2021 Forensic 4:cast Awards – Nominations are OPEN

The nominations for the 2020 Forensic 4:cast Awards are now open!

Please take the time to post your nominations at the link below and remember that we’re asking for nominations for work that was performed in 2020 only. Anything that has happened this year (2021) will wrap into next year’s awards.

By following the link, you should be able to place nominations on both computers and mobile devices. Something which has been problematic in previous years.

https://forms.gle/SgCFCh9bwRPEN4iH8

Nominations will close on May 14, so act quickly. The voting portion will begin shortly thereafter. Results will be announced at the SANS 2021 DFIR Summit on July 22. Just a reminder that the Summit is free to attend. You can sign up for more information here.

A brief description of each category can be found below. 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.