Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team and STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention Seal Pact to Spread a Global Online Safety Awareness Campaign

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In an important step toward raising public cyber awareness in the Asia Pacific region, the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) and the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention joined forces this month to propagate the global STOP. THINK. CONNECT. online safety awareness campaign to the 20 economies represented by APCERT’s membership.

“The concept of standardization is foundational to operations. In our agreement, standardized safety messaging will give all of our member economies’ people a single messaging scheme that will provide the repetition and resonance required for retention by the public – both in the economy and across the region.”

The organizations will work to promote cybersecurity awareness at the individual user level in APCERT member economies and to promote the use of the Messaging Convention’s STOP. THINK. CONNECT. slogan and associated logo as well as its cybersecurity messaging assets suite.

APCERT Chair Yurie Ito said, “The concept of standardization is foundational to operations. In our agreement, standardized safety messaging will give all of our member economies’ people a single messaging scheme that will provide the repetition and resonance required for retention by the public – both in the economy and across the region.”

For the Messaging Convention’s campaign – adopted by dozens of multinational corporations, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and Public Safety Canada – the MOU is a milestone event, pointing up the potential for globally unified online safety measures.

Messaging Convention co-founder and APWG Secretary General Peter Cassidy said, “The agreement with APCERT encourages us that economic regions and multi-lateral organizations can begin to work together on essential operations on a more or less globalized basis. The good guys can plot and conspire, too.”

Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance that helped found the STOP. THINK. CONNECT campaign, said, "Keeping the Internet safe and secure is a global issue. With important organizations like APCERT joining a global harmonized effort to keep people safe and secure online, the possibility of reaching all computer users with this critical information comes one step closer fruition."

The convention’s logo and slogan and advisory suite were established by a number of US-based industrial powerhouses and two NGO’s in the US, the APWG and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCSA) in 2009. To date, they’ve been adopted by scores of companies, governments of the US and Canada and being considered by governments in Asia, Central America and South America.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed with APCERT for promotion of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. campaign is the first that the convention has entered into with a multi-lateral trade association.

About the Messaging Convention:

ABOUT the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention

STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ is the first-ever coordinated message to help all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online. The message was created by an unprecedented coalition of private companies, nonprofits and government organizations. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in 2009 led the effort to find a unified online safety message that could be adopted across public and private sectors. The Messaging Convention’s goal is to help every human being on the Internet understand not only the risks that come with using the Internet, but also the importance of practicing safe online behavior.

ABOUT APCERT

APCERT was established by leading and national Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) from the economies of the Asia Pacific region to improve cooperation, response and information sharing among CSIRTs in the region. APCERT consists of 30 CSIRTs from 20 economies. Further information about APCERT can be found on www.apcert.org.