ogmini - Exploration of DFIR
Having fun while learning about and pivoting into the world of DFIR.
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Magnet Virtual Summit 2026 CTF - Pre-Challenges and Thoughts
by ogmini
It has already been a year since my first participation in the Magnet Virtual Summit 2026 CTF. If you haven’t signed up, it isn’t too late! https://mvs2026.ctfd.io/
Cipher Pre-Challenges
This year, Hexordia released some Cipher Pre-Challenges that provide some hints for the upcoming CTF. They also count towards the score totals! Again, it isn’t too late to participate. I will be posting writeups afterwards.
I’ve been able to solve all six of them and I find myself in 24th at the moment.
I’m still finding myself overcomplicating problems and getting too laser focused on a solution. Part of this definitely comes down to experience and not having a clearly defined workflow for various situations.
Thoughts
I remember when I initially encountered the idea of a CTF. I questioned their usefulness in learning. It felt too “artificial”. One could say that I held a stance that they were just fun distractions. Part of this comes from the various writeups and solutions that I had read in the past.
This stance has changed over time as I have participated in a few. I definitely prefer the CTFs and challenges that involve an actual scenario. They feel more grounded in what one might encounter in the real world. This is one reason I really like the ones from Magnet, Belkasoft, and DFIR Report. They are definitely useful for learning. Yes, you learn how to use tools. But the true learning results from developing a robust process or workflow that works in any scenario. I’m still figuring this part out and it shows.
Going back to my mention about reading writeups and solutions. I find that many of them just list the mechanical steps for finding the answer. They do not delve into the thought process or the why. Why did you look here? Why was this interesting to you? They do not talk about the missteps or the realizations of when you went down the wrong path. These are all important things to understand when trying to learn.
tags: #CTF #Challenges