CyberUp mentioned as peers support Lord Clement-Jones’s CMA Amendment to CSR Bill

Peers renew cross-party calls for Computer Misuse Act reform during Cyber Security and Resilience Bill debate

Peers from across the House of Lords have renewed calls for reform of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, as an amendment seeking greater protections for legitimate cyber security activity was debated during Committee Stage of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

On Monday 7 September, Lord Clement-Jones moved Amendment 164, which would have required the Government to review within 12 months whether a statutory defence under Section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act should be introduced for people carrying out legitimate cyber security activity. The review would have specifically considered good-faith cyber security researchers, vulnerability testers and threat intelligence practitioners, as well as appropriate safeguards and approaches taken in other countries.

Introducing the amendment, Lord Clement-Jones highlighted the 36-year age of the Computer Misuse Act and argued that the legislation has failed to keep pace with the development of modern cyber security practice. He also cited evidence provided by the campaign on the chilling effect the current law can have on legitimate research, alongside CyberUp economic modelling showing that introducing greater legal protections could support 9,500 high-skilled jobs and generate £2.5 billion in additional UK revenue.

The amendment attracted significant support from across the House of Lords. Lord Vaizey of Didcot backed the case for reform and questioned why legislation governing such a critical part of the UK’s digital infrastructure had remained substantially unchanged for so long. Baroness Neville-Jones, a longstanding supporter of CMA reform, stressed the need to put researchers and those working to protect the UK in a safer legal position.

Baroness Harding of Winscombe described reform as “self-evidently sensible”, while Lord Tarassenko used Claude to highlight the widespread view within the cyber security community that the Act is outdated. Viscount Camrose also strongly supported the amendment, pointing to the important role played by penetration testing, bug bounty programmes and independent security researchers in identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

Amendment 164 was led by Lord Clement-Jones and sponsored by Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, Lord Holmes of Richmond and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, demonstrating support spanning Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Crossbench peers.

Responding for the Government, Baroness Lloyd of Effra confirmed that the Home Office has completed its review of the Computer Misuse Act and is proposing a defence under Section 1 for accredited cyber security researchers undertaking certain activities that would currently be unlawful. She confirmed that the Home Office has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre, law enforcement and the cyber security industry to develop the proposals, and said that “legislating in this area is a priority”.

The Minister pointed to the Government’s commitment in the King’s Speech to introduce a National Security Bill containing measures to update the Computer Misuse Act. She argued that a further review through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill would be unnecessarily narrow and duplicate work already undertaken by the Home Office. Lord Clement-Jones subsequently withdrew the amendment, while making clear the continued desire among peers for greater clarity on when the National Security Bill will be introduced.

The CyberUp Campaign welcomes the continued support from parliamentarians for meaningful reform of the Computer Misuse Act. With the Government now committed to introducing a statutory defence, it is vital that Ministers continue to hear from the cyber security community as the details are developed, so that the eventual legislation provides clear and workable protections for legitimate activity.

We are extremely grateful to Lord Clement-Jones and the amendment’s sponsors, Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, Lord Holmes of Richmond and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, as well as Lord Vaizey of Didcot, Baroness Neville-Jones, Baroness Harding of Winscombe, Lord Tarassenko and Viscount Camrose for continuing to keep CMA reform firmly on the parliamentary agenda.

Read the full House of Lords debate in Hansard

View the contributions here