As part of Friendly CTF 2024, one of the largest beginner-oriented CTFs of the year — with over 500 teams and 124 challenges — I contributed by creating a set of challenges under the MISC / Forensics and Malware Analysis category.

My goal was to design tasks that were approachable yet meaningful, helping participants explore real-world cybersecurity problems through hands-on scenarios. These challenges focused on fundamental investigative techniques that are often critical in real environments but rarely emphasized in beginner competitions.

The challenge set included:

• File Forensics — Extracting insights from hidden or damaged files.
• Steganography — Concealing and uncovering data within media.
• Malware Analysis — Interpreting basic obfuscated code to understand attacker intent.
• Network Forensics — Tracing leaks and suspicious activity in packet captures.

Each challenge was crafted to reward curiosity, careful analysis, and creative thinking — the exact mindset required in actual incident response and digital investigations.

These exercises emphasized the importance of:

• Understanding how data can be manipulated or hidden
• Applying practical tools in controlled environments
• Thinking critically under realistic constraints

Friendly CTF 2024 succeeded in introducing hundreds of new players to core cybersecurity principles in a supportive and engaging environment. I’m proud to have contributed to that mission and to have helped make forensics and malware analysis approachable and fun for first-timers.