CERT Internet Abbreviation

Computer Emergency Response Team

Computer emergency response team (CERT) are expert groups that handle computer security incidents. Alternative names for such groups include computer emergency readiness team and computer security incident response team (CSIRT).The name Computer Emergency Response team is the historic designation for the first team (CERT-CC) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The abbreviation CERT of the historic name was picked up by other teams around the world. Some teams took on the more specific name of CSIRT to point out the task of handling computer security incidents instead of other tech support work, and because CMU was threatening to take legal action against individuals or organisations who referred to any other team than CERT-CC as a CERT. After the turn of the century, CMU relaxed its position, and the terms CERT and CSIRT are now used interchangeably.