Cybersecurity Technical Program

Data

Status

Active

Start

2010

Implementation

Social Networks

@OEA_Cyber

OEACICTE

The Inter-American Committee against Terrorism's (CICTE) Cybersecurity Technical Program leads regional efforts to strengthen cybersecurity in the Americas. Its main objective is to manage and implement technical initiatives that strengthen national cybersecurity capabilities, support the protection of critical infrastructure, and promote the timely and secure exchange of information among Member States.

These actions are carried out through CSIRTAmericas, CICTE's technical cybersecurity arm. As a hemispheric network of government Cybersecurity Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs), it includes national, government sector, military, and legislative/judicial teams.

CSIRTAmericas promotes operational coordination and facilitates cooperation among national teams responsible for detecting, responding to, and mitigating cyber threats.

Over the years, CSIRTAmericas has established itself as a regional community driven by the OAS that connects and strengthens CSIRTs through training, information sharing, and collaboration, contributing to a safer region for the people, services, and institutions of Member States.

Objectives

Strengthen regional technical coordination through agile and secure communication: Promote efficient and reliable communication channels among the governmental CSIRTs of the Member States, enabling timely coordination in response to emerging threats and facilitating the real-time exchange of technical information, alerts, and mitigation strategies.
Provide reliable and actionable cyber intelligence for Member States: Deliver up-to-date and contextualized information on cyber threats, available 24/7, through automated sources and targeted alerts, enabling risk anticipation, strengthening response capacities, and protecting essential services and critical infrastructure.
Evaluate and strengthen the institutional capacities of CSIRTs: Support Member States in measuring the maturity of their CSIRTs using the SIM3 CSIRTAmericas Baseline, a tool developed by the OAS/CICTE based on the SIM3 (Security Incident Management Maturity Model), which allows for diagnosing their operational capacity and guiding technical and institutional strengthening actions.
Develop national capabilities and consolidate regional cooperation: Implement technical training programs, specialized workshops, mentoring, and simulation exercises in key cybersecurity areas, fostering a regional culture of trust, exchange of best practices, and mutual support in the face of cyber threats of any scale.

Activities

CSIRTAmericas Week: Providing mentoring and technical training for CSIRTs.
Cyberdefenders LAC: Development of a regional cybercrime response protocol.
CSIRT Maturity Measurement: Creating a public maturity baseline for CSIRTs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
OASCYBER Talent: Promoting the inclusion of young people and women in CSIRT teams.
CSIRTAmericas Talks: Open virtual discussions on CSIRTs and key cybersecurity topics.
Annual Meeting of CSIRT Leaders from the CSIRTAmericas Network: Closed meetings of CSIRT leaders to define the direction of the network.
International Meeting of Cybersecurity Communities: Discussion of cooperation initiatives to strengthen information sharing in the Americas.
Virtual Academy: Continuous learning space for incident response specialists.
CSIRTAmericas Lab: Technical projects, internships, and solution implementation for CSIRTs.
Threat Distribution: 24/7 threat and vulnerability updates delivered to CSIRT members.