The Government’s transparency over the cyberattack prompted a dispute in the House of Assembly after the Opposition said it had not been given an opportunity to ask questions.

David Burt said he had briefed Jarion Richardson, the Opposition leader, last Monday, while Vance Campbell, who holds responsibility for the Department of Information and Digital Technologies, said technical officers had met the Opposition on Thursday.

During the motion to adjourn on Friday, Craig Cannonier, of the One Bermuda Alliance, said the Opposition had not been given an opportunity to ask questions about the attack on the floor of the House during the last two sittings.

Walter Roban, the home affairs minister, responded that he had updated MPs on the attack at the end of the September 22 sitting.

“No one could ask any questions,” Mr Cannonier said on Friday. “And then again, we didn’t get a statement today.”

Mr Campbell described the sequence of events from about 10pm on September 20, when the Government and people were “victims of a very serious cyberattack — the threat actors were highly skilful and sophisticated”.

IDT staff shut down the IT system in the morning after it was discovered to be “crippled”, Mr Campbell said.

Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General, who was Acting Premier at the time, called Cabinet and technical officers to a meeting that afternoon.

The Premier was off the island by that point, but Mr Campbell said even if he had been present, “there is nothing he could have done differently from what was done”.

“However, every day, multiple times between meetings, he was in contact with us, the Cabinet, the technical officers.

“Once the deputy leader was on the island, he took over as Acting Premier.”

Mr Campbell said information was shared as much as possible while Cabinet met daily, “sometimes two or three times”.

IDT staff were assisted by the private sector with “overseas experts, some of the leading professionals in this area” helping as they focused on “data recovery and containment and trying to get Government back up and running”.

Mr Campbell added: “The Opposition said they wanted to ask questions.

“There was a meeting between the Premier and the Opposition leader to provide them with updates on what was going on.”

He said that on Friday at 10am “we got all our technical staff in a room with the Opposition to share information and allow them to ask questions”.

The Premier, who spoke last before the House adjourned, highlighted the complaint that there had been no statement in the House where questions could be asked.

Mr Burt told MPs: “The truth is, they are not concerned about information but about playing politics.”

He said the Transport Control Department was back to providing driving licences while the E1 IT system was restored and being tested, and the government telephone system would be ready for today.

“The scale of this attack is like nothing the Government of Bermuda has experienced before.

“Yes, we had been attacked before. But, as we know with cyber actors, they get more and more and more advanced and they do not come through the front door.”

The Premier added: “We were attacked by external actors who sought to cripple us and our functionality.”