November 19 Meeting Recap

Written by Jason Riek

The Syracuse Information Security Club held a workshop on November 19, led by Vice President Gianna Voce. The meeting focused on a hands-on cybersecurity challenge called “World of Bills” from the NCAE Cyber Games. Here’s a recap of the key points covered:

Announcements

  • No meeting scheduled for the following week due to Thanksgiving break
  • Brief recap of the CNY Hackathon

Challenge Overview

Objective: Participants were tasked with taking over Bill’s server and fixing various issues. This exercise aimed to develop Linux administration and command-line skills, which are fundamental for more advanced cybersecurity concepts and NCAE preparation.

Challenge Access and Setup

  • Participants accessed the challenge through the NCAE Cyber Games website
  • They were instructed to use the BILL-Client-v2-PRQD virtual machine
  • Login credentials: username “bill” and password “password”

Initial Tasks

  1. Locate the cyberuser#.txt file in the home directory (possibly hidden)
  2. Find the assigned IP address using the “ip a” command
  3. Ping 172.19.0.1 to verify server connectivity
  4. Use curl to access the challenge instructions webpage

Additional Activities

The workshop included multiple activities focusing on:

  • Changing IP addresses in Linux
  • Adding sudo users
  • Working with Linux nologin
  • Potential bash scripting for efficiency

Resources Provided

  • Background video for context
  • Instructions for accessing activity details
  • Subnet Mask Reference Sheet for IP-related tasks

Conclusion

The workshop provided hands-on experience with Linux systems and network configurations, emphasizing the importance of foundational skills in cybersecurity. Participants were encouraged to complete as many tasks as possible during the meeting.

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