Newly Launched Asean Regional CERT Facility To Enhance Cybersecurity Collaboration

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz

SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) physical facility was launched here Wednesday that will significantly enhance information sharing among ASEAN member states regarding cyber threats and attacks, as well as online scams.

It was officiated by the ASEAN secretary-general Dr Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN ministers and senior officials, including Malaysia’s Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo and Singapore’s Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, at the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity (AMCC).

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The ASEAN Regional CERT facility will be co-located at the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (ASCCE) in Singapore.

Teo, who is also the minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, said the facility will serve as a dedicated space for in-person activities, such as cyber exercises, workshops, and CERT-CERT cyber capacity building programmes, to foster cohesive collaboration among ASEAN member states.

“With US$10 million pledged over 10 years in funding, the ASEAN Regional CERT represents a concrete step in ASEAN's efforts towards regional capacity building and sharing of best practices.

“The ASEAN Regional CERT will also support our efforts in developing partnerships with industry and academia, facilitate and conduct cyber exercises, and enhance timely information exchanges,” she said in her speech at the AMCC.

Teo said the ASEAN Regional CERT's activities will be governed by a task force led by ASEAN member states as overall coordinator, which will be rotated biennially.

Malaysia is the first coordinator of the ASEAN Regional CERT Taskforce. 

Meanwhile, Teo said the ASEAN Norms Implementation Checklist (NIC), led by Singapore and Malaysia, was completed in September this year that will support the collective efforts to build a safer and more secure cyberspace.

The NIC, the first regional checklist of its kind, will serve as a reference not just for AMS but for countries beyond the region.

It comprises a set of actions that all States can consider and follow to implement the United Nations (UN) norms of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace.

The actionable items for each norm are separated into five pillars: policy, operation, technical, legal, and diplomacy.

-- BERNAMA