CTF

"Where is your ski mask? You're out of uniform, people will know your identity on the interwebs!"
-- Concerned onlooker

Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions are a great way to:

  • Experience new security challenges.

  • Test your skills, learn your strengths and weaknesses.

  • Have fun!

CTF 101

  • Preparation for CTFs

    • Learn how to use your tools well and do some research beforehand in the area you want to focus on. This will allow you to get the most out of the competition, since most are limited to 24 or 48 hours in duration.

  • The importance of writeups

    • Writeups are often timeconsuming and easily overlooked by most competitors. However, going to the extra effort to report on your findings is valuable practice. Strong writing skills can give you an adavantage when going for certifications such as OSCP, and security students that can articulate their finings well are looked on favourably by potential employers!

  • Don't be a jerk

    • Attacking the challenge infrastructure or scoreboard is poor form and will get you disqualified. Try not to share answers or hints on IRC as you may spoil challenges for others and it can also get you disqualified. Hints are generally provided by the organisers, if in doubt check the rules.

  • Resources

    • I am currently working on an introductory post for CTF's and learning resources for beginners - stay tuned.

Upcoming Competitions in 2015

These are the competitions I will be participating in until the end of this year. Currently I keep an eye on CTFTime for upcoming CTF challenges. I will also be focusing on posting my writeups after each challenge. I try to make my writeups fairly comprehensive so that even a beginner could learn from them, however feel free to drop me an email if you want to find out more about how I solved a challenge.

Completed Competitions