TryHackMe HACKFINITY BATTLE CTF — My Experience & Approach

The Challenge

On March 20, 2025, I participated in TryHackMe's HACKFINITY BATTLE CTF competition. I completed the challenge with 180 points, solved 14 tasks, and achieved a ranking of #1152 globally.

My Approach

CTF competitions test a wide range of skills in a time-pressured environment. My strategy was to:

1. Start with reconnaissance — understand what services and technologies are in play
2. Target low-hanging fruit — solve easier challenges first to build momentum and points
3. Document everything — keep notes on each challenge for writeups and future reference

Challenge Categories I Tackled

• Web Exploitation — Finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications
• OSINT — Gathering intelligence from publicly available sources
• Cryptography — Decoding and breaking cipher challenges
• Network Analysis — Analyzing packet captures with Wireshark

Tools I Used

• Nmap for port scanning and service enumeration
• Burp Suite for web application testing
• Wireshark for network traffic analysis
• CyberChef for encoding/decoding challenges

Lessons Learned

CTFs are one of the best ways to sharpen practical cybersecurity skills. Every unsolved challenge is a learning opportunity — I always go back and review solutions I couldn't figure out during the competition.