UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education for Networking and Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) came together to hold a regional Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) training under the AfricaConnect3 project. This followed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in various areas such as Cybersecurity, eduroam deployment & support, and Trust & Identity.
The CSIRT training was held in the week of 7th November in Nairobi, Kenya. The participants consisted of the Cybersecurity practitioners drawn from the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Eastern and Southern Africa and institutions of higher learning in Eastern Africa. The training is part of the goal under AfricaConnect3 for the Alliance in collaboration with the NRENs to establish a regional CSIRT Platform for sharing of intelligence threats, and best practices as well as embedding Cybersecurity capacity building activities.
This training was conducted by TRANSITS from our sister organization, GÉANT the collaboration of European National Research and Education Networks domiciled in Amsterdam. TRANSITS is known to provide state of the art, high-quality training to Computer Security and Incident Response Team (CSIRT) personnel, as well as individuals with an interest in establishing a CSIRT. The course was well customized to fit the CSIRT personnel who gained solid understanding of the main aspects of working in incident handling and response team. It offered experience and expertise in Operational, Organizational, Legal, and Technical areas which formed knowledge basis for CSIRT personnel in the region.
We are happy that a total of thirty-five (35) participants were trained. The participants have already formed a CSIRT user group that will continue coordinating the process of establishing the regional CSIRT platform.