Hackers to test U.K. lawmakers' systems

Hackers are to be employed to test the effectiveness of the IT security defences for the computer systems in the House of Commons, home of the British parliament. A three-year IT security contract is up for grabs to conduct internal and external penetration testing on routers, firewalls and critical servers using a range of independent vulnerability assessment techniques.

The winning contractor will be required to carry out the tests at least twice a year. The House of Commons is also looking to buy an intrusion prevention system--a combination of intrusion detection software and a firewall--to reduce the risk of denial-of-service attacks, virus outbreaks and Trojan horses.

Andy McCue of Silicon.com reported from London.