APCERT Cyber Drill 2019 "Catastrophic Silent Draining in Enterprise Network"

The Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) previously (31 Jul 2019) successfully completed its annual drill to test the response capabilities of leading Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT/CERTs) within the Asia Pacific economies.

The theme of this year’s APCERT Drill was "Catastrophic Silent Draining in Enterprise Network". This exercise reflected real incidents and issues that exist on the Internet. This year’s scenario was inspired by a latest security attack on an organisation, which related to the vulnerability that could allow attackers to completely take over vulnerable websites to deliver malware backdoor and cryptocurrency miners.

Throughout the exercise, the participating teams activated and tested their incident handling arrangements. This drill included the need for the teams to interact with 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, reflected 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.

26 CSIRTs from 20 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, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam) participated in the drill.

The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, as part of the organisation, also participated in annual exercise. The drill helped reinforce HKCERT’s partnership with other CISRTs/CERTs in the region, with the common goal to combat new threats and safeguard cyber securities within the region. HKCERT pledges to contribute its continuous efforts in strengthening its capabilities for a safe cyber space for all users at all levels.

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 30 CSIRTs from 21 economies. Further information about APCERT can be found at: www.apcert.org.