Technical Colloquia & Symposia

FIRST Symposia

Symposia are regional themed events that are run by FIRST or co-hosted with a local team(s) and sponsors. The format is formal and the topics are usually less technical and may have a hands-on component. A co-hosted Symposium is generally a small conference of 100-300 attendees with one or more days open to the security community placed beside (before/after) a 1-2 day FIRST member only closed event. Alternatively, FIRST hosted Symposia is a 1-2 day event with some closed sessions and invited international speakers. Ideally, the event has several sponsors to defray most of the Symposia costs to individuals. FIRST may hold 2-3 Symposia per year in various regions organized with FIRST conference management and another local CSIRT Community or FIRST Team. The January Symposium is typically co-hosted with TF-CSIRT in Europe.

FIRST Technical Colloquia on Computer Security Incident Handling

FIRST Technical Colloquia (TCs) provide a discussion forum for FIRST members and invited guests to share information about vulnerabilities, incidents, tools and all other issues that affect the operation of incident response and security teams. The TC event is open to FIRST members and invited guests and may be held in conjunction with joint events or co-hosted with partnering organizations. Sessions may be open or members-only meetings as designated by the host(s).

The colloquia are typically ½ day to 2 day programs including a plenary session and possibly a hands-on classes. TCs are hosted and managed by a local team or jointly with regional CSIRT. FIRST desires that 12-24 may occur per year in various regions. Overlap on dates is more than possible across regions. Presenters include local leading security experts who sit down with small groups of attendees, and work through technical topics (like forensics) in a highly interactive hands-on fashion. Occasionally, a corporate sponsored TC may be conducted iteratively across each region. Attendance ranges from 10 to 80 attendees.