APNIC Senior Security Specialist Adli Wahid gave a keynote presentation on the essential component of a CERT at the 2023 NCIT, held in Suva, Fiji from 17 to 18 August 2023.

1. Essentials for a CERT :
How Far Are We?
Adli Wahid
adli@apnic.net
1

2. Let’s Connect!
Adli Wahid (LinkedIn)
2

3. CERT / CSIRT
• Certificate
• Computer Emergency Response Team
• Computer Security Incident Response Team
3

4. My Perspective
National CERT
2006 - 2012
Enterprise
CSIRT
2012 - 2014
Support for
new
CERT/CSIRTS
2014 – now
CERT
Community
(FIRST.org)
4

5. Where does it fit?
Identify Protect Detect Respond Recover
NIST Cyber Security Framework (v1)
5

6. Incidents
Everywhere!
Anticipate & Prepare
Incident Response Plan / Playbook
Mitigate & Share Lessons Learned 6

7. Entities & Capabilities
CERT with
National
Responsibilities
Enterprise
CERTs/CSIRTs
CERT of the
Last Resort
Ad-Hoc
Incident
Response
Check out www.first.org
Trusted Point of Contacts
7

8. Incident Response Process & Capabilities
8

9. Managing Things
9
• Managing Security Incidents
o Reduce Impact of Security Incidents
o Prevent Security Incident from Occurring
o Fixing actual vulnerabilities
o Gain insights about emerging threats or incidents (Information Security & Analysis
Centers, Threat Intel Feeds)
o Collaborate with other stakeholders (i.e. investigation, policy/strategy)
• Managing Security Incident Response Teams
o Establishing CSIRT
o Operationalizing CSIRT
o Having the right skill-sets, knowledge and tools
o Being part of the community
o Mentoring

10. Outcomes
Co-ordination
Reports with
Context
Information
Sharing
=
Collaboration
Actionable
Plans
Preparedness
Better Policies
/ Strategy
Education /
Awareness
(Targeted)
10

11. Don’t Phish Me!
• Online Banking
• Traditional Phishing (email ->
Web)
• Multiple Banks
• CERT receiving reports but
coordination is needed
• Money Mules!
• Outcomes – coordinated plan,
LEA engagement, Awareness for
Customers, Browser Plugin
Anti Phishing Working Group
(2007)
11

12. Key Ingredient – People
• Who is going to work in the team
• Role/Position = $$
• Training and capacity development
oGo deeper and wider
• Transitioning from non-security, non-secops
• Upskilling for tech folks – management
12
Sri Lanka CERT Cyber Security Awareness Week (2016)

13. Annual National Cyber Security
Exercise 2007 - XMAYA
National Cyber
Crisis
Management
Plan for Critical
Infrastructure
Process
Coordination /
Escalation
People /
Technology
Capabilities and
Communication
o National Security Council
o Support by Sector Lead of
Critical Infrastructure
o Drill Development &
Preparation by National
CERT
o Good view of policy vs
implementation
o Roles & Responsibilities
o Capacity Development –
Experience Incident
13

14. Challenges
• Different Set of Challenges for National vs Enterprise CERTs
• Getting started **
• Organisational – Mandate/Responsibility, Sustainability and Expansion
• Operational – visibility, resources, collaboration & coordination
14

15. Challenges - Continuity
• Continuity – change is expected
• Consistent policy, vision needed
• Positive = CERT expanding into a cyber security agency
• Negative = No funding for CERT, hostile takeovers
• Strengthening the Stakeholders
• User base and technology is dynamic
• Supporting the ecosystem – Resources, Training & Infrastructure
15

16. CERT/CSIRT in the Pacific Project
• Interest in setting up a National CERT (starting with CERT
Tonga) in 2016
• Kick Start – Series of Workshops
• Focus
o Establishing & Operationalizing a CERT in the context of the
Pacific
o Collaboration + Networking (with other partners PACSON,
APCERT & FIRST)
o On the job training
o Sharing ideas, success stories etc
• Created momentum in other areas of cyber security i.e.
education & awareness, support for LEAs and other
stakeholders
16

17. Where are we?
1. Do you have an incident response plan?
2. What are the top 5 threats last year or last month?
3. Where do cyber security incidents* get reported?
4. Is there an active information sharing network for security
practitioners or security teams?
5. Is there good visibility of what is happening in the environment?
6. Are organisations assessed to deal with data breach incidents or
ransomware? How is the coverage?
7. Are there any activities related to the coordination of incidents
within a specific economic sector or at the national level.
17

18. Cyber Security Ecosystem
Network
Operators
Law
Enforcement
Policy
Makers /
Gov
Researchers
Vendors
CERTS/ISACs
/CSIRTs
Individual
Users
Organizations
18

19. Take Aways
• Appreciation of Incident Response in the
Bigger Security Picture
• Cyber Resilience is not an option
• Continuous process
• Dedicated Teams & Capabilities
• Challenges – Getting Started, Expanding
and Maintaining
• Requires planning, resources and
persistence
• Our role – support & do something now
19

20. Thank you
Adli Wahid (LInkedIn)
adli@apnic.net
www.apnic.net
academy.apnic.net
20