Computer Emergency Response Team

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (part of the Department of Defense) in response to the 1988 Morris worm attack, which disabled 10 percent of the computers connected to the Internet. Many organizations now follow the CERT model to form teams that can handle network intrusions and attacks quickly and effectively. Currently, CERT focuses on security breaches and DoS attacks and offers guidelines on handling and preventing these incidents.

CERT also conducts a public awareness campaign and researches Internet security vulnerabilities and ways to improve security systems. Network administrators and e-commerce site managers should check the CERT Coordination Center for updates on protecting network and information resources. In addition, the Office of Cyber Security at the Department of Energy offers a security service, Cyber Incident Response Capability (CIRC). CIRC’s main function is to provide information on security incidents, including information systems’ vulnerabilities, viruses, and malicious programs. CIRC also provides awareness training, analysis of threats and vulnerabilities, and other services.