parliamentary network did not have up-to-date protection against potential electronic attack, which could put users’ communications and data at risk of theft or exposure.