APCERT Conducts Cyber Drill on An Evolving Threat and Financial Fraud

[Press released on 18 Mar 2016] 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 fifth 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 2016 was “An Evolving Cyber Threat and Financial Fraud”. The exercise reflects real incidents and problems that exist on the Internet. The scenario for this year simulated a contemporary cyber threat with financial motivation that targets to defraud individual and financial institutions.

Throughout the exercise, the participating teams activated and tested their incident handling arrangements. This drill included the need to interact both locally and internationally, with CSIRTs/CERTs and victim organizations, for the 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 and validates the enhanced communication protocols, technical capabilities and quality of incident responses that APCERT fosters in assuring Internet security and safety.

26 CSIRT teams from 20 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, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) of the APCERT participated in the drill. From the external parties, CSIRT teams from 6 economies (Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan and Tunisia) of the OIC-CERT participated.

On top of being a member of 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, “Financial-motivated cyber threats are proliferating. In Hong Kong, enterprises and the public increasingly find themselves the targets of email scams and ransomware, while web servers of local schools and NGOs are being hacked to serve as hosts of these attacks. The regional drill has demonstrated the importance of global coordination in repelling these attacks, enabling participating teams to revisit and fine tune their response procedure and analysis techniques.”

HKCERT team participated in the APCERT regional cyber drill exercise.

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 28 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.