FIRST and APNIC sign agreement to improve incident response capability in Asia Pacific

Memorandum of Understanding enables both organizations to benefit from each other’s programs to support computer security incident response teams (CSIRT) in the region.

11th July 2017 – The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) and APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia Pacific, today announced the signing of an agreement between both organizations to support the development of cyber security incident response capability in the wider Asia Pacific region.

FIRST and APNIC have historically collaborated on several events, including the Ho Chi Minh City 2017 Technical Colloquium (TC), organized during APRICOT 2017, and the Colombo, Sri Lanka 2016 FIRST TC in October of 2016. Both organizations are also jointly organizing a Regional FIRST Symposium for the Asia Pacific region September 9th through 11th, 2017 in Taichung, Taiwan.

As part of the agreement, FIRST will make available its training curriculum and capabilities to APNIC for use with regional incident responders. APNIC will help identify local trainers that can facilitate FIRST training courses within the region, and will partner closely with FIRST on the organization of training and educational events in the wider region.

FIRST and APNIC will also collaborate on the affiliation and introduction of regional CSIRT teams to the global incident response community.

Thomas Schreck, Chairman of FIRST, said: “APNIC has been a longtime supporter of FIRST in the Asia Pacific region, and we are excited to build a closer relationship with them. With events such as our TC’s in Colombo and Ho Chi Minh City, and the upcoming symposium in Taichung, we are working to help our local teams build cyber security capacity within the region. This partnership with APNIC, and its regional expertise, will be of great assistance as we develop this work.”

Paul Wilson, CEO of APNIC, said: “APNIC and FIRST have worked together informally over the past few years as our organizations share a goal to strengthen cyber security in the Asia Pacific. CERTs and CSIRTs are a critical component of Internet security, and this agreement is an important next step in the relationship between APNIC and FIRST to help expand security incident response skills and capability in the region. It is also another step in helping APNIC achieve its vision of a global, open, stable and secure Internet that serves the entire Asia Pacific community.”

MEDIA CONTACTS

Harry Saunders
Four Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 3697 4329
Email: harry.saunders@fourcommunications.com

About APNIC

APNIC (Asia Pacific Network Information Centre) is an open, member-based, not-for-profit organization, whose primary role is to distribute and manage Internet number resources (IP addresses and AS numbers) in the Asia Pacific region’s 56 economies. These number resources are the building blocks for the Internet to operate and grow.

APNIC helps build essential technical skills across the region, supports Internet infrastructure development, produces insightful research, and is an active participant in the multistakeholder model of Internet cooperation and governance.

APNIC performs these activities as part of its commitment to a global, open, stable and secure Internet that serves the entire Asia Pacific region.

About FIRST

Founded in 1990, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) consists of internet emergency response teams from more than 360 corporations, government bodies, universities and other institutions across 78 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. It promotes cooperation among computer security incident response teams. For more information, visit: https://www.first.org.