by k1f0 on 05/10/2023
After successful Qualification, I was invited to take part in the finals of the Austrian Cyber Security Challenge (short: ACSC), which took place within the framework of the IKT-Conference in Linz (Austria). It is now over and I think it was one of the most interesting and fun experiences that I've had in a while.
To start with the important stuff, I unfortunately wasn't able to win the finals in my competition class, but I managed to place 3rd with my team, which is good enough. Especially taking into account how close of a race it was until the very end.
I can confidently say that all teams were competing at a very high skill level and on-par with each other for sure.
I was never really actively taking part in CTFs, with the exception of the Qualification period for the ACSC. About 80 percent of my knowledge is directly derived from my general knowledge about Computers, Linux and Programming.
It is not that I am not interested in CTF contests, on the contrary, I really enjoy solving security puzzles and especially the competitive nature. The school branch I attend even specifically focuses on Cyber Security. But I noticed that I have more and more begun to transition into the developer world of things. I drifted away from the guy that hacks on his own or other systems all day and ventured more into actually writing software.
Most importantly: SECURE SOFTWARE
OPINION: I think CTF's teach you a lot, but in some cases they are not really representing what will actually await you in real-life scenarios. You cannot gain all the knowledge you need from just tryharding CTF's.
I met a lot of like-minded and nice people. This is what inspired me the most of all. Although I am not really a "people person", I do make exceptions. You gain so many new insights when talking with other people about the stuff you're also interested in. And in most cases that is what makes you grow as a developer, hacker and person.
As mentioned, the finals were held in the framework of the IKT-Conference, which was also awesome by itself. A lot of speakers were invited to give talks on different stages and I tried to visit all of the ones that seemed interesting to me. I was not disappointed by a single one of them. It's so much more fun than any YouTube video, listening to someone that knows his/her stuff on a live stage and I learned a ton.
The ones I especially liked were about
Maybe I forgot a few, but as said I liked all of the ones I attended.
I want to thank my teammates for giving their best shot at the finals. It was a pleasure competing with you guys and I hope you feel the same way about me. Maybe we can try again next year and reach for first place. Also big thanks to Hacking Lab for organizing the actual CTF and providing the Challenges. I did not have any problems during the finals other than two short internet outages, but those were actually infrastructure related. Finally thanks to the team of Cyber Security Austria and the Austrian Military for organizing everything else around the actual CTF. It was a pleasure to be provided with the chance to take part at such an amazing event.
As said, I hope to participate again next year. I'll try to work harder until then and sharpen my skills, both as a hacker and developer.
~ k1f0