Discipline Communities & Focus Groups

Discipline Communities bring together an international group of people interested in the development of a particular field of cyber security, covering the following disciplines:

• Penetration Testing (including Vulnerability Assessment and Web/Mobile App testing);
• Threat Intelligence;
• Incident Response;
• Intelligence-Led Testing; and
• Security Operations Centres (SOC)

The Discipline Communities support the development of standards for both individual skills development and cyber service providers. They are a way to both stay in touch with developments as well as provide feedback to aid the activities of the Focus Groups (see below).

Members of Discipline Communities must either work for a CREST member company or be a CREST qualified individual (i.e. hold a current CREST certification).

Discipline Community activities include:

• 2+ online events per year run by the related Focus Group
• Opportunity to input to the agendas of the Focus Group meetings
• Receive periodic newsletter with summaries of the activities of the Focus Groups
• Opportunities to put yourself forward to participate in Working Groups (see below) setup by the Focus Groups
• Opportunities to put yourself forward for election to a Focus Group, or to a Regional Council (based on location of domicility)

Focus Groups are made up of experienced strategic leaders in their chosen discipline who choose to play a more active role in steering the field internationally. This supports CREST to innovate through its services and research.

Focus Group members are either:

• Elected periodically from the associated Discipline Community; or
• Elected to a CREST Regional Council and apply to be assigned to a specific Focus Group (note, every Regional Council has a seat on every Focus Group and vice-versa, to ensure alignment and representation)

Key responsibilities

Each Focus Group leads the international development of standards for both individual skills development and cyber service providers, representing the Discipline Community for the chosen discipline:

• Set the technical strategy

– For individuals (CREST certifications) – pro-actively identify advancements in the discipline, mapping to internationally recognised standards, identifying gaps in the exam offer and proposing changes.

– For cyber service providers (CREST accreditations) – pro-actively identify advancements in the discipline, maintaining the standard for each discipline (which accreditations are based on), and continually raising the bar.

• Support the delivery of the technical strategy

– For individuals (CREST certifications) – recommend changes to the syllabi and guide the assessor community in exam development.

– For cyber service providers (CREST accreditations) – support the development of accreditations, their application forms and their marking guides.

– General – support the delivery of government and regulator initiatives.

• Deliver research and insight:

– Horizon-scan social, technological, economic, legal, regulatory, political and ethical factors that may impact the discipline;

– With the support of the Working Groups (see below), deliver research targeted to align with the above objectives.

• Link to Regional Councils: Represent the activities of the Focus Group on the regional Council (also, represent the region on the Focus Group)

Key activities

• Align with the CREST International strategy: develop a programme of work for the discipline
• Engage & represent the wider Discipline Community, owning its engagement and leveraging its capability through Working Groups (see below)
• Champion the accreditations and certifications across the community, driving uptake and adoption

Focus Groups are a small group of strategic leaders in their chosen discipline. Where the Focus Group needs to draw upon additional resource to fulfil its duties it may form one or more Working Groups.

These Working Groups will be led by one of the members of the Focus Group, consist of individuals from the broader Discipline Community and be directly accountable to the Focus Group.