NEC Security's Cybersecurity Capacity Building Exercises for Pacific Island Countries

NEC Security, Ltd., an NEC Group company, has been commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to conduct cybersecurity capacity building exercises for Pacific island countries. Exercises were first conducted in Fiji for seven days from October 2 to 10, 2024, with 29 cybersecurity practitioners from government agencies and critical infrastructure operators from 13 countries participating. Additional training is scheduled to take place in the United States territory of Guam in February 2025.

In recent years, international cooperation is indispensable for ensuring the success of cybersecurity measures that are implemented across national borders. In order to reduce cybersecurity risks for the entire world, it is important to support the building of cybersecurity capabilities in developing countries, including the Indo-Pacific region, which occupies an important geographical position.Since the opening of the ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (AJCCBC)(1) in 2018, NEC has supported the project’s operations through initiatives that include the coordination of approximately 30 cyber exercises for ASEAN member countries. Utilizing this knowledge, instructors and tutors from NEC Security, a cybersecurity specialist, are providing training tailored to the current state and needs of cybersecurity in Pacific island countries. Specifically, after participants conduct more than one month of online pre-study, NEC Security’s program includes five days of incident response training in the event of a cyberattack, thereby contributing to the building of practical cybersecurity capabilities.

Summary

Date, time and place:
- 1st Session: October 2, 2024 ~ October 10, 2024, Fiji
- 2nd Session: February 2025, Guam, USA

Target Audience:
- Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Nauru, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Cook Islands
- Cybersecurity practitioners serving government officials and critical infrastructure operators

Organizer: Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

Contents of the event:
- 1 month or more of online pre-study
- Incident response training, review of pre-learning and desktop exercises
- Cyber exercise using CYDER(2) (5 days hands-on)

Going forward, NEC and NEC Security will continue to contribute to the improvement of cybersecurity capabilities by providing cyber defense exercises, products and services to government agencies and critical infrastructure companies internationally.Under the value-delivery model “NEC BluStellar”(3), NEC is transforming business models with cutting-edge technologies to help solve challenges for customers and society.

(1) The ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (AJCCBC) was opened by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in September 2018 to promote the development of cybersecurity human resources for ASEAN member countries.

(2) The Cyber Defense Exercise with Recurrence (CYDER) is a hands-on, practical cyber defense exercise conducted by Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) for information system personnel from national administrative agencies, local governments, independent administrative agencies, and critical infrastructure operators.

(3) NEC provides end-to-end services for digital transformation (DX) through the "NEC BluStellar" value-delivery model. NEC BluStellar transforms business models to address social and business challenges by applying diverse industry insights and world-leading technological expertise to the entire DX process, from customer strategy consultation through implementation.