CERT-UK, the UK Computer Emergency Response Team, to manage and prepare for national cyber security incidents, has been officially launched.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude launched CERT-UK with industry representatives and international partners. According to the Government, CERT-UK will take the lead in coordinating the management of national cyber security incidents and will act as the UK contact point for international counterparts.
As Cabinet Office Minister responsible for Cyber Security, Francis Maude said: “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.
“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.”
Chris Gibson is Director of CERT-UK, previously the director of e-crime at Citigroup. He said: “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. 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.
About CERT-UK
CERT-UK has been established over the last year. Chris Gibson was appointed in November 2013. It has four main responsibilities that flow from the UK Cyber Security Strategy:
national cyber security incident management
support to critical national infrastructure companies to handle cyber security incidents
promoting cyber security situational awareness across industry, academia and the public sector
providing the single international point of contact for co-ordination and collaboration with other national CERTs.
CERT-UK does not have responsibility for critical national infrastructure but will work with the companies that run CNI. For background visit https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/keeping-the-uk-safe-in-cyberspace
