Department of Energy's Cyberforce competition
On November 8th and 9th, I had the exciting opportunity to attend my first-ever in-person competition: CyberForce, held in St. Charles, IL! It was an incredible experience to collaborate face-to-face with my team in the competitive environment, surrounded by students from across the nation, all coming together for this remarkable event.
This competition was incredibly challenging, requiring us to start preparing two weeks in advance. We submitted a wealth of detailed information and meticulously set up our virtual machines to be competition-ready. Despite the difficulty, it was an exciting and rewarding experience, and I look forward to the opportunity to participate again in the future.
National Cyber League (NCL) Fall Individual Game
This was my first experience taking on the renowned NCL challenge, and it truly lives up to its reputation. The competition was incredibly well-structured, keeping me engaged and focused throughout the entire weekend. I was thoroughly impressed by the breadth of each question and the range of difficulty levels, which made for a challenging and rewarding experience.
I tackled a total of 82 challenges, finishing in 837th place out of 8,513 participants. I was especially proud of my performance in several key categories, achieving a 100% completion rate in log analysis, 92.86% in network traffic analysis, and 88.24% in cryptography. These results highlight my strengths in analyzing logs, dissecting network traffic, and applying cryptographic principles—skills that I was able to refine and test in this rigorous and highly rewarding competition.
2024 Hivestorm COmpetiTIon
This competition was an intense time-crunch simulation where my team of four worked together to fix vulnerabilities and secure three virtual machines within a 4-hour window. I really enjoyed the structure of this competition, especially as I enjoy blue-team challenges, and it allowed me to apply the skills I had learned during my internship.
We encountered some technical issues that prevented us from accessing two of the three virtual machines. However, we were still able to fix four vulnerabilities in the remaining machine, earning 25 points and placing 389th overall.
UND Cyberhawks National CTF Qualifiers
This competition was a CTF where universities, high schools, and individual participants formed their own teams to compete against one another. My team of four came together from September 16-20 to participate in the qualifiers. The competition spanned a variety of topics, including cryptography, web exploitation, reconnaissance, forensics, and reverse engineering.
We successfully solved 14 challenges, earning 2,600 points and securing 17th place out of 50 university teams. Our performance qualified us among the top 20 teams, and we’ve been invited to compete in the Final Competition on October 28, 2024!
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division CRAM Challeng
This was a team-based competition where we collaborated to develop and pitch a model aimed at helping the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division enhance its security through a cyber resiliency assessment tool. We came together just weeks before the September 8th submission deadline to propose a five-page solution, presenting a four-tiered approach to address their challenges.
Our efforts paid off when we were selected as one of the top 25 teams invited to participate in the second and third phases in King George, Virginia. However, due to our busy schedules and conflicting competitions, we decided that we wouldn't be able to develop a well-substantiated model for the next round and ultimately declined the opportunity.
CISA ICS CTF 2024
I decided to participate in this competition because it was organized by CISA, an agency I admire for its critical role in protecting national cybersecurity. The competition took place from August 31st to September 4th, during an unexpectedly busy period for me, which prevented me from performing at my full potential.
I was only able to dip my toes into the competition, scoring 150 points and placing lower than I had hoped. However, I still valued the opportunity to participate and experience the event. I always enjoy exploring new competitions, even when I can’t dedicate as much time as I’d like.
WICYS Target Cyber defense challenge
This is the most recent competition I participated in, held from July 19th to August 8th. I enjoyed the duality of this challenge, as it featured both offensive and defensive challenges. I had never participated in a competition with a defensive component before, so that was exciting to experience.
This competition was particularly unique because it included a tutorial that was incredibly beneficial for beginner CTF participants. I completed the tutorial questions and solved one challenge from the defensive queue and one from the offensive queue. As a result, I ranked 431st out of approximately 1,200 participants!
DFIR Report CTF
This was my favorite competition! Held on July 6th, it was entirely focused on digital forensics. It allowed me to work with the Splunk SEIM tool, investigate, build a timeline, and solve cases.
I successfully solved the majority of questions for the easy case and managed to solve 3 questions from the hard case. I placed in the middle of the pack, securing 71st place out of approximately 200 participants.
Capture the flag with google
This competition was held from June 21st to June 23rd. I appreciated how Google designed its user interface for its competitors. They also provided expansive guides and documentation to help me understand how the competition operated.
Even though my team was unable to solve any challenges, this competition provided great exposure. It was invaluable to encounter difficult challenges and later find write-ups and explanations of how participants solved them.
US Cyber open
I immersed myself in the next competition, held from June 3rd to June 9th. I appreciated the flexibility it offered, allowing me to step away and return with fresh perspectives and new approaches.
I completed this competition by solving 6 challenges, securing 531st place out of approximately 3,100 participants!
Dod Cyber SentenTIal Skills challenge
This was my first competition, held on May 18th, 2024, where I dedicated 7 hours to tackling various challenges. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, which inspired me to further my studies and seek out more competitions to participate in the future.
I am proud of my efforts as I solved 4 challenges and placed 294th place out of approximately 1,500 participants!
Contact Me
Chloe Kilroy
Chicago, Illinois, United States
