• Korea's cybersecurity capabilities win international recognition

• Leadership in international cybersecurity cooperation sees fruitful outcomes

The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong Ho, hereinafter referred to as 'MSIT') and Korea Internet & Security Agency (President Lee Won Tae, hereinafter referred to as 'KISA') announced on November 8^th (Wed.) that KrCERT/CC, Korea's representative cyber security incident response team (CSIRT), was elected as the Chair country to the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team* (APCERT) during the APCERT's online annual conference.

* Involves 33 national CSIRTs from 24 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and 14 relevant global organizations

APCERT is an organization established in 2003 to expand mutual assistance in international cybersecurity incident response among national CSIRTs in the Asia-Pacific Region. Korea, represented by KISA KrCERT/CC, has been actively involved in the organization since its inauguration, serving as a member of the steering committee and the Chair of the Membership Working Group* (WG).

* In charge of managing membership and partnership policies and reviews new arrangements and criteria

             In its service as the Chair of the Membership WG, KISA KrCERT/CC has administered the admission of new member CSIRTs, including the Philippines, Vanuatu, and Kazakhstan. The team also expanded the participation from relevant global organizations as designated partners of the APCERT, such as the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), Organisation of The Islamic Cooperation - Computer Emergency Response Team (OIC-CERT), African forum of Computer Incident Response Teams (Africa CERT), and the United States Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

             Furthermore, KISA had hosted the international joint cybersecurity drills for APCERT member countries in 2021, building upon Korea's excellent cybersecurity incident response expertise and analytical capabilities. Since 2022, Korea has developed and implemented an "Awards Program" that provides quantified scoring mechanism for each team's performance and rewards the highest-scoring team, in order to revitalize the organization, which has seen a stagnation in its activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

             Based on KISA KrCERT/CC's such involvement and contributions to the APCERT, with recommendations from other member countries such as Japan, KrCERT/CC had decided to run for the position of the Chair country in the APCERT elections. As a result, KrCERT/CC was elected (Term: November 9^th 2023 ~ November 8^th 2024), marking the first time after its participation in APCERT activities.

             In the occasion of Korea's election as the Chair country, MSIT and KISA are planning to expand the scope of participating countries in the international joint cybersecurity drills and to establish a working group dedicated to ransomware, by which the world has been seeing a rapid increase of damages. Through more active international cybersecurity activities, MSIT and KSIA aim to increase mutual trust in cybersecurity between nations and enhance cooperation capacity for addressing cyber threats.

             One MSIT official had stated that, "The election as the APCERT Chair country is a result of a series of KrCERT/CC's active contribution to cybersecurity in the international community. Korea will commit itself in global cyber threat response at the forefront, extending its reach beyond Asia and the Pacific."

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division (Phone: +82-44-202-4034, E-mail: msitmedia@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

please refer to the attached PDF.