The Egyptian Computer Emergency Readiness Team (EG-CERT) co-organized the first Africa Cybersecurity Drill, on June 30- July 1, in collaboration with AfricaCERT and the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU), which operates under the auspices of Mauritius’ National Computer Board.
The event targeted national computer emergency readiness teams (CERTs), computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs), computer incident response teams (CIRTs), Internet exchange points (IXPs) and research and education networks (RENs) in Africa, The Organization of The Islamic Cooperation (OIC) CERTs/CSIRTs and Asia-Pacific CERTs/CSIRTs.
A steering committee comprising the National CSIRT of Benin Republic (BJCSIRT), EG-CERT, the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Center (KE-CIRT/CC), CERT-MU, the Tunisian Computer Emergency Response Team (tunCERT) and AfricaCERT, looked into the organization of the event. CERT-MU took the lead in such organization and chaired the steering committee meetings.
The event was organized online, free-of-charge. A number of 31 teams participated in the Drill, and 150 people attended it.
The main purpose of the event was to enhance the communication and incident response capabilities of the participating teams and ensure a continued collective effort in mitigating cyberthreats among the region's CERTs/CSIRTs.
The cybersecurity drill exercise was structured around various scenarios involving the most common types of cyberattacks, such as phishing attacks, website defacement, malware and ransomware. The scenarios were conducted by CERT-MU and EG-CERT.
EG-CERT was established in 2009 as part of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA). EG-CERT is charged with providing computer and information security incident response, support, defense and analysis against cyberattacks, and collaboration with governmental, financial entities and any other critical information infrastructure sectors. EG-CERT also provides early warning against malware spreading and massive cyberattacks against Egypt’s telecom infrastructure.
