14 DAY TRIAL // After a number of delays, the United Kingdom has finally launched its first national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UK). The agency’s main goal is to enhance the country’s cyber resilience by working together with industry, academia and the government.
CERT-UK is the central contact point with national CERTs from other countries, and it has been tasked with coordinating the management of cyber security incidents. Furthermore, the agency will assist critical infrastructure companies in handling cyber security incidents, and it will promote situational awareness across industry, academia and the public sector.
Chris Gibson will lead CERT-UK, which is part of the UK’s National Cyber Security Programme. He was appointed director in November 2013. He previously held the position of director of e-crime at Citigroup.
“The launch of CERT-UK is a milestone in the development of the UK’s cyber security capabilities helping the UK to become more resilient,” Gibson said at the launch.
“CERT-UK will build on existing arrangements for supporting the critical national infrastructure, and incorporate the Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP) which was launched last year and has proved extremely effective as a means of collaborating between industry and government.”
It’s worth noting that CERT-UK is not directly responsible for protecting national infrastructure against cyber threats. However, the organization will closely work with the companies that handle critical infrastructure, and will provide them advice and guidance.
CERT-UK will work closely with GovCERT, which is responsible for the security of government networks, MoDCERT, which handles defense networks, and JANET, which is responsible for academia.
Present at the official inauguration of CERT-UK, Cabinet Office Minister responsible for Cyber Security, Francis Maude, noted, “This government’s most important task is to protect our security and ensure Britain is a safe place to work, live and do business. That’s why I’m delighted to launch the UK’s Cyber Emergency Response Team.”
Maude added, “We know government cannot do everything by itself. CERT-UK shows we want closer coordination between government, business and academia to share insight and advice, as well as better cooperation with our international partners.
“The job of protecting our security will never be done – it will always be a work in progress. But, from today, CERT-UK means we are better prepared, better informed, better connected and ultimately more resilient.”
Although CERT-UK was only officially launched on March 31, 2014, Gibson said that the team had already been working together for a number of months.