Govt, industry collaborate on security

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 21 Nov 2007

A public-private steering committee will meet on Monday to establish a South African Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT).

Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) director Barry Dwolatzky says the steering committee was formed at a meeting of representatives. This included most of SA`s largest financial institutions, as well as "Comsec", the agency created by the Comsec Act in 2002 to oversee government information security and a broad cross-section of other organs of state.

"The JCSE and the Information Security Group of Africa hosted the gathering at Wits University, where a rough blueprint for a CSIRT was proposed," Dwolatzky says.

"All parties agreed that, in principle, the formation of such a body is crucial for the future of information security in SA, and is ultimately inevitable."

The steering committee will also draw in representatives from the ISP and IT vendor communities.

Lagging behind

Dwolatzky says CSIRTs exist to help tackle cyber-crime by putting in place preventative measures where possible and responding quickly to major cyber-crime incidents as they occur.

ISG MD Craig Rosewarne says SA has a skills shortage in the area of cyber security. "There is also a generally low focus on computer security because the private sector is concerned with profit margins and shareholder interests, while government is focusing on basic service delivery and more traditional crime."

The first African CSIRT was recently launched in Tunisia, while most other continents have multiple teams ready to deal with computer emergencies.

"Africa is way behind the curve; a CSIRT must form part of a holistic, responsible approach to both national and corporate governance," Rosewarne says.

National safety

Dwolatzky adds that the broader interest of both the private and public sectors should override individual interest in the security space. "These are issues of national security, and even in terms of individual interests, a collective effort will enable government departments, banks and other customer service organisations to deal with the threats posed by hackers, white collar criminals, spies and terrorists more quickly, cheaply and effectively," he says.

Some concern has been expressed that issues such as ownership of information and hardware, network neutrality, classification of information and challenges in the current justice system, like the need for technical training for magistrates, will have to be addressed.

"I do not believe these are insurmountable issues," says Dwolatzky. "Dozens of national and private computer security incident response teams around the world have had to overcome the same issues. We can learn from what they have already done in terms of building trust among key role players. We will combine the need to accommodate local realities with the wisdom to be gained from those who have already walked this road," he adds.

Comsec CEO Taki Netshitenzhe says ownership of the country`s critical infrastructure lies in the hands of both government and the private sector. "There is no physical divide between our systems," she says.

"If one of us goes down, it has the potential to affect us all. For government, the 2010 World Cup represents a key milestone. We have no choice but to have computer security systems in place before this showcase event comes to our shores."