APCERT embarks on Cyber Attacks beyond Traditional Sources

[Press released on 18 Mar 2015] The Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) today has successfully completed its annual drill to test the response capability of leading Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) from the Asia Pacific economies.  For the fourth time, APCERT involved the participation of members from the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation - Computer Emergency Response Team (OIC-CERT) in this annual drill.

The theme of the APCERT Drill 2015 was “Cyber Attacks beyond Traditional Sources”.  The exercise reflects real incidents and problems that exist on the Internet.  The teams were tasked to handle a massive cyber attack campaign against a government, which leverages vulnerabilities in home router devices.

Throughout the exercise, the participating teams activated and tested their incident response handling arrangements.  This included the need to interact between CSIRT/CERT both locally and internationally, in order to dismantle and resolve the Denial of Service infrastructure involving compromised home devices. This incident response exercise, which was coordinated across many economies, reflects the strong collaboration amongst the economies and validates the enhanced communication protocols, technical capabilities and quality of incident responses that APCERT fosters in assuring Internet security and safety.

25 CSIRT teams from 19 economies (Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) of the APCERT participated in the drill. From the external parties, CSIRT teams from 3 economies (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) of the OIC-CERT participated.

Joining the drill’s Organizing Committee and Exercise Control Team, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) also participated in the drill. HKCERT Senior Consultant Leung Siu-Cheong said, “The drill scenario involved large scale attack by networked devices. The design aimed to address the need of CSIRT/CERT community group to better prepare for the arrival of security attacks associated with the growth of Internet of Things. The regional drill has demonstrated the importance of global coordination in combating large scale cyber attacks, enabling participating teams to revisit and fine tune their response procedure and analysis techniques.”

Fig. HKCERT joining the APCERT Drill 2015 

About APCERT

APCERT was established by leading and national Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) from the economies of the Asia Pacific region to improve cooperation, response and information sharing among CSIRTs in the region. APCERT Operational Members consist of 27 CSIRTs from 20 economies.  Further information about APCERT can be found at: www.apcert.org.

About OIC-CERT

OIC-CERT was established in January 2009, to provide a platform for member countries to explore and to develop collaborative initiatives and possible partnerships in matters pertaining to cyber security that shall strengthen their self reliant in the cyberspace. OIC-CERT consists of 33 CERTs, cyber security related agencies and professional from 20 economies.  Further information about OIC-CERT can be found at: www.oic-cert.org.