Technical drill boosts cybersecurity capacity in Arab region

ITU Regional Cybersecurity Centre trains 10 response teams in the largest cyber drill

Geneva, 24 October 2013 – The ITU Regional Cybersecurity Centre in Muscat, Oman conducted the second cyber drill for the Arab region from 22 to 24 October. National Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRT) from ten countries– Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Qatar, UAE, and Tunisia– participated in the cyber drill.

The regional forum kicked-off with a series of presentations on the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), Cybersecurity Landscape, Child Online Protection, Mobile Security, and Forensics Investigation. The workshops were conducted by the forum’s strategic partner, ABI Research, as well as Bitdefender, Nuix, and The Cyber Guardian as supporting partners.

Regional and international cooperation is a key element in mitigating cyberthreats. ITU and its cybersecurity executing arm, the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), organized the two-day drill to foster communications between national CIRTs in the region and enhance their readiness and capabilities to respond to cyber threats.

Called ALERT (Applied Learning for Emergency Response Teams), the drill focused on Incident Handling and Response, Malware Analysis, Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, Mining Data, Visualization, Forensics Investigation, and Mobile Malware.

“A proactive approach is needed to strengthen regional cybersecurity capabilities,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré. “This cyber drill for the Arab region was a timely response to recent developments in the region where the rise in Internet penetration is being compromised by spikes in cyber-attacks.”

“Wealth creation and political governance together with critical infrastructure are constantly being challenged by ever evolving threats in cyberspace,” Chairman of IMPACT Datuk Mohd Noor Amin said. “As the nation’s first line of defence against cyber threats, CIRT members must constantly acquire and update their knowledge and skills to be effective. This cyber drill succeeded in imparting a higher level of training and experience in incident handling.”

ITU-IMPACT brings together governments, academia, and industry experts to enhance the global community’s capabilities to deal with cyber threats. Together with 146 partner countries and 38 partners from the industry, academia, and international organizations, ITU-IMPACT forms the world’s largest cybersecuritycoalition. It seeks to strengthen global cybersecurity measures and helps nations develop worldwide strategies against cyber threats.