Incident Hotline Terms of Service

1. Scope

These terms govern your use of the Ransom-ISAC cyber incident response hotline (the "Hotline"), reachable on +1 844 929 3888 (United States and Canada) and +44 7426 911619 (United Kingdom and rest of world). By calling the Hotline and continuing past the introductory message, you agree to these terms.

If you do not agree, please end the call and contact us instead at contact@ransom-isac.org or via the incident report form.

2. Automated (AI) Call Handling

Calls to the Hotline are answered initially by an automated assistant — an artificial intelligence system, not a human. You are told this at the start of every call. The assistant collects preliminary details so that your call can be triaged and routed to an appropriate human responder.

To provide this service, what you say during the automated portion of the call may be recorded, transcribed, and processed by artificial intelligence systems, including systems operated by third-party providers on our behalf.

Accuracy. The automated assistant may mishear, misinterpret or incompletely record what you tell it. Nothing it says constitutes an assessment of your incident or advice from Ransom-ISAC, and you should not rely on it. Your incident is assessed by a human responder.

You may decline automated handling. If you would prefer not to have your call processed by an AI system, say so at any point and you will be transferred to a human responder, or you may instead email us or use the incident report form. Declining will not prevent you from receiving assistance.

No automated decisions. The automated assistant does not make decisions about you. It gathers information and routes calls; assessment of your incident and any advice given is carried out by human responders.

3. Call Recording

Calls may be recorded and transcribed for the purposes of triage, quality assurance, and maintaining an accurate record of reported incidents. Recordings and transcripts are deleted after 14 days unless a call is flagged, for example in connection with misuse of the service. Where the law of your jurisdiction requires the consent of all parties to a recording, your continued participation after the introductory notice constitutes that consent. If you do not consent to recording, please end the call and contact us in writing instead.

4. What Not to Share

Please share only what is necessary to describe your incident. In particular, do not read out credentials, cryptographic keys, payment card numbers, or bulk personal data belonging to individuals affected by the incident.

You are responsible for ensuring that you are entitled to disclose the information you provide, including any personal data relating to third parties, and that doing so does not breach any duty of confidentiality or contractual obligation you owe to others.

5. Coordination with DFIR Partners

Ransom-ISAC operates a vetted network of regional digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) partners. Based on your location and the nature of the incident, we coordinate with the appropriate partner and share your enquiry so they can engage with you directly.

Partners are independent organisations. Any engagement you enter into with a partner is a matter between you and them, on their terms, and Ransom-ISAC is not a party to it and accepts no responsibility for their services.

6. No Guarantee of Availability or Outcome

We aim to respond promptly, but the Hotline is provided on a best-efforts basis. We do not guarantee availability, response times, or any particular outcome. Information provided by Ransom-ISAC is general in nature and is not legal, regulatory, or professional advice. You remain responsible for your own reporting obligations to regulators, insurers, and law enforcement.

7. Acceptable Use

The Hotline exists to support organisations facing genuine cyber security incidents. You must not use it to make false or malicious reports, to harass or abuse our staff or systems, to place automated or bulk calls, or for any unlawful purpose.

We may block callers who misuse the service and, where appropriate, report misuse to law enforcement or other relevant authorities.

8. Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Ransom-ISAC accepts no liability for loss or damage arising from your use of the Hotline or from reliance on information provided through it. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

9. Data Protection

Personal data collected through the Hotline is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which explains the categories of data we collect, our lawful basis for processing, how long we retain it, who it is shared with, and the rights available to you.

10. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Nothing in this clause deprives you of the protection of any mandatory consumer law of the country in which you are resident. Details of the operating entity are set out in our Imprint.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date above indicates the most recent revision, and the version published here at the time of your call is the version that applies.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms, or about how your call was handled, can be sent to contact@ransom-isac.org.