Cyber Security Week, a great success – Prof. Epasinghe

The Cyber Security Week (CSW) 2011 conducted in mid October and featuring many activities, some of them introduced for the first time, was a tremendous success according to Presidential Advisor and ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Chairman Prof. P. W. Epasinghe.

In a glowing tribute to the CSW 2011 organisers, Prof. Epasinghe said that Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Team | Coordination Centre (Sri Lanka CERT|CC) had conducted the week very well.

Set up in 2006 as a subsidiary of  ICTA, Sri Lanka CERT|CC is: ‘the single trusted source of advice about the latest threats and vulnerabilities affecting computer systems and networks.’

CSWs have been conducted every year from 2008, their various activities being: ‘expanded or contracted each year based on the perceived needs and lessons learned from previous years.’

This time the activities of CSW were carefully prepared to meet the needs of   today, which are determined by the growing enormity of the problems of cyber security.

The activities of CSW 2011 included a hacking challenge, cyber security quiz, CISSP per-examination briefing, the fourth annual National Conference on Cyber Security and workshops which achieved their intended purpose, the Prof. Epasinghe affirmed.

Welcoming the participants at the Annual National Conference on Cyber Security held in Colombo, ICTA Programme Director/Legal Advisor Jayantha Fernando explained the significance of CSW.

With the widespread use of ICT, ICT also provides a breeding ground for abusers. This is where the subject of cyber security becomes relevant. In spite of enactments such as the Computer Crimes Act No. 24 of 2007, ‘significant concerns have been raised about the availability of institutional measures to combat and prevent cyber crimes.’ Sri Lanka CERT, later graduated as the country’s Coordination Centre as well (|CC), has been recognised by the Government to play this role in coordination with the relevant sectors.

 Sri Lanka CERT (|CC) has been at the forefront of sharing expertise with the Government, the private sector and even the public and the Cyber Security Week (CSW) 2011 is one of such endeavour in this sharing of expertise.

Recalling the beginning of CSW in Sri Lanka and its aims, the ICTA Legal Advisor said: “The first CSW was held in 2008 with several key objectives, namely, building awareness of information security and update knowledge on key security areas that matter both locally and globally, commercially and personally; understanding emerging technologies and the security issues pertinent to those technologies; providing a meeting ground for like minded individuals with a special interest in information security to forge alliances, share knowledge and experience and build consensus on security issues of the day; and to test and reward the security capabilities of security enthusiasts in the country.

“All previous CSWs have stayed true to these objectives and helped increase awareness of information security. This is evidenced by the ever growing participation in CSW events,” Fernando affirmed.

All these contributed to make all concerned to think of information security as an integral part of life while they helped the security professionals to gauge their technical security capabilities.

“Those who participated in these events gained a valuable insight and thirst for improvement in their security skills. Hopefully they will return next year to measure their level of improvement,” Fernando stated with optimism. 

Underlining the uniqueness of CSW the ICTA Programme Director said: “Modelled on the US Cyber Security Month, the CSW programme is unique to Sri Lanka because there is no other event with a dedicated week long programme on Cyber Security. As such it will continue to serve as a focal point for information security.”

Among the eminent speakers and participants at the fourth Annual National Conference on Cyber Security were  its Chief Guest, ICTA Chairman Professor P.W. Epasinghe; Keynote Speaker, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura; Sri Lanka CERT Chairman,  Dr. R. B. Ekanayake;  Sri Lanka CERT COO Lal Dias;  Microsoft  US Greater Seattle Area Senior Programme  Manager Maarten Van Horenbeeck; Manager IT Risk Management Bank of Tokyo, Japan, Keisuke Kamata; Senior Security Consultant, System Software Group, Check Point Software Technologies, India and SAARC Pratik Raj Sharma; ASEAN and North Asia Security Engineering Director Henry Ong; K. Muniasamy (Symmantec); ISC2 Asia Pacific Managing Director Clayton Jones; Infoshield Group (Sri Lanka) Managing Director and Infoshield Consulting (Australia) Managing Director Wipul Jayawickrama ; MIEL eSecurity Pvt. Ltd. Director CISSP etc. Lead Instructor and Certified Trainer Avinash Kadam and Risk and Compliance India Chennai Area Security Risk and Compliance Professional Sujit Christy.