2026.10.02
Correspondence chess, deep analysis, and the community
Most of this site is about cybersecurity. This post is about chess instead, which is where a lot of my spare time goes. Correspondence chess I’m most …
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2026.09.27
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Eight tasks and another full NSA Codebreaker Challenge completed
The 2026 NSA Codebreaker Challenge was my second Codebreaker, and I completed all eight tasks as the 12th student to finish the full challenge. It gave me …
2025.10.29
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Seven tasks spanning forensics, reverse engineering, cryptanalysis, and application security
The 2025 NSA Codebreaker Challenge was my first Codebreaker, and I completed all seven tasks, becoming one of 82 students to finish the full challenge. It was a …
2025.10.27
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About me: offensive security, cryptography, and the work I'm proud of
I work in offensive security, with a particular interest in penetration testing, cryptography, and forensics. This site is where I document projects, …
2025.10.26
Archive handling and the boundary between data and code
Now that we have access to the hidden channel the adversary is using, our military counterparts want to act quickly to destroy the adversary’s capacity …
2025.10.21
A lesson in destination-specific authorization
This high visibility investigation has garnered a lot of agency attention. Due to your success, your team has designated you as the lead for the tasks ahead. …
2025.10.17
The investigative handoff from malware to infrastructure
Task 5 - Putting It All Together - (Cryptanalysis) NSA analysts confirm that there is solid evidence that this binary was at least part of what had been …
2025.10.06
Understanding an obfuscated Linux sample
Task 4 - Unpacking Insight - (Malware Analysis) Once back at NSA the team contacts the NSA liaison at FBI to see if they have any information about what was …
2025.10.05
Moving from network evidence to a router memory image
Task 3 - Digging Deeper - (Reverse Engineering) The network administrators confirm that the IP address you provided in your description is an edge router. …
2025.10.04
Tracing inconsistent DNS responses back to a router
Task 2 - The Hunt Continues - (Network Forensics) With your help, the team concludes that there was clearly a sophisticated piece of malware installed on that …
2025.10.03
Finding a suspicious artifact in an EXT2 image
Task 1 - Getting Started (Forensics) You arrive on site and immediately get to work. The DAFIN-SOC team quickly briefs you on the situation. They have noticed …
2025.08.27
A useful cryptography cheatsheet
Cryptography challenges are one of the most common categories in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions. This guide provides a focused overview of essential …
2025.08.26
Cheatsheet for obtaining fully-interactive shells
Often when uploading a reverse shell on a webserver we are dealing with non-interactive shell. This means it doesn’t prompt us for user input or display …
2025.08.26
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简短介绍 - Краткий обзор - A brief overview
中國人 你好！我是一名对网络安全充满热情的人，尤其对渗透测试和道德黑客很感兴趣。我计划在这里记录自己的学习过程，分享在安全、技术和实践方面的心得与体会。希望这个网站能成为我整理经验、总结知识的地方，同时与大家一起在这个领域不断成长。 Русский Привет! Я человек, увлеченный …