On October 16th, 2024, the ASEAN Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) physical facility was launched. The initiative behind such a facility was taken by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enhance the security of information sharing among their members regarding possible threats or online scams. The launching ceremony took place in Singapore and was inaugurated by the general secretary of ASEAN, DR. Kao Kim Hourn along with other major officials. The newly launched ERT facility will be situated at the Singapore Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. The event was attended by ASEAN representatives, government officials and various members from the cybersecurity arenas.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967 to promote peace and enhance cultural understanding among Southeast Asian nations. The association also caters to the political and economic improvement of the ten nations under it. The ministers of ASEAN have already made great progress in improving the Regional cybersecurity cooperation. The ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (ASCCE) in Singapore and the ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Center (AJCCBC) in Thailand come under the initiatives to enhance cybersecurity. The newly launched CERT is also looking forward to moving at a fast pace to protect information and data-sharing movements from any external online threats or scams. The facility also aims to provide space for cyber exercises, and workshops, develop new strategies for cybersecurity, and facilitate CERT cyber capacity-building programs.
According to the reports stated by Teo, the minister in charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity stated that the new facility will be an essential space for the CERT cyber security building programs and facilitate information and coordination among the members of the ASEAN and other National CERTs. The ministers have also claimed that CERT will be collaborating with various international organizations to find effective approaches to foster and enhance cybersecurity cooperation. The initiative to launch such a physical facility to protect the association from the growing threat of online scams was only agreed upon by Singapore in February 2024. Singapore is one of the founding members of the ASEAN and has remained deeply committed to the betterment of the association thereby funding the physical facility. The CERT is developed to be operated for 10 years and the funding cost is around 10.1 million US dollars.
Among the Southeast Asian nations, Malaysia has been chosen as the coordinator for the first CERT Regional taskforce. The task force discussions took place in Singapore yesterday evening. The inner sources revealed that the meeting was conducted to have a discussion regarding the implementation of the eight functions of ASEAN Regional CERT.
The initiative behind the CERT can be considered as a part of the Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy for 2021-2025 (CCS) of ASEAN. This strategy focuses on enhancing readiness and trust in cybersecurity while strengthening and building regional capacity. The strategy was initially set out in 2017 and it has been the main goal of the CCS to establish an ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to achieve all the strategies. In 2022, the CCS once again established an ASEAN Cyber Coordinating Committee (Cyber-CCS) to enhance and strengthen the cross-sectoral coordination on cybersecurity.
The growing trends in the digital field have given birth to many potential cyber attacks causing huge problems to the security of various ventures and regions. The launching of CERT by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is developed to play a pivotal role in fostering cybersecurity cooperation and protecting it from any possible online scams or threats. The establishment of such a physical facility that protects a trusted ecosystem is all set to mark a milestone in the history of the association.
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