The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India, in collaboration with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), today successfully designed and executed the Cyber Security exercise ‘Synergy’ for 13 countries as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative-Resilience Working Group led by India under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). The topic of the exercise was “Building Network Resiliency to counter Ransomware Attacks”. The exercise scenario was derived from actual cyber incidents in which a domestic ransomware incident (with limited impact) escalates into a global cyber security crisis.
The “Synergy” exercise was hosted by CERT-In on its exercise simulation platform. Each state participated as a national crisis response team composed of various government agencies, including national CERTs/CSIRTs, law enforcement agencies (LEAs), Departments of Communications and IT/ICT, and security agencies. The specific objective of the exercise was to assess, share and improve strategies and practices among member states to build network resilience against ransomware and cyber extortion attacks. Exercise “Synergy” was successful in meeting its objectives and provided insights for better coordination and cooperation among CRI member states in building network resilience and combating ransomware attacks.
