Capture the Flag

Register here and use code “BSidesPGH2023”

We decided to do something different for this year’s BSides Pittsburgh Capture the Flag. Inspired by the quintessential movie Hackers, we designed a retro CTF that is a throwback to the Golden Age of Hacking. These are the challenges that inspired famous hacker groups and early security companies like L0pht, @stake, ISS, and Cult of the Dead Cow.

What does this mean? All of the CTF challenges will be based on security issues you might have discovered in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Does that mean it’s irrelevant to today’s security practitioners? Not at all! If you assess the security of embedded systems, Industrial Control Systems, IoT, or vehicles, you will very likely come across these or similar technologies.

You don’t need to have been hacking in the 90s to win, either.  If you have a solid understanding of networking, programming, and operating systems, you can do this! You’ll be looking for programming errors, authentication problems, and misconfigurations of web sites (you can report them to “webmaster” )

Want to do a little homework up front? Here’s some things you might want to look into: Serial protocols and SLIP/PPP. Perl and PHP. LM hashes. Sendmail and SMTP. VAX / VMS. Also, the Wayback Machine and old CERT advisories might come in handy!

So fire up SATAN! Find an old copy of Libwhisker! Re-read Smashing the Stack for Fun and Profit! Dig out your old copies of 2600! And get ready to hack the Gibson! (Rollerblades optional.)

Prizes will be awarded for the top ranking participants.

In order to participate you must attend in-person and use the WiFi that will be provided at the event. You also must bring a laptop capable of performing penetration testing activities. Good luck!