Overview

The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST, http://www.first.org/) is a global organization which brings together one of the largest international gathering of computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs). The annual FIRST conference not only provides a setting for teams to attend presentations and tutorials by leading experts in the CSIRT field, but also creates an opportunity for networking, collaboration, sharing of technical information and the building of trust relationships. FIRST continues to enjoy a steady increase in membership internationally and is represented by teams from government, commercial and research/educational communities.

FIRST conference participants are IT managers, network and system administrators, academia, software and hardware vendors, security solutions providers, telecommunications organizations, ISPs, and general computer and network security personnel. FIRST conferences cover areas such as but are not limited to:

• The most advanced techniques in security incident prevention, detection and response.
• The latest advances in computer and network security tools.
• Shared views, experiences, and resolutions in the computer security incident response field.

The Conference

The conference is a five-day event, comprising two days of Tutorials, three days of Plenary with either Business or Technical focus, which include paper presentations, keynote speeches and panel discussions. The theme for the 2005 conference is “Join The Global Computer Security Network”where the emphasis is on collaborative and cooperative approaches to the multiple disciplines involved in computer and network security incident response.

The conference will discuss recent practical computer and network security issues, focusing on strategies, experiences and techniques with regards to the incident process including pro-active measures. Conference presentations are generally 30 minutes in length, including time for any Q&A.

The conference language is English.

The program committee welcomes original contributions on the following example topics:

• Incident Response
• Response Team Operational Issues and Tools
• Response Team Cooperation, Collaboration and Legal Issues
• Traffic monitoring, detection, and real-time situational awareness
• Vulnerability Handling, and software assurance
• New Technologies, New Vulnerabilities
• Risk Assessment and Information Analysis
• New threats and incident trends such as spyware, unsolicited email, and phishing attacks

Tutorial Submission

Two tutorial tracks are planned. Tutorials should have either a technical or business focus. Technical tutorials should be targeted to a technical audience consisting of IT professionals. Business tutorials should be targeted for an audience of directors, managers, policy makers, and IT professionals who may have managerial responsibilities. Ideas for subject matter may be pulled from the example topics previously listed above.

Tutorials may be a half or full day in length and can cover topics either at an introductory or advanced level.

All tutorial submissions will be handled electronically. Authors should email the completed submission form which may be obtained on the FIRST website to: first-2005papers@first.org

Panel Submission

Panels are solicited that examine innovative, controversial, or otherwise provocative issues of interest.

All panel submissions will be handled electronically. Authors should e-mail the completed submission form which may be obtained on the FIRST website to: first-2005papers@first.org

Paper Submission

Authors are invited to submit papers; preferably in PostScript or PDF format (RTF and HTML are also accepted). The length should not exceed 12 pages typeset in a 12-point font. A detailed extended abstract (2 pages minimum) will be considered if it gives a clear reflection of the contents and key points of the coming paper.

All paper submissions will be handled electronically. Authors should email their paper or detailed abstract and the completed submission form available on the FIRST website to: first-2005papers@first.org

Process of Selection

The program committee will evaluate papers, tutorials, and panels based on quality and relevance. All submissions are held in confidentiality prior to publication in the proceedings.

Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered unless an extension has been granted by the program chairs. Where employer, client, or government authorization is needed, the author(s) will obtain such authorization prior to submitting the final manuscript.

Accepted papers will be presented by their author(s) and will be published in the conference proceedings. The proceedings are provided free of charge to conference attendees. The papers will be also published on the FIRST website, restricted to the FIRST membership until 01 January 2006, and will be freely available after that date.

Copyright

FIRST requires a non-exclusive copyright license for all the papers presented at the conference and for the presentation material. This includes potential distribution on a conference CD-ROM and/or the FIRST website.

Important Dates

Note that tutorial and panel proposals, as well as papers (or detailed abstracts, as described above) are expected to arrive prior to the submission deadline in order to be considered.

Questions

If you have questions about the submission process, don't hesitate to send them to the appropriate email address, thus reaching the program committee chairs: first-2005papers@first.org

Program Committee Chairs

Yurie Ito (JPCERT/CC)
Mark McPherson (AusCERT)

Proposal Submission Form

The form for submissions is available here.