APCERT Cyber Drill 2021 "Supply Chain Attack Through Spear-Phishing - Beware of Working from Home -"

The Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) recently (25 August 2021) has successfully completed its annual drill to test the response capability of leading Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) within the Asia Pacific economies.

The theme of this year’s APCERT Drill is “Supply Chain Attack Through Spear-Phishing - Beware of Working from Home -.” This exercise reflects real incidents and issues that exist on the Internet. The participants handled a case of a supply chain attack triggered by spear phishing.

This drill included the need for the teams to interact locally and internationally, with CSIRTs/CERTs and targeted organisations, for coordinated suspension of malicious infrastructure, analysis of malicious code, as well as notification and assistance to affected entities. This incident response exercise, which was coordinated across many economies, reflects the collaboration amongst the economies in mitigating cyber threats and validates the enhanced communication protocols, technical capabilities and quality of incident responses that APCERT fosters in assuring Internet security and safety.

25 CSIRTs from 19 economies of APCERT (Australia, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and Vietnam) participated in the drill. From the external parties, CSIRTs from 2 economies (Kazakhstan and Tunisia) of OIC-CERT and AfricaCERT participated.

The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, as part of APCERT, actively participated in the annual drill exercise which served to reinforce its partnership with other CISRTs/CERTs in safeguarding regional cyber security and combating emerging threats in the region. Locally, HKCERT has dedicated itself to raising cyber security awareness of Hong Kong, offering timely warning and preventive advice on new technologies-related cyber threats and incident response, and organising security trainings for local enterprises and Internet users alike. HKCERT closely works with the government, different industries and security practitioners for threat intelligence sharing and collaboration. In November, it will organise the cyber security contest “Capture the Flag Challenge 2021” to foster young cyber security talent. Such efforts aim to help build Hong Kong into one of the most cyber secure cities in the world.

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 32 CSIRTs from 23 economies. Further information about APCERT can be found at: www.apcert.org/.