PH-CERT (Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team)

Organized at the turn of the century, the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team or PH-CERT is a non-stock, non-profit organization institutionalized in March 2001 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Republic of the Philippines (RP). Its primary purpose and advocacy are the following: to increase the awareness for Information Security and Cybersecurity; develop an inclusive Information Security (InfoSec) and Cybersecurity Workforce; and adopt InfoSec and Cybersecurity standards, and best practices to uplift their practice in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Region. The PH-CERT community is composed of certified InfoSec and Cybersecurity professionals and practitioners who serve on a purely voluntary basis. It provides its members a platform and venue to learn from each other and hone skills in the field of InfoSec and Cybersecurity, and to serve as a coordinating body in addressing information security incidents. PH-CERT also provides InfoSec advisories and alerts to its community volunteers. PH-CERT is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific CERT (APCERT) which was organized in 2003 and holds annual conferences within the Asia-Pacific Region. PH-CERT participated consistently in the annual membership conferences of APCERT. During the Telecommunications Ministers (TELMIN) meeting held in 2004, which resolved to address the emerging issues on cybersecurity through the establishment of computer emergency response teams in their respective jurisdiction, PH-CERT was recognized as a National CERT for the Philippines. At that time, countries that did not have a National CERT committed to organize their respective National CERT. It was then that the Chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Virgilio Pena, declared and recognized, albeit verbally, that PH-CERT is the Philippines’ National CERT.