Objectives

Our principle objectives are to:

• Promote and extend through the Board a strategy focused on improving education related to the security of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) appropriate for the needs of New Zealand society including businesses, community groups and children.
• Implement a strategy to include but not necessarily be limited to undertaking, sponsoring or promoting relevant research and education, as well as producing and/or disseminating information related to ICT security awareness, best practice, incident response, incident handling, vulnerabilities, auditing and risk assessment.
• Provide educational resources relating to ICT security.
• Aim to increase education and awareness of information security as an enabler in the adoption of ICT.
• Conduct or sponsor seminars, lectures and courses related to the field of ICT security.

History

Planning for a Computer Emergency Readiness Team was initiated to improve the education related to the security of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) appropriate for the needs of New Zealand society. Subsequently a suitable domain name was procured in early 2005 with approaches to the New Zealand Companies Office occuring later that year.

In 2006, NZCERT was established as a Charitable Trust. We derive our funding from a number of sources and also accept donations to help sustain our operation. We also utilise the skills of volunteers and other organisations with suitable security experience.

Some areas of our website are under development, however, we intend to be fully operational in 2008.