The Africa Computer Emergency Response Team (AfricaCERT) has completed its Annual Cyber Drill to test the capability of Computer Security Incident Response Teams in African economies from September 8 to 9 2022. A Coordination team comprised of AfricaCERT, Benin Incident Response Team (bjCSIRT), Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU), National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Center (National KE-CIRT/CC), KEYSTONE (Tunisia), Moroccan Computer Emergency Response Team (maCERT), Tunisian Computer Emergency Response Team (tunCERT) organized the Drill. CERT-MU chaired this 2022 edition. The scenarios were provided by CERT-MU, maCERT, and Keystone and supported by SILENSEC CYBER RANGES platform.
Two sections made the drill’s structure: protocol with high inspirational speakers and technical scenarios. After the welcome address, Mr. Chris Gibson, Executive Director, Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), talked about the importance of African CSIRTs for FIRST and various FIRST initiatives to support incident response within Africa. He also stressed the importance of exercises for incident response teams. The Honorable Cina Lawson, Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation of Togo, opening the drill, expressed her appreciation and encouragement for such an initiative, outlining the multistakeholder imperative, including public and private partnerships to keep cyberspace secure. The Honorable Cina Lawson also unveiled more details about the African Center for Coordination and Research in Cybersecurity (ACCRC) created by the Togolese Government and UNECA. Mr. Serge Valery Zongo, representing Ms. Anne Rachel Inne, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Regional Director for Africa encouraged the participants to strengthen collaboration and have a holistic approach to addressing cyber issues. Dr. Sherif Hashem, Chairman of the Forum Incident Response Team, during the closing remarks thanked all the participants for the collaborative initiative.
The Drill aimed to test the response capability of participating teams facing the following scenarios: Business Email Compromise, SQL injection, and Supply chain vulnerabilities. The scenarios were designed to reflect the real-time environment.
Computer Security Incident Response teams from various sectors participated in the 2022 edition. The African countries participating in the Drill are Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Republic of Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togolese Republic, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia. Colleagues from OIC-CERT and APCERT (Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Uzbekistan, and Turkey) as well as from Latin America joined African Teams. 50 Computer Security Incident Response Teams from 39 countries have participated in the Drill, including the organizing teams. Observers from the Africa Cyber Defense Forum, Ciberobs, the National Cybersecurity Agency of Togo, and the UK Home Office participated in the Drill.
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Download the Press release – 2nd Africa CYBER DRILL – Stay on Alert.
Issued by AfricaCERT Secretariat.
For further inquiries about this document, please feel free to contact secretariat (at) africacert.org