Key Metrics
- Team Rank: 214 out of 4,215 teams (Top 5%)
- Team Score: 2,125 / 3,000
- Accuracy: 73.9%
- Completion: 72.9%
- Role: Team Captain
Executive Summary
The National Cyber League (NCL) is a nationally recognized cybersecurity competition designed to measure hands-on skills across the entire cyber defense and offense spectrum, including OSINT, forensics, password cracking, web exploitation, network traffic analysis, and log triage.
In the Fall 2025 Team Game, I served as Team Captain, coordinating technical operations and strategy across multiple modules. Our team achieved a ranking of 214 out of 4,215 teams, placing us in the top 5% nationwide. This reflects a high level of technical performance and leadership under real-world pressure conditions that simulate collaborative incident response and penetration testing environments.
Team Game – Performance Overview
Total Score: 2,125 / 3,000
Accuracy: 73.9%
Completion: 72.9%
Module Highlights
- Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): 290 / 370
- Password Cracking: 275 / 325
- Log Analysis: 215 / 300
- Network Traffic Analysis: 220 / 300
- Web Application Exploitation: 245 / 275
- Scanning & Reconnaissance: 215 / 300
- Cryptography: 210 / 340
- Forensics: 170 / 300
- Enumeration & Exploitation: 185 / 390
Leadership & Coordination
As Team Captain, I led the overall game strategy, emphasizing:
- Task allocation based on teammates’ strengths across categories.
- High-value triage, prioritizing modules with strong point-to-time ratios.
- Accuracy validation, reviewing answers before submission to prevent penalties.
- Cross-domain integration, linking findings from OSINT and Recon modules to accelerate Web Exploitation and Log Analysis progress.
- Real-time documentation, mirroring SOC and incident response workflows for traceability and efficiency.
Skills Demonstrated
The NCL Team Game replicates collaborative environments found in enterprise security operations and penetration testing.
My leadership and participation demonstrated strength in three domains:
Analytical Skills
- Rapid triage and investigative sequencing.
- Correlation of multi-source artifacts (network logs, forensics, and reconnaissance).
- Structured decision-making under time constraints.
Technical Skills
- Password cracking (hybrid/rule-based, hash mutation).
- OSINT and reconnaissance automation workflows.
- Log analysis and event reconstruction.
- Web enumeration and exploitation of common CMS misconfigurations.
- Cryptographic challenge-solving (cipher analysis, key extraction).
- Network traffic inspection and C2 pattern identification.
Operational Skills
- Coordinating multi-analyst workflows in a timed event.
- Managing communication cycles and review checkpoints.
- Documenting findings with actionable intelligence context.
- Translating technical results into clear, verifiable evidence.
Competency Overview
| Category | Strength |
|---|---|
| OSINT | ██████████ 9/10 |
| Password Cracking | █████████ 8/10 |
| Log Analysis | ████████ 7/10 |
| Web Exploitation | ████████ 7/10 |
| Network Analysis | ████████ 7/10 |
| Cryptography | ████████ 7/10 |
| Forensics | ███████ 6/10 |
| Enumeration & Exploit | ███████ 6/10 |
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
| NCL Category | ATT&CK Technique(s) |
|---|---|
| Password Cracking | Credential Access (T1110) |
| OSINT | Reconnaissance (T1591, T1592, T1596) |
| Log Analysis | Defense Evasion & Discovery (T1070, T1087, T1083) |
| Forensics | Collection (T1005), Artifact Analysis |
| Web Exploitation | Initial Access (T1190), Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
| Network Traffic Analysis | Command & Control (T1071), Exfiltration (T1041) |
| Scanning & Reconnaissance | Discovery (T1046, T1087) |
Impact & Relevance
The Fall 2025 Team Game results validate readiness for high-pressure, collaborative cybersecurity environments:
- Reinforced ability to lead a distributed technical team effectively.
- Demonstrated end-to-end proficiency across offensive and defensive skill sets.
- Built operational maturity in threat triage, incident coordination, and adversary emulation.
This experience mirrors the structure and intensity of modern Security Operations Center (SOC) and Threat Intelligence workflows.
About the National Cyber League
The National Cyber League (NCL) is a biannual collegiate cybersecurity competition hosted by Cyber Skyline, designed to simulate real-world incident response and penetration testing challenges. It provides participants with experience in technical problem-solving, teamwork, and threat-oriented investigation.
Learn more: https://cyberskyline.com
Download Score Report
- Team Game Score Report
Download PDF
Technologies & Tools Utilized
- Linux command-line utilities
- OSINT reconnaissance frameworks
- Hashcat and custom rule generation for password cracking
- Network traffic analysis tools (PCAP and C2 correlation)
- Log parsing and event correlation utilities
- Web exploitation testing frameworks
- Collaboration and documentation tools (team-based triage workflows)
Conclusion
Our top-5% national ranking in the Fall 2025 NCL Team Game reflects not just technical proficiency but disciplined coordination under pressure.
As Team Captain, I demonstrated technical leadership, adaptability, and investigative rigor across complex challenge domains—skills that translate directly to Security Operations, Incident Response, and Threat Intelligence roles.