ICTA subsidiary Sri Lanka CERT marked at APCERT event

The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team Coordination Centre (SL CERT|CC) played an active role in celebrating the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team’s (APCERT) 10th anniversary recently. SL CERT |CC is a subsidiary of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA).

Set up in 2003 to enhance cooperation between the region’s CERTs; APCERT marked its 10th anniversary with the 10th APCERT Conference and Annual General Meeting from 24 to 28 March.

CERT Australia hosted a twin event at the Novotel Hotel in Brisbane, Australia. The two-pronged event was a great opportunity for cyber-security professionals to compare experiences and related issues and to share knowledge and expertise.

SL CERT|CC, the national body for cyber security in Sri Lanka and a full member of APCERT, has made a substantial contribution to the celebration, themed  “Then, Now and Beyond”. The self-evident theme afforded all the teams the opportunity to review the past and the present, and look to the future.

SL CERT has actively contributed to the success of several working groups for APCERT policy development and the development of a new operational framework. The purpose of this policy development and new operational framework development was to meet the new challenges facing the internet infrastructure in the region. SL CERT CEO Lal Dias served as the pro-tem Chairman in the election of a governing council for APCERT.

A public conference was also held soon after the Annual General Meeting where several eminent personalities from around the world addressed the well-attended confab with three panel discussions conducted as well. SL CERT Principal Information Security Engineer Rohana Palliyaguru chaired one of them and the topic was ‘Malware, Hacking and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT).’

In a major outcome of the celebration, it was agreed by the group of participating countries that they work together offering more cooperation in identifying and stalling cyber threats. Software usable in dealing with such situations was made available to the 30 or more participating CERTs.