Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

THE FORUM OF INCIDENT RESPONSE AND SECURITY TEAMS (FIRST)

MANUEL SUTER AND ELGIN BRUNNER

Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland

1 INTRODUCTION

FIRST is the global Forum for Incident Response and Security Teams. The organization is widely recognized as a global leader in incident response and brings together a variety of Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) from government, commercial, and education organizations. FIRST aims to foster cooperation and coordination in incident prevention, to stimulate rapid reaction to incidents, and to promote information-sharing among members and the community at large. FIRST's vision is that membership should enable incident response teams to respond more effectively to security incidents by providing best practices, tools, and trusted communication with member teams. FIRST's mission statement, which was originally adopted in 1995 and reissued in an updated version in June 2003, holds that FIRST is an international confederation of trusted CSIRTs that cooperatively handle programs to prevent computer security incidents. Moreover,

• FIRST members develop and share technical information, tools, methodologies, processes, and best practices;
• FIRST encourages and promotes the development of quality security products, policies, and services;
• FIRST develops and promulgates best computer and security practices;
• FIRST promotes the creation and expansion of incident response teams and membership from organizations around ...