Easy Challenges

  I’ve just completed the last of the ’easy’ challenges in the picoCTF practice gym. It’s been a very educational and fun experience so far. While it’s unclear how much more difficult the ‘medium’ challenges will be, the skills I’ve learned so far in the easy challenges should serve as a good foundation for how they think and structure the solutions. Web Exploitation and Reverse Engineering seem to be the most challenging right now. General Skills, Cryptography, and Forensics seem to come a little more naturally. It’s been less necessary to utilize hints and walk-throughs as I’ve gone on, and I haven’t felt bad about the times I’ve gone for help because it’s been clear that most often in those moments it involves a concept that I’m not even aware of. Much has been gained, but it’s really clear there’s still an ocean of information ahead of me. It would be easy to basque in the yet un-earned confidence that always happens when we learn ‘just enough’ of something, but with so much right there to complete in the picoCTF challenges and pwn.college, it feels more like I’ve just learned to walk consistently than soar. We’ll see how I feel when I’ve earned a couple belts and finished the medium picoCTF challenges.