Open Source Intelligence for the National Cyber League Games | PRESSSPACETOHACKNot to be confused with open source software, open source intelligence, often abbreviated OSINT (and not OSI), is the practice of gathering and analyzing information from public sources.This is not to be confused with OSI (which is the Open Systems Interconnection model for networking). Not that many people confuse this. It's mostly just Kait that mixes them up. But if she's confused, you might be, too. In the real world, open source intelligence is a broad category that can encompass a wide variety of techniques, and goals are often open-ended. For the sake of keeping challenges within a reasonable scope for a timed competition, the National Cyber League (NCL) typically presents focused challenges that fall into three categories:Read the full blog post HERE.Sha Jvgu Pelcgb! Crypto or Cthulhu? | MAKO““Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.” Occult horror readers will recognize the phrase from H.P. Lovecraft’s 1926 classic, The Call of Cthulhu. However, outside of that small circle, it seems like pure gibberish. Similarly, looking at a message that has been encrypted calls to mind those same eldritch horrors, chanting in their secret watery caves in a long forgotten tongue.Read the full blog post HERE.How to Create a Statement of Purpose and Draft a Charter for a New Cybersecurity Club | MAKOSo, we have gathered a group of passionate, like-minded individuals that are driven by a deeper desire, as we discussed before. They all have a reason for being there – but what is the common purpose?“So, I just got back from the Student Government Association meeting. They said they can’t approve our request to form a club until we have a Charter… what is that? They said they need to have all the details before we start. How can we get that information without having a meeting, and to have a meeting don’t we need to be a club?”Read the full blog post HERE.Why I Became an NCL Player Ambassador | WEBWITCHThe National Cyber League (NCL) was a transformative experience for me. Through the three years I participated, I went from a sophomore who didn’t know a single thing to co-running our university’s cybersecurity team as a senior. Because I participated, I was able to find everything from conference opportunities to friends in the industry. Hell, I had originally reached out to hacker meetups an hour away because I wanted more material to teach my team! Read the full blog post HERE.Fresh Coffee... I Mean Cali! | HUSH1EYou’ve never done this before and have no idea what a virtual machine is or what this Kali creature is that I’m speaking of? Well let’s fix this problem and walk through it together, because for me personally, I like to start fresh with each shiny new season so that I know I’m up to date and things are running smoothly. A few key terms to get familiar with that you’ll see a lot of are virtual machine (vm) which is just a smarter way to run an operating system to test things without risking your computer. Kali is a Linux operating system that has some built in tools that will help you get through some of the challenges a little more smoothly, you’ll find more articles on this blog with details on some of these tools.Read the full blog post HERE.Let's Talk About the Elephant in the Room: How to Not Cheat in the NCL Games | CRYPTOKAITBuckle up, friends! We need to have a serious chat.One of the absolute hardest things I have had to do as your Chief Player Ambassador is hear the stories of the people who are caught during the Cyber Skyline Cheating Audit.It’s an important part of the competition to keep things fair all around. I 100% support what these guys do. When I see the evidence that they have, I’m rarely inclined to believe the millions of excuses players have for breaking the rules. So here’s what I feel you need to know to prevent cheating.Read the full blog post HERE.Cybersecurity Club Survival Guide: How to Create and Run an Effective Cybersecurity Club | MAKOIt starts with two. The desire to share, connect, discuss, and express. A shared passion, a similar interest. It could begin with two students, or faculty, or a student-teacher interaction that inspires out-of-classroom interaction.A line from The Mentor’s Manifesto reads: This is it… this is where I belong… I know everyone here… even if I’ve never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again… I know you all…Read the full blog post HERE.Why I Became an NCL Player Ambassador | JEANABYTEIn order to tell you why I became a National Cyber League (NCL) Player Ambassador, I’ll have to go back a few years. And when I say a few, I mean five.Picture it. Westchester, New York, 2015. There I was, a bright-eyed, bushy tailed, freshman nursing major at Pace University. I know what you’re thinking: “How in the world did you end up here?” Well, I was a terrible nursing major. I was absolutely miserable by the end of freshman year and I knew I couldn’t handle another three years of nursing school.Read the full blog post HERE.What to Expect Your First National Cyber League Season | MAKOMaps show us where we are going, but they don’t show us where we have been. In this case, the destination is all that matters. We all arrive at the destination from different points on the map. Cybersecurity is much like this. Some have backgrounds deep in Information Technology (IT) or networking; others have backgrounds in political science, music, medical, math, legal, business, or sales. We all have different entry points, and none of them are “more correct” than others.Read the full blog post HERE.Why High School Students Should Get Started with the NCL Games Right Now! | WOLFSHIRTZThere are varying reasons that a high school students should compete in the National Cyber League (NCL) Games. These reasons can vary from the positive impacts that it can have on your career to the fact that it is just down right fun.Read the full blog post HERE.Where Can I Find Resources for the National Cyber league Games | CRYPTOKAITThis is a legitimate question, one that I am asked all the time. The short answer is that you have already found what I consider the best resource: this blog. It is the whole reason I started this – this entire website is sort of dedicated to creating content to help you get ready for the games.Read the full blog post HERE.Why I Became a Player Ambassador | CRYPTOKAITWhen I first became the National Cyber League (NCL) Chief Player Ambassador, it was the first time NCL had a Player Ambassador. They had a Coach Ambassador on the Operations Team, but they had never had a former player give perspective on their decisions.It started with an email. I emailed the NCL to say...Read the full blog post HERE.

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