David Burt said a joint select committee looking into September’s cyberattack on Government systems will be formed after the budget session.

The Premier was responding to questions in the House of Assembly from the Opposition Leader.

Jarion Richardson asked Mr Burt: “The house was made aware of the cyberattack on Government, and it was said to be an attack on the very heart of public service. To that end, could the Premier please update us on who conducted the attack on Bermuda?”

The Premier responded: ”The member knows that on this particular matter, the Government has committed to bringing forward a joint select committee. I am sure that Opposition members will be able to participate in that matter.

“With regards to the specific question about who launched the attack, those things are certainly matters related to National Security.”

He said the matters were under investigation supported by Britain’s National Crime Agency and others.

Mr Richardson pushed the Premier for a date on the formation of a committee and when an update would be provided to the House.

Mr Burt said he would ask Vance Campbell, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to provide an update “in the future”.

He added: “It was the intention that we would form the joint select committee following the budget session so that matters could be effectively dealt with not in concert, while we are dealing with budget matters.”

Asked which government services were not yet back online as a result of the cyberattack, the Premier added: “That is not something I can provide specifically.

“I know that there were particular issues this week that were occurring in some departments, particularly the airport. The reports that I have been able to witness was that they were due to updates that were made to Windows which deactivated certain things which some of these programs use. The vendors were called in to repair those items.

“It is not accurate to say or to infer that matters that we are currently experiencing are directly related to the particular cyberattack.

“IT issues do continue, they happen and this is the reason why the Government has increased its investment in IT infrastructure, and in the budget that we will present next week we will discuss further about what more work can be done in regards to investment in IT infrastructure for the Government of Bermuda.”

Mr Burt has stated repeatedly that many details regarding the attack, such as who was behind it, whether citizens’ private information was compromised or whether a ransom was paid, cannot be made public as the matter remains under investigation.