Since early 2024, I’ve been part of a CTF team comprised of women in security. Led by experienced players who are dedicated to uplifting newbies in the industry and the world of CTF, the experience has been wonderful. I was drawn to OSINT challenges early on, as it felt like a good fit given my research background in communications, but I’ve been branching out into other challenges each opportunity I get. I have captured a few flags, have learnt so much, and more than anything, love the thrill of working as a team to solve a challenge. It’s been a joy and also an immense cognitive challenge at times.
Recently, I competed in an OSINT-centric CTF with a few of my fellow OSINT-loving team members. Deep dives into images, videos, websites, and social communications to discover hidden clues like lines of code or obscure references made me excited for the security space and my transferable skills. There’s obviously something of an espionage appeal to the cybersecurity space in general but particularly in OSINT and forensics; you’re gathering intelligence, after all, and making a case using that evidence. In the instance of OSINT and CTFs, it’s legally obtained via open-source, and like investigative journalism, how you capture the information, the sources you find and use, and how objectively you can assess that evidence will help to build a more complete picture—be it in the real or CTF world.
However, something I noticed on the Discord server for my recent OSINT CTF was a distinct lack of comprehension skills for some competitors, leading to burned chances at flag submissions and paths to destinations far from flags. It seemed a little ironic that players competing to notice clues fell short in the comprehension of elements like wording in a challenge question or details found in clues.
When I used to chase half-marathon PB’s, the elements my coach would work on were the fine details; we never talked about pushing for goal times because he knew that if we worked on the details, the details would work the time. Questions about my foot placement, my cadence, my ground reaction time, where my hips were sitting—did I have an anterior or posterior tilt? Was my head bouncing around like a bobble head, or was it solid on my shoulders? Were my shoulders tight or relaxed? Did my heels constantly cycle back to my butt? Was there a slight shift of my weight forwards, pose-running-method style? So many questions. We would work on video analysis, which was excruciating to watch, but a lot of the time, he’d have me run repeats on a track or field and watch me—providing feedback and asking me to complete various movements then applying micro-adjustments. Some adjustments came easily; others were hard-fought, such as my artistic left-hand, which likes to run its own race.
I mention my half-marathon experience because developing OSINT comprehension skills is similar. By making micro-adjustments, you can improve your chances of success. Getting the solution is the payoff, but the journey to the solution is full of so many lessons, and I like to pay attention to my fellow competitors and team members to see what they are doing—not to compare, as comparison kills joy—instead, like watching and running with runners I admire and working with an experienced coach, I like to learn about how other people get from A to B and if there are gaps in my OSINT challenges or gains in my game I can apply more methodically.
The constant pursuit of growth and learning is what makes this journey of life exhilarating. This is also a big reason why both physical and cerebral challenges are equally appealing to me. I learn through doing, and doing helps me in my being. I’ve found that the lessons learned from physical challenges often mirror those encountered in cognitive pursuits. By examining the commonalities and intersection points, I’m able to extract invaluable insights that transcend any singular domain, the principles become building blocks for personal growth and learning.
Seeline CYBER 
Leave a comment