2020 Forensic 4:cast Awards – Nominations are OPEN

Is it really that time of year again already? Yes! The nominations for the 2020 Forensic 4:cast Awards are open! I’ve added one new category. Please either watch the video or read below for the category descriptions.

Note that awards will be announced at the SANS DFIR Summit in Austin, TX on July 16. Winners will only be announced from the stage if in attendance at the summit. If any winner is not present they will be announced on the 4:cast website after the awards ceremony. In addition, some of these categories may not be announced at the awards ceremony but will be recognized in the awards posting afterwards.

Please remember that the nominations are only for work performed in 2019 and nominations will close on May 15, 2020.

You can post your nominations here: https://forensic4cast.com/2020-forensic-4cast-awards/

For those not familiar with the term, DFIR stands for “Digital Forensics and Incident Response”.

DFIR Commercial Tool of the Year

Any commercial tool, whether software or hardware, falls under this category. In previous years this would have been divided into four different categories.

DFIR Non-commercial Tool of the Year

Any non-commercial tool. This would be FOSS (Free / Open-Source Software), a Python or PowerShell script, or anything along those lines.

DFIR Show of the Year

This could be a podcast, webcast, YouTube show, etc.

DFIR Blog of the Year

Any DFIR blog that provided consistently good information throughout the prior year.

DFIR Book of the Year

Any DFIR book that contributed to the community.

DFIR Article of the Year

Any single article that was published in a journal, magazine or blog.

DFIR Social Media Contributor of the Year

Any individual that was proactive on Twitter, Facebook, or even MySpace in helping their fellow forensicators with news, articles and opinions.

DFIR Degree Program or Training Class of the Year

Any formal education program that teaches DFIR material. This can be undergrad, graduate level, or a commercially-offered class.

Most Valuable Threat Intel Contribution

Any group that published reports to help the larger DFIR community.

DFIR Groundbreaking Research of the Year

Anything in which a digital forensic investigator or team has published new research into an artifact or process that has or will benefit the DFIR community. The individual or team that conducted the research is the nominee.

DFIR Newcomer of the Year

Any individual that is new to the field of DFIR that made an impact in the prior year.

DFIR Mentor of the Year

Anyone that has taken new forensicators under their wing and helped to mentor them. This can be in an official capacity (such as a senior employee at a company) or in an unofficial capacity (this forensicator helped me a lot via email and social media).

DFIR Resource of the Year

Any online resource, such as a forum, training, wiki, or news curating (not typically a blog).

DFIR Team of the Year

Any DFIR group, organization, team or standards body that made a significant difference in the prior year.

Digital Forensic Investigator of the Year

Any individual that has shown exemplary work in the prior year. The best of the best.