Minister wanted to use his iPad in his Westminster office, but got frustrated – so he set up his own network

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, is so frustrated with the state of government IT that he has installed his own Wi-Fi network in his Westminster office.

Maude had the wireless network set up “so he can use his phone and iPad in his office”, according to a source close to the minister quoted by the Daily Telegraph’s Georgia Graham, who quotes a source as saying the Cabinet Office’s systems are “clunky” and “rubbish”.

Those "rubbish" systems cost about £7,000 per employee, and are designed with government security in mind.

But four of the six levels of security classification are to be depreciated in an effort to allow Cabinet Office staff to use more off-the-shelf hardware.

Only "secret" and "top secret" labels will remain unchanged, with 90% of documents reverting to “official” classification.

Security researcher Rik Ferguson describes Maude's “willingness to endanger the security of the parliamentary network, systems and data” as “incredible”.

“If he really has ‘installed his own Wi-Fi’ … then that network segment will not be configured, managed or audited by security experts in the House of Commons, rendering them blind to the the risks it represents,” Ferguson adds. “Actions like those of Mr Maude demonstrate, yet again, that it’s not only the bad guys you have to worry about.”

• The last government's IT overruns ended up costing £2bn