DFIR Summit Mascots Over the Years

As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the SANS DFIR Summit & Training, we're feeling nostalgic and having some fun looking back on the great strides we've made since our first DFIR Summit. It feels like just yesterday when a group of DFIR superheroes gathered for the first time to share ideas, learn new techniques, and have a little bit of fun. The DFIR community has come a long way since then, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

To celebrate this milestone, we have plenty of amazing things planned for the Summit!   Without giving much away, we are featuring a few of the mascots that were born at the DFIR Summits over the years. Below are the ones we have chosen with a little bit of the history behind them.  Even though you will not see all of them in Lego form, we will have the ones that were picked by the community as their favorites.

The Original Forensicator Rewind to 2009, to when SANS and Rob Lee introduced the new DFIR Curriculum. It was only fair to brand the new curriculum with an icon that could represent the community and what it stands for.  Shortly after the SANS DFIR Curriculum was introduced, the SANS DFIR Hero was born and became the icon for brochures, social media and the DFIR Curriculum brand.   He was featured for the first time as a Lego minifigure in 2011.

The DFIR Hero As the years progressed, many changes had happened to the SANS DFIR Hero. In 2015 another version of the DFIR Forensicator was introduced in its Super hero form.  This time he came armed with a cape and shields that featured the DFIR course coins.

The DFIR Heroine The same year and in support of the SANS initiative to encourage women in the cybersecurity, the SANS DFIR Summit introduced the DFIR Heroine.

The DFIR Cricket Even though we could not see him, it was clear the DFIR Cricket made his appearance at the Summit!  He was very vocal, and everybody was paying close attention to his “chirp, chirp” when silence flooded the summit room. Questions...anybody?

The DFIR Mouse The DFIR Mouse was more interested in the breaks than in the lectures, do you know why? The little DFIR cheezball made his appearance at the Summit alarming just a few attendees. To be nice, we are not naming the hotel that hosted the Summit that year.

The DFIR Horse Hi. My friend would really like to meet the person who snuck this horse into a hotel. Was it you? Was it your friend? Let me know if you have any info!” If someone could sneak a horse into a hotel room, that would be one of the DFIR Summit attendees.

The DFIR Jackalope Over the years, the official DFIR Summit night out has been hosted at the Jackalope. The Jackalope is Austin’s favorite and most famous dive bar. If you really want to know the history of the SANS DFIR Summit and the night out networking at the Jackalope, we suggest you do a Twitter search. Who knows, you might find a picture or two. We do not kiss and tell, all we can say is that the big Jackalope has been ridden by many forensicators!

The DFIR ForensiGator The DFIR ForensiGator is the newest of our characters. It was born after Gilbert Gottfried announced the free Summit in a social media video. He mistakenly called out to all "ForeniGators" instead of "Forensicators". From then on, the DFIR ForensiGator was born. RIP GIlbert Gottfried

The DFIR Tacos Who doesn't like tacos? Austin’s favorite Torchy’s tacos have been a must for the DFIR Summits over the years. As a tradition, Rob Lee invited all speakers for a night out the night before the summit for drinks and a taco feast delivered by the very famous taco place.

Join us this year at the 2022 SANS DFIR Summit Live Online or attend in Austin! If you’ve attended before, you know you’ll walk away from the summit with a story, connection, and maybe even one of those limited edition DFIR Mascot Legos. If it’s your first time attending, we look forward to meeting you at the most comprehensive DFIR event of the year!

"We’ve seen the SANS DFIR Summit grow over the years. What started as a handful of enthusiastic practitioners has grown to hundreds of colleagues gathering in Austin, to nearly 20,000 virtual attendees.

This year we return to Austin and go hybrid – simultaneously welcoming attendees in person and around the world. Heather and I are honored to host the 2022 SANS DFIR Summit and can’t wait to share the latest groundbreaking research, case studies, and tool releases that our friends and colleagues have been working on during the past year. We hope you can join us in person or online and experience what only the SANS DFIR Summit can deliver."

- Phil Hagen and Heather Mahalik