The 35th Annual FIRST Conference: Perspectives from a First-time Attendee

By Ali Afshari, General Manager Security Canada
Friday, July 14th, 2023

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the need for robust cybersecurity solutions has never been more critical. Cisco, a global leader in powering the internet, proudly sponsored the First Conference 2023 June 4-9 in Montreal, Canada, as part of its commitment to promoting digital trust and secure connectivity.

Cisco has been a member of FIRST since 1991 and was a Diamond sponsor in 2023, for the 35th FIRST Conference, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to fortifying digital trust and ensuring secure connectivity for all.

First-Time Attendee

In March, my colleague and FIRST community member, Logan Wilkins, Cisco CSIRT, reached out to invite me and my team members to this excellent conference. As a cybersecurity leader, the FIRST Conference was one I had always wanted to attend, and I was excited for the opportunity. FIRST Conferences are unique in that they are not vendor driven with countless vendors pitching their products. FIRST is a conference by practitioners for practitioners.

I became even more enthusiastic when I found out that part of the sponsorship responsibility was to introduce the Keynote. In considering what I would talk about during the Keynote, I decided to address three major points:

  1. Cisco’s long-standing partnership with FIRST
  2. The benefits of the conference for attendees and the big week ahead for them
  3. Introducing the amazing keynote speaker, Lesley Carhart.

My message was simple: “This is your chance to share your information with trusted colleagues, learn new practices, and make lifelong friends.”

What followed were four days of talking to hundreds of people, meeting 15 CSIRT teams from over 20 countries, and attending multiple excellent presentations.

A Community Dedicated to Achieving Greater Computer Security

Securing computer systems and networked infrastructure worldwide is no small task and it takes a community of people working together to achieve this. This event brought together industry experts, cybersecurity professionals, and technology enthusiasts to explore the latest trends and advancements in the realm of cybersecurity. Participants had an opportunity to learn about emerging threats and ways to address them in sessions spanning various security topics, including:

to name just a few.

The FIRST conference presents an excellent opportunity to learn and connect with cybersecurity practitioners from around the word. If you are on or work with a CSIRT team, make your travel plans for FIRST 2024 taking place June 9-14 in Japan.