NahamCon 2021

NahamCon 2021 took place this past weekend from March 12-14. The multi-day cyber security conference was hosted by some of my favorite content creators in the community - TheCyberMentor, John Hammond, and NahamSec.

I didn’t watch the live talks, but they are available on Twitch.

CTF Challenges

The main attraction in my opinion was the NahamCon CTF challenges. There were the normal categories like binary exploitation, web, and forensics; as well as custom sponsor made challenges. For instance, HackTheBox launched custom pen testing centric labs. The sponsor made challenges really helped this CTF stand out amongst others.

All the CTF challenges are online at https://ctf.nahamcon.com/

Writeups

I solved several challenges during the live competition and created writeups for each of them (save the super simple ones). For anyone interested, they are availble on my GitHub profile.

CTFs are about continuos learning. I am excited to do some research, read some writeups, and return to solve challenges that were once too tough for me.

Lessons Learned

• How to extract embedded images with dd.
• More practice using pwntools framework.
• How to compress and uncompress file data.
• Utilizing OSINT to find flags on sponsor websites and social media.

Conclusion

If you’ve wanted to participate in a live CTF competition, but are worried about being a newcomer - don’t be! The CTF community is very welcome and encourages continuos learning. Nobody knows everything. Most competitons have Discord channels for players to ask questions, hang out, and share memes.

Happy hacking.