First-year students Rebekka, Ilse, and Malin impressed at the Magnet Summit Capture The Flag competition. Despite having less experience than many of the other participants, they secured a strong placement.
From Beginners to Challengers
When the first-year students in the Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) program at Noroff signed up for the Magnet Summit Capture The Flag (CTF), their main goal was to learn and challenge themselves. The competition brought together both seasoned professionals and advanced students, while the Noroff team participated as complete beginners.
- We honestly thought we would end up in last place – or second to last if we were lucky, says Rebekka Hangeland-Larsen.
For Ilse, participating in a CTF had been a goal since the start of her studies, although it felt intimidating at first.
- I really wanted to try CTF, and now we finally had the chance, says Malin Jensen.
- I didn’t think I could do it – I thought it would be way too hard. But when I saw that the Magnet Virtual Summit included a CTF competition, I thought it could be fun to give it a try, especially as a team. So I asked Malin and Rebekka, and luckily they were on board, Ilse explains.
Malin had also wanted to join a CTF earlier but hadn’t had the opportunity.
- I was introduced to CTF during an intro event in our studies. It sounded really fun, but I wasn’t able to participate at the time. Since then, I’ve been eager to try – and now we finally got the chance, says Malin.
CTF – A Digital Treasure Hunt
CTF competitions are a key part of the cybersecurity community and function like digital treasure hunts, where participants solve challenges related to digital forensics, hacking, and analysis. These tasks are designed to simulate real cybercrime cases, requiring technical skills, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.
Even though the Noroff team competed against much more experienced participants, it didn’t really feel that way during the event.
- We had no expectations other than solving at least one task and not coming in dead last. When you’re competing, you don’t really notice how experienced the others are – everyone works at their own pace and with their own methods. But it was incredibly motivating to see that we could solve multiple tasks and climb the scoreboard, says Ilse Groeneveld Slettedal.
The students ended up in 31st place out of 74 teams.
Digital Mysteries and Strategic Thinking
For Rebekka, one of the highlights was digging through files and uncovering hidden clues.
- I really enjoyed diving deep into the files to unravel little ‘mysteries.’ Who are these people, where do they live, what are their hobbies? says Rebekka.
Ilse especially enjoyed the challenges involving social media.
- The tasks where we had to find information related to TikTok, Discord chats, or specific app accounts were some of the most fun, she says.
Malin appreciated the chance to try out new tools they hadn’t yet covered in class.
- I found all the tasks exciting, especially because I got to explore tools we haven’t been introduced to yet. The cipher challenges were the most difficult, says Malin.
One important lesson for all three was knowing when to let go of a task and move on to the next.
- Learning when to move on and come back to difficult challenges was essential. Our team was really good at encouraging each other, and that made me even more motivated to do my best, Malin says.
Rebekka also highlighted the importance of teamwork.
- It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when there’s a lot going on, especially when everything is new. We kept the communication flowing and helped each other out, she says.
📷: Private.
Learning in Practice
To solve the challenges, the students had to draw on both their coursework and new tools they picked up along the way.
- We had just finished our cryptography course, where we learned techniques to solve cipher tasks. We were introduced to CyberChef, which was really useful for uncovering hidden messages in code or images, says Ilse.
Before the competition, they also researched what tools might be helpful.
- I mainly used Magnet’s own software, Axiom – a comprehensive tool for digital forensics. We uploaded the data files we were given and analyzed information from Windows, Chromebook, Android, and iOS. It was a steep learning curve, but very fun to learn a new tool that could be relevant in a future investigative job, Ilse says.
One strategy that worked well was using different approaches in parallel.
- Each of us used different tools: I mainly used Magnet Axiom, Rebekka worked within the folder and file system, and Malin used CyberChef and Ubuntu. I think that helped us solve as many tasks as we did, says Ilse.
A Taste of the Future
Participating in the competition was an eye-opener for how much knowledge is required in digital forensics.
- I learned not to underestimate the level of expertise needed to succeed in this field. This was just the tip of the iceberg, says Rebekka.
Still, the students weren’t discouraged by the challenge – quite the opposite.
- It’s made us even more excited to grow and improve, now that we’ve had a small taste of what lies ahead, says Rebekka.
Their plan going forward? More competitions – and better preparation.
- We had a lot of fun, so we’d definitely love to participate again, says Rebekka.
Through the bachelor’s degree in Digital Forensics and Incident Response, students become digital detectives, focusing on uncovering the who, what, where, and when in complex digital environments. The program prepares students for careers in digital investigations and incident response – whether in large organizations, cybersecurity firms, or law enforcement.
