FIRST
Definition
Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams. A global membership organisation that sets standards for CSIRT capability and facilitates trusted information sharing between member teams. Membership signals that a team meets minimum operational standards and is vetted for the FIRST trust network.
- Full name
- Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams
- Type
- Global CSIRT membership organisation
- Function
- Sets CSIRT capability standards, vets members
- Benefit of membership
- Access to the trusted FIRST information-sharing network
Common questions
Why does FIRST membership matter to an incident response team's credibility?+
Membership requires the team to be vetted against operational standards, so peer organisations can trust that a FIRST member follows established handling and disclosure practices before sharing sensitive incident data with it.
What kind of information moves through the FIRST network?+
Member teams share threat intelligence, vulnerability details, and incident indicators under agreed trust and confidentiality norms, allowing faster coordinated response across organisations and countries than public disclosure alone would permit.
Related terms
- CSIRT
- Computer Security Incident Response Team. The organisational unit responsible for preparing for, detecting, coordinating, and resolving security incidents. Sometimes called CERT (Computer...
- Legal Liaison
- The CSIRT role responsible for advising on legal obligations during an incident: evidence preservation requirements, breach notification deadlines, law enforcement engagement, and...
- National CERT
- A government-operated or government-designated team responsible for coordinating cyber incident information at the national level. Examples include CERT-In (India), CISA (US), NCSC...
- Retainer Agreement
- A contract between an organisation and an external IR firm that guarantees a defined response time and service scope in exchange for...
- Team Lead
- The person who owns the incident response process during an active incident. The team lead coordinates analyst tasks, manages escalation to leadership,...