So this blog is fairly new, and my first capture the flag exercise was published the other day. Fortunately, the CTF seems to have been fairly successful, and I have had a number of different questions and feedback provided by various people.
When I first published this blog, I wondered whether I would observe an increased number of cyber attack attempts to my server, due to the type of audience that would be visiting the website.
Interestingly, I’ve already found a number of different IP addresses performing scans/hacking attempts on my server, that have also downloaded my Capture the Flag exercise in full. These scans looks different to the usual noise you see in server logs.
I am sure (and hope) that the majority of the users who download my CTF exercises use their skills for good reasons, potentially leading to or improving their careers in white-hat cyber security.
I strongly encourage anyone learning these skills to use them wisely, and for legitimate purposes only. There’s not a lot I can do if you choose otherwise, but scanning and attempting to brute force a server from your domestic internet connection without any attempt at anonymity is not particularly the most intelligent thing I’ve seen.
To everyone else playing by the rules, thank you, and good luck with my CTF – I look forward to hearing your feedback.