The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) will hold its 33^rd annual conference next month, June 7-9, 2021. Held online, the 33^rd FIRST Conference: ‘Crossing Uncertain Times,’ is set to stream live from June 7, UTC at 1200hrs. The three-day event will feature keynote presentations highlighting recent global security incidents, pertinent industry panel discussions, and a range of presentations by global experts from across the incident response and security industry.

Conference sessions will be streamed live on the FIRST YouTube channel with recordings to be made available immediately following. On-demand and sponsor content will also be available through the FIRST YouTube channel.

Steven Adair will start the event with a keynote entitled An Unauthorized Exchange - From Targeted Espionage to the Global Cyber Pandemic. Steven is a well-respected expert in the field as well as the founder and President of Volexity, Inc., an information security firm. Steven has recently provided commentary to multiple news outlets on major hacks including SolarWinds and multiple zero-day Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities.

Steven says: “This talk is about how things can go from bad to being much worse. I will provide a behind-the-scenes look at how we caught Hafnium using a 0-day in the wild, and how we ultimately figured out what they were doing. I will also talk a bit about our incident response process, covering the different data and artifacts that make for a successful investigation and why they are important.”

Further sessions under the theme of ‘Crossing Uncertain Times’ will touch on lessons learned from 2020 and the impacts of COVID-19 on the cybersecurity sector; new attacks, defenses, and targets; building better products; defenses in place; and the sharing of stories through case study.

Natsuko Inui, of FS-ISAC and the 2021 Conference Program Chair, says: “The struggle with COVID-19 is an ongoing global challenge, and the world is ‘Crossing Uncertain Times’ together. Although many understand we share similar struggles, we have also seen more conflict and discord. During these difficult times, the incident response community feels like a ray of warm light. This community has, for decades, navigated the challenges and evolution of threats, risk, technology and values, by being inclusive and open to diversity. The 33rd Annual FIRST Conference agenda is no different, and reflects the diversity and accepting nature of the community. The program has something for everyone, including new ideas and concepts, real life examples to draw experience from, adjusting to a shift in rules or culture, and improving communication and operations.”

FIRST also plans to deliver a unique social engagement opportunity to enhance the participant experience. Through use of a 2D virtual social platform, WorkAdventure, participants will have exclusive opportunities to engage in real-time networking activities, interact with conference speakers, compete in the annual FIRST Capture the Flag competition, and meet with event sponsors in a simulated exhibitor hall. 

Sponsors exhibiting at the annual conference include: Cisco, Ericsson, Facebook, Microsoft, OTRS, Rapid7, Secureworks, Team Cymru, and VirusTotal (part of Google Cloud). FIRST also plans to provide recognition of Champion Sponsors CIRCL.LU, Hitachi, and Open Systems within the WorkAdventure instance.

There is no cost or registration required to view the live conference sessions on YouTube. Free registration is mandatory for access to the FIRST WorkAdventure social platform and planned social events.

Interested parties can find the latest conference details at https://www.first.org/conference/2021. FIRST will continually update the program until the event goes live.

WorkAdventure registration is available https://www.first.org/conference/2021/registration. 

Parties interested in sponsorship may contact the FIRST Events Team at events@first.org.