Stepping out of the Shadow

After the discovery of the Morris Worm in November 1988, the first Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was established. During the following years, other CERTs or Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) were established in different parts of the globe. Now, three decades later, CSIRTs have become an integral part of the cyber security ecosystem. This chapter aims to provide an insight into the evolution of CSIRTs by describing their historical background, their different types and services, as well as the challenges they are encountering as the topic of cyber security becomes more pertinent and political.