Technology, AI and security

SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026

One of SANS' larger annual cybersecurity training events, held in Washington, DC and online.

Add to calendar Your list

December 14 to 19, 2026, Washington, DC. Dates confirmed on the organizer's page: 2026-11-06. Recheck before you book, since organizers change details.

Independent planning reference. Delta Arc is not the organizer and does not sell tickets. Delta Arc has not announced attendance at this event, and listing it is not an endorsement.

What to see

  • Hands-on cybersecurity courses led by SANS instructors. Source
  • Attendance in person or virtually, per the SANS event listing. Source

What to plan

  • The organizer has not published these pages yet. Check its site closer to the date.
  • Official site

These open in a new tab, so this page stays here. Your plan, travel details and next steps are all on Delta Arc.

Parking and the venue

Parking

Coming soon. Delta Arc will add this from an official source.

Transit

Coming soon. Delta Arc will add this from an official source.

Accessibility

Coming soon. Delta Arc will add this from an official source.

Where to stay

Coming soon. Delta Arc will add this from an official source.

Dining near the venue

Coming soon. Delta Arc will add this from an official source.

From the airport

Travel details for the Washington area.

Airports

Airport to the venue

From Reagan National, Metrorail connects directly at Terminal 2. From Dulles, the Silver Line takes about an hour to downtown. Source

Rideshare

Exit from baggage claim. At Reagan National, cross to the outer curb; at Dulles, go up the ramp to the Arrivals level roadway. Source

Taxis

Washington Flyer serves Dulles exclusively, 24 hours, from lower-level Door 1 or Door 7. Listing is not an endorsement. Source

From an official list, in the order shown there. It may not be complete, and listing a company is not an endorsement. Check current fares with the operator.

Black car and SUV pickup

The Airports Authority allows only permitted sedan and limo services at Reagan and Dulles, and pre-arranged reservations are required. Do not accept rides from drivers who solicit at the airport. Source

Public transit

An elevated Metrorail station connects to the concourse level of Terminal 2 at Reagan National. Source

Washington travel guide →

Questions worth asking there

A claim at a show is a starting point. These questions help you test it.

  • Was the benchmark or detection rate run on the buyer's kind of data, or on a vendor-picked set?
  • Which customer deployments back the claim, and can a reference be contacted directly?
  • Has an independent lab, auditor or open test reproduced the result?
  • What breaks, and how is it reported, when the system is wrong?

Common questions

When is SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026?

December 14 to 19, 2026.

Where is SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026 held?

Washington, DC.

How do I get to SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026 from the airport?

From Reagan National, Metrorail connects directly at Terminal 2. From Dulles, the Silver Line takes about an hour to downtown.

All the way through

Before, during and after

Before the show

Set the decision you want to improve, then plan the trip.

During the show

Test any claim on the floor, from your phone, in six questions.

After the show

Turn notes into a decision while they are fresh.

Where next

Stay with it

Understand

The evidence and sources in Engineering and Reliability.

Plan

Shows and conferences in Engineering and Reliability, with what to see and how to get there.

Build

How Delta Arc would approach the decision in front of you.

Everything in Engineering and Reliability →

Also coming up

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Plan it

Guides for any show

First time at a major show

A show floor rewards a plan. Decide what you need to learn before you see the program, then let the program fill the plan.

Show planning checklist

The same checklist works for a payments summit, a marketing conference and a machine tool show.

Parking and getting there

Parking and transit change by event and by day. The venue and the transit agency are the sources to trust, close to the date.

Hotels and travel

Use the organizer's official housing page as your starting point. Third-party offers that use a show's name are not always connected to the organizer.

During the show

A claim on a show floor sounds as firm as a published figure. It usually is not. Keep the same few questions in your pocket, and class what you hear.

Meeting planner

A meeting earns its time when both sides know the question before they sit down.

After the show

The value of a show is decided in the two weeks afterward, when notes turn into decisions or get lost.

How to cite this page. Delta Arc, LLC. “SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2026 planning reference.” DA-EV-sans-cyber-defense-initiative-2026, version 1, as of 2026-11-06. https://thedeltaarc.com/events/sans-cyber-defense-initiative-2026/

Published by Delta Arc, LLC · Editor: Michael Davis · Report a correction