Becoming a Member
FIRST welcomes new members. There are two categories of membership:
- Full Members are security incident response teams who assist a defined constituency in preventing and handling security-related incidents;
- Liaison Members: individuals that have a legitimate interest in and value to FIRST.
Only Full Members have voting rights and discounted event registration fees. Both types of members are able to enjoy other benefits of FIRST membership, such as access to the FIRST MISP instance, Slack Workspace, Groups and mailing lists, and other services.
New members must be sponsored by existing Full Members of FIRST who draft letters of support stating how they know/have worked with the applicant:
- Two sponsors for new Full Members. The primary sponsor must be outside the parent/host organization and will also conduct a site visit and report;
- One sponsor for new Liaison Members.
A detailed guide on Membership Process for full member teams can be found here.
A detailed guide on Membership Process for liaisons can be found here.
TEAMS APPLYING TO FIRST: Please start here by completing the Membership Interest Form. Liaisons should not use this form but follow the process here.
The Secretariat will begin the review process at the end of each month. The Membership Committee will review prior to posting for comments from the membership. The Board will review/approve applications during their monthly meeting and approved teams will be notified and invoiced.
Fees
Membership year
The Membership year runs from January until December.
Annual membership fee
| Type of membership |
Cost |
| Full Member annual membership |
US$ 2800 |
| Liaison Member annual membership |
US$ 100 |
The membership fee is subject to change each year.
The membership fee is not refundable upon membership termination.
Initial one-time application fee
An applying FIRST team must pay an initial one-time application fee of US$ 1,000 after its membership is confirmed. This fee only applies to full memberships, not to liaison memberships.
New members
A new member is invoiced when the member is joining FIRST, for:
-
Full Members: the initial one-time application fee, if applicable the per month pro-rated amount of the annual fee (a team only pays the part of the annual fee for the remainder of the membership year)
-
Liaison members: $100 for remainder of the FIRST calendar year (Jan-Dec) regardless of month joined.
Invoicing procedure
Invoices are sent as PDF per e-mail to the member's FIRST representative and are available for download on the FIRST Portal under Billing & Payment. FIRST does not manage third party invoicing software. Processing and payment of the FIRST invoice is the responsibility of the member.
Full Member payments can be done by:
- Credit card
- Electronic bank transfer/ACH
Liaison Member payments should be processed by credit card.
All details on payment are specified on the invoices that are sent out, or available on request at: FIRST Membership & Secretariat Services
IRS/form W9:
www.first.org/about/reports/FIRST-W9-2022.pdf
Federal Employer Identification Number:
First.Org, Inc. FEIN 38-3943584
FIRST Secretariat
FIRST Membership & Secretariat Services
