As a nation promoting itself as a knowledge economy and the “Silicon Valley” of Europe I found it strange that Ireland does not have a Computer Emergency Response Team to provide organisations with advice and recommendations on how to defend their networks and what to do in the event their networks are attacked. As a result of this, I have been working for a number of months working on my own time researching whether or not Ireland needs a National CERT. This has involved talking to various Government bodies, organisations of various sizes and in different industries and engaging with industry representative bodies to determine the level of interest and requirements in such a service. I also conducted an online survey of industry, the response to which far exceeded my expectations.
In the main the response has been Ireland requires a CERT and many indicated the level and type of service required. The UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation have also been very supportive of the initiative.
The next steps are to determine what exactly that CERT should entail, how much it will cost and who will foot the bill.
The Irish Times recently published an article on the project thus far and it is available online. Also an article appeared on the SiliconRepublic.com website.
If you have any thoughts or comments on whether Ireland needs a CERT I would be very interested in hearing your views.
About the Author: bhimport
