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NetWars Tournament Schedule

The following tournaments are included with any 4–6-day paid course. They may be experienced in person or virtually; please consult the event page for details on the delivery format, as it may vary.

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Tournament: Core NetWars

The most comprehensive multi-disciplinary range from the NetWars suite. The winning team and the top five solo players from every Core NetWars tournament throughout the year are offered a chance to compete in the annual SANS Core NetWars Tournament of Champions. Example Topics: Cyber Defense, Threat Hunting, Log Analysis, Packet Analysis, Cryptography, Windows Administration, Linux Administration, Network Security Monitoring, Continuous Security Monitoring, Steganography, and more.

Upcoming Tournaments

Dates: November 12–13, 2026 

Location: Amsterdam, NL | In-Person Only 

Tournament: Core NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS Amsterdam November 2026, you are eligible to participate in the Core NetWars Tournament. 

Registration:

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below.  

View Event DetailsRegister for NetWars

Dates: December 3–4, 2026 

Location: Frankfurt, DE | In-Person Only 

Tournament: Core NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS Frankfurt November 2026, you are eligible to participate in the Core NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event DetailsRegister for NetWars

Dates: December 10–11, 2026 

Location: London, UK | In-Person Only 

Tournament: Core NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS London December 2026, you are eligible to participate in the Core NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event DetailsRegister for NetWars

Dates: December 17–18, 2026 

Location: Washington, DC | US & Virtual 

Tournament: Core NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026, you are eligible to participate in the Core NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event Details Register for NetWars
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Tournament: DFIR NetWars

Focused on digital forensics, incident response, threat hunting, and malware analysis, this tool-agnostic approach covers everything from low-level artifacts to high-level behavioral observations. Example Topics: Threat Hunting, Malware Analysis, SIFT Workstation, Media Exploitation, Artifact Analysis, Rapid Triage, Malicious attacks, Network traffic analysis, Reverse engineering and debugging, Intrusion detection, and more.

Upcoming Tournaments

Dates: November 5–6, 2026 

Location: London, UK | In-Person Only 

Tournament: DFIR NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS London November 2026, you are eligible to participate in the DFIR NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event Details Register for NetWars

Dates: November 19–20, 2026 

Location: Paris, FR | In-Person Only 

Tournament: DFIR NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS Paris November 2026, you are eligible to participate in the DFIR NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event Details Register for NetWars

Dates: December 17–18, 2026 

Location: Amsterdam, NL | In-Person Only 

Tournament: DFIR NetWars

As part of your enrollment in a 4–6 day course at SANS Amsterdam December 2026, you are eligible to participate in the DFIR NetWars Tournament. 

Registration: 

1.  All students who register for a 4–6 day course will be eligible to play NetWars for free. Registration for this event will be through your SANS Account Dashboard the week of the event. 

2.  Not taking a course? You can register for NetWars without taking a course below. 

View Event Details Register for NetWars
Learn More

Tournament: ICS NetWars

Focused on factory machinery operations, this experience brings players onto the factory floor, exposing them to the challenges of detecting and defending physical equipment and manufacturing components from cyberattacks. Example Topics: Blue Team (Defender) actions, Asset discovery and infrastructure mapping, Identifying adversary actions, log and file analysis, Endpoint forensics, ICS-specific malware detection, Engineering application use, Process restoration, and more. There are currently no upcoming ICS NetWars tournaments available for registration. Please check back soon for future event announcements.