come of the threat to interested parties. This policy provides for the establishment of two categories of CSIRTs; a National CSIRT an entity acting in the national interest serving the private sector, government and civil society and a Government, and a Government CSIRT an entity acting in the interest of Government serving organs of state. It is crucial to note that CSIRT’s do not substitute the existing local and national emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, business continuity or crisis teams, intelligence agencies or any other similar organization. This policy provides for the establishment of a National CSIRT and a Government CSIRT. 3.2.1 National CSIRT It will be responsible for monitoring threats and coordinating the national response to cybersecurity incidents and coordinate the protection of critical infrastructure against cyber incidents. The National CSIRT will be the entity acting in the national interest serving the private sector, government and civil society. The National CSIRT shall be established by the Department of Communications. The role of the National CSIRT will include the following among others to:  act as national point of contact for coordination of incident handling activities, including identifying stakeholders and developing public private relationships and collaboration with other CSIRTs to address cybersecurity;  analyse incidents, vulnerabilities, threats, information about which is disseminated by other CSIRTs, vendors, technology experts etc.;  create and maintain situational awareness concerning the risk environment of the South African cyber space;  act appropriately on threat information;  facilitate interaction both nationally and internationally, including through international memberships to organisations such as Forum for Incident Response and Security Team (FIRST);the Minister will develop policy guidelines to inform such interaction.  encourage and facilitate the establishment CSIRTs in various sectors; and  conduct cyber audits, assessments and readiness exercises;  establish standards and best practices for South Africa for council’s consideration. 8