[2] They aim to improve cooperation between security teams on handling major cybersecurity incidents.

[3] The 2018 Report of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation noted FIRST as a neutral third party which can help build trust and exchange best practices and tools during cybersecurity incidents.

[12] FIRST is a partner of the International Telecommunication Union[13] (ITU) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia on Cybersecurity.

[18] In his study of Internet Governance, Joseph Nye identified FIRST as an "incident response regime", supporting global cyber activities.

[19] Political scientists focused on international security have considered organizations such as FIRST to be transparency and confidence-building measures in cyberspace, "elements of international policy that reduce threats, build trust, and make relationships between states more predictable".