Patel pressed to explain Amazon cloud contracts

Home Secretary Priti Patel is being pressured to disclose whether the UK’s most sensitive national security secrets could be at risk after revelations that its spy agencies signed a cloud contract with Amazon Web Services.

The agreement, estimated by industry experts to be worth £500 million to £1 billion over the next decade, was signed this year. It will see GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 use a high-security system provided by the US-based firm, with Labour urging explanations on whether any risk assessment was undertaken before the deal was signed.

It is believed that other government departments such as the Ministry of Defence will also use the system during joint operations.

A letter from Shadow Security Secretary Conor McGinn poses a series of questions for the government, including: why Amazon was awarded the contract; whether the decision was discussed by the national security council; what the implications are of outsourcing data to a ‘non-British’ company; whether any assessment has been made as to the impact on the UK’s cyber resilience; what risks this brings; and what contingencies are in place should Amazon’s systems fail.