Netwars Competition | Top Talent from Round 2.0

Note from the Sans NetWars GameMaster

Michael played the recent round of NetWars (with 3809 points). He did exceedingly well and after joining along with the team from Attack Research, ended up winning Round. 2.0. He helped the team score collective points and even showed a few team members a few tricks during the game. He played as a peer alongside security professionals on the team, well enough that I was asked/told several times, "Who is this guy? He's fast - he's good."

Interview

Q. So, Michael, what we'd really like to hear about is what it was like to participate in the NetWars competition. But for starters, how did you even find out about it?

A. In May, a news collective, Digg, pointed me to an article on Forbes.com that described the NetWars contest but didn't provide any information on how to actually participate. About a month later, a link to the contest surfaced on the 2600 news feed, and the rest is history!

Q. And just out of curiosity, you're in your senior year in high school - had you already taken computer science courses at school?

A. Yes, I've taken a few, but they don't offer computer security classes. I've taken Graphic Design, Web Design and Animation, and Computer Networking and Repair. I enrolled to take Introduction to Programming this year, but they cancelled it, because they couldn't find a suitable teacher.

Q. So once you started to play, did you think it was hard?

A. Yes, it was actually really hard in the beginning of the game, but once I became familiar with the targets and layout of the game, things became a little easier.

Q. What was the hardest part for you and if/when you got to a real challenging part, did you ever feel you were in over your head?

A. I think the hardest part for me was initially starting out, but as the game progressed, I was able to come up with a plan of action and advance further.

Q. What was the best part of this competition?

A. Hacking the scoring server. :)

Q. What did YOU want out of this game? Challenge? Fun? See if you can beat the machine?

A. I didn't really play for any set reason. I just saw the article and said, "That looks neat. I'll give it a shot." It is certainly fun, though, and it provided me with challenges that I really had to wrap my head around to solve.

Q. Did you ever wonder about what you might "win" or get out of it?

A. The original flyer said something about "cyber camps," but I didn't really know what that meant. I played just to play, and if I won anything from it, then all the better.

Q. Just out of curiosity, did this game take you away from other stuff - like homework or chores or whatever - that you were supposed to be doing?

A. Yeah, round one distracted me a bit from chores and summer schoolwork, but I played it mostly in my free time. However, round two was much different. I still did chores, but I didn't do much else with that week, haha.

Q. How much time DID it take you to play? And did you do it after school or mostly on weekends?

A. Well, since it was held during summer, I didn't have to worry about school (thankfully), so it wasn't that bad. I mostly spent a few hours in the afternoon and a few hours at night with the game.

Q. Were you surprised when you won? Did you know that the second highest score came from a TEAM of five (?) players working together?

A. I was actually very surprised to be honest. I didn't expect to win, because I assumed that the people I was competing against would be in college with formal educations. Also, I had no idea the second place contestant was in fact a team of five until you asked me!

Q. Did you sign up for the next round?

A. Yes I did. I was invited to join the first place team, so depending on how our points are distributed among the individual players, I will either be in first or second place. Yes! I played round two also and did very well. Thankfully, it was held just before school started, so I was able to play with no conflict.

Q. How could you (have demonstrated your skills, or show how good you are) if you hadn't had the opportunity to play in the NetWars rounds?

A. Well, there aren't many options for hackers to be able to exercise and develop their skills. There are a few homemade wargames and "hacker challenges" websites, but they don't provide opportunities or open doors for the players. Most would just simply target random servers and hack illegally, so it was great that I came across NetWars. It is essentially a wargame in itself, but it goes further than just personal enjoyment. I'm really glad that I was able to participate!

The ones that I've personally played are SmashTheStack, Hacker Central, and http://p6drad-teel.net/~windo/wargame/. I've never played http://www.overthewire.org/wargames/ before, but I've heard good things about it.

Q. And finally, Michael, did playing this game make you think any more, less or for the first time, about what you might like to do when you get out of college?

A. Well, I definitely had my heart set on computers as a career choice beforehand, but I'm now certain that I wish to do security. However, from playing the game, I've met with many different people and have been able to listen to their professional experiences and bits of advice.

Q. Last question: did the SANS people give you any ideas about directions to take after college or what you could use your skills for?

A. I've always kept the idea of working for the government in the back of my mind after reading the article about the DarkMarket sting, but SANS and NetWars has definitely strengthened that idea. I'd love to work for the government someday, perhaps even in Cyber Crimes Division.