Have I ever mentioned that my favorite conference of the whole year is the SANS DFIR Summit?
“Why is it my favorite?” I hear you ask. Here’s why:
- It is held in Austin, one of the coolest cities in the world. There’s so much to do. You can see live music at virtually any time you want, the food is incredible, and Austin is full of geeks! It is rapidly becoming one of the techiest cities in the US. This means that DFIR professionals shouldn’t feel out of place 😉
- The content is fantastic. Just look at the agenda. You’ll find presentations on new attack vectors, Cloud forensics, Mac forensics, and (the one I’m looking forward to most of all) DRONE FORENSICS!!! These are all going to be awesome presentations, like every year. Further, I’ll be speaking twice this time. Once on “The Human Cost” and a 360 talk on Tor. That brings me on to my next item…
- SANS 360. 10 people talk for 6 minutes each on their topic. If they don’t get it all in they’re buzzed out and the next person jumps in. It is great to watch.
- The people. You can go to larger conferences. You can go to more expensive conferences. But there’s a feeling at the DFIR Summit that is more friendly, making it easier to reach out to thought leaders in your field. It has an intimate feeling to it.
- The Forensic 4:cast Awards. You didn’t think I wasn’t going to mention this did you? The awards ceremony takes place at the end of day one. It is a fun experience for all those involved and shows appreciation for those people that help us out by releasing new tools and research to assist in our daily lives.
There’s many other reasons to attend, why not check it out? http://dfir.to/LeeWhitfield