INTRO
The 2026 US Cyber Open was a Capture the Flag (CTF)-themed event. This writeup shows my methodology, techniques, and procedures during the CTF game. I was researching a way to balance out my social science background with more technical skills and participating in CTF events helps me to hone in on those skills. This CTF event challenged my mind and while there were moments I was ready to throw in the towel, I kept remembering my purpose: to learn. In the end, the event allowed me to continue to gain more technical skills and learn cybersecurity lingos. My mind and curiosity was pushed further and I was able to think outside the box during the process of solving cybersecurity issues. The process was fascinating!
I completed a total of six challenges and yes, even during the week of the NBA Finals (go Knicks!) and the FIFA World Cup. While I didn’t complete all the challenges, I pat myself on the back for putting myself out there and competing with exceptional talents from around the world. It’s a win for me…goooooooooal!!!! ⚽
STRUCTURE
The event consisted of participating in two game rooms: Beginner’s and Competitive CTF. The Beginner’s Game Room is an entry-level CTF for those participants that wanted to start slow and ease into the competition, newbies, semi-newbies, and even experts who wanted to get their feet wet and gain motivation. It was basically the warm-up round. The Competitive CTF put us to the test and provided challenges that ranged from easy and intermediate to advanced.
All of the challenges were independent from one another, which made it easy to move between them without needing to follow a set order. Since I was not able to progress into the more advanced tiers of the CTF, this reflection is based only on the challenges I completed. Each challenge also came from different organizations or cybersecurity contributors, which added variety and made it interesting to see how different perspectives shaped each problem.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Built stronger confidence working through real CTF challenges under time pressure, focusing on staying calm and methodical instead of rushing
- Improved ability to connect clues across different challenge types, especially in mixed environment where context switching matters
- Strengthened practical investigation thinking by breaking problems into smaller steps and validating each result before moving forward
- Gained a clearer understanding of personal workflow during challenges, including when to slow down, reassess, and double check assumptions
COMPLETED CHALLENGES
Click on any box below to view the challenge.
DISCLAIMER
These write ups are shared for educational and informational purposes and reflect the process I used to approach and solve each challenge. Content may not be reproduced or redistributed without permission from the author.