NASK Delegation at FIRSTCON26 in Colorado
Researchers from NASK’s Cybersecurity Department and CERT Polska presented the use of a network telescope as an effective method for collecting, analyzing, and processing data to support CSIRT teams during the FIRSTCON26 conference.
From 14–19 June, we participated in the 38th Annual FIRST Conference (FIRSTCON26), held under the theme “Peak Defense: Building Adaptive Systems for Modern Threats” in Denver, Colorado.
On 16 June, Marcin Rytel and Jan Adamski from NASK’s Cybersecurity Department, together with Paweł Pawliński from CERT Polska, delivered a presentation titled “From Internet Noise to Cyber Intelligence: Lessons from a Network Telescope”. The talk focused on the collection and processing of data from a Network Telescope and demonstrated its practical applications for CSIRT teams. The speakers showed how network telescope observations can support threat detection, monitoring of global cybersecurity trends, and the development of actionable cyber threat intelligence for incident response activities.
The presentation attracted considerable interest from conference participants and received very positive feedback in attendee surveys. In addition, the team organized a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session for participants interested in network telescope technologies. The session provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and conversations about potential collaboration between cybersecurity organizations.
The meeting resulted in valuable exchanges of experience and the establishment of new professional contacts. In particular, discussions with organizations such as CERT.br and NICTER, which operate similar large-scale network monitoring systems in Brazil and Japan, opened promising avenues for future cooperation.
CERT Polska also had a strong presence at the conference. Krzysztof Zając delivered two presentations: “How to Detect and Block over 300 Thousand Malicious Domains”, which focused on mechanisms for detecting and blocking malicious domains, and “My CERT PL – Free Security Tools for Everyone (in Poland),” which provided insights into the development of the moje.cert.pl platform and the free cybersecurity tools it offers to users in Poland.
