FIRST
Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams
Internationaler Verbund von Notfall- und Sicherheitsteams
FIRST is the international umbrella organisation of incident response and security teams (CERTs, CSIRTs, PSIRTs). It promotes worldwide cooperation in handling security incidents and stewards central open standards — including Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) and the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP) model. FIRST thereby shapes the common language of defenders.
History & facts. FIRST emerged in 1990 in response to the realisation that security incidents do not stop at organisational boundaries and require coordinated action across teams. Today the association connects hundreds of teams worldwide and provides fundamental standards through its Special Interest Groups: Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) for severity, Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) for exploitation likelihood and Traffic Light Protocol (TLP) for governing information sharing.
Outlook & recommendation. That a neutral, community-supported organisation stewards the central assessment and exchange standards is an anchor of stability — especially given the funding uncertainties of state-financed programmes. Those who apply Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) and Traffic Light Protocol (TLP) correctly and consistently speak the same language as the global community of defenders.