ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team

The ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a regional cybersecurity-coordination mechanism intended to complement the national CERTs of ASEAN Member States. It supports information sharing related to cyber incidents, regional incident-response coordination and cooperation on critical information infrastructure (CII) protection, including cross-border sectors such as banking and finance, communications, aviation and maritime (CSA, 2 February 2024).

Singapore’s hosting role

Singapore, represented by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), proposed that one ASEAN Member State host the regional CERT and offered to host and fund its physical activities in Singapore. CSA said the proposal followed Singapore’s recommendation at the 14th ASEAN Network Security Action Council meeting in August 2023. ASEAN’s digital-sector materials record the physical facility’s launch in Singapore in October 2024, marking a step towards operationalising regional incident-response capability (CSA, 2 February 2024; ASEAN, digital-sector cooperation).

Singapore’s hosting and funding offer does not make the regional CERT a Singapore agency or give CSA unilateral control over ASEAN’s cyber incident response. CSA stated that Singapore would fund and host the physical activities for up to 10 years, while the regional mechanism operates with ASEAN Member State participation and taskforce oversight (MDDI, Singapore International Cyber Week Summit 2024; CSA, 22 October 2025).

Information sharing and operationalisation

The ASEAN Regional CERT’s information-sharing mechanism is designed to enable timely exchanges of information about cyber threats and attacks and to share practices among Member States. The joint statement of the 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting recorded that the mechanism had onboarded all ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat onto the operational platform since May 2025. This describes participation in the platform, not a claim that every national CERT has identical capabilities or that every regional incident is handled by the Singapore facility (ASEAN, 16 January 2026).

The mechanism is meant to strengthen coordination rather than replace national response functions. National CERTs remain responsible for their own domestic mandates, laws, incident handling, evidence processes and communications. Regional information sharing can help identify cross-border patterns and coordinate responses, but the public sources do not establish a single ASEAN incident-command authority, automatic data disclosure for every incident, or a common response-time commitment (CSA, 22 October 2025; ASEAN, 16 January 2026).

Place in ASEAN cybersecurity cooperation

The regional CERT sits within ASEAN’s wider cybersecurity architecture and the work of the ASEAN Network Security Action Council (ANSAC). Its work connects to the ASEAN Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy 2026–2030, which provides a broader strategic framework for incident response, CERT coordination, information sharing and capacity building. It also complements regional training institutions such as the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence and annual exercises such as the ASEAN CERT Incident Drill; these are related cooperation mechanisms, not alternative names for the regional CERT (ASEAN, digital-sector cooperation; ASEAN Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy 2026–2030; ASEAN Guide on Anti-Scam Policies and Best Practices).

The regional CERT should therefore not be confused with Singapore’s domestic CSA, a national CERT, or a cybersecurity regulator. It is a regional platform for cooperation among Member State CERTs and the ASEAN Secretariat. The Singapore facility is an important hosting arrangement, but the mechanism’s regional purpose, governance and national-participation boundary remain central to interpreting what it does (CSA, 2 February 2024; ASEAN, digital-sector cooperation).