What It’s Like to Compete in a Cyber Hackathon (and Win)
Published on May 09, 2025
🔍 What Is the National Cyber League?
The National Cyber League (NCL) is a biannual cybersecurity competition for high school and college students in the U.S. It provides a hands-on, gamified environment to develop real-world cybersecurity skills through Capture-the-Flag (CTF) style challenges. These challenges align with the NIST NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework and objectives from certifications like CompTIA Security+ and CEH.
NCL is powered by Cyber Skyline, a cloud-based platform that hosts the scenario-driven challenges in areas such as:
Cryptography
Network Traffic Analysis
Digital Forensics
Log Analysis
Web App Security
Password Cracking
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
Enumeration & Exploitation
Scanning & Reconnaissance
Each season includes a Practice Gymnasium, an Individual Game, and a Team Game—offering players multiple opportunities to sharpen their skills, collaborate with teammates, and track their performance across seasons.
When I first stepped into the world of cybersecurity, I was eager to put my skills to the test in a meaningful way. The National Cyber League (NCL) gave me exactly that opportunity. Since Fall 2023, I’ve competed in every NCL season—both individually and as part of a team—and with each challenge, I’ve grown into a stronger, more confident cybersecurity professional.
Fall 2023 – My First Season
This was my introduction to the NCL, and it was humbling. I ranked 1,175th out of 7,879 in the Individual Game (86th percentile) and 129th out of 4,672 in the Team Game (98th percentile). My strongest categories included Forensics, Password Cracking, and Network Traffic Analysis. It was my first taste of real-world challenges, and it lit a fire in me.
Spring 2024 – Massive Growth
I came back with more experience and a focused mindset. In the Individual Game, I ranked 468th out of 7,406 (94th percentile) and placed 1st at my college. I saw huge improvements in OSINT (98th percentile), Scanning & Recon (96th), and Log Analysis (96th). My team, “TheWorstHackers,” placed 82nd out of 4,199 (99th percentile). This season marked a major turning point in my cybersecurity journey.
Fall 2024 – Finishing Strong
In the Individual Game, I reached the 96th percentile nationally with standout scores in Enumeration & Exploitation (99th), Cryptography (96th), and Forensics (96th). In the Team Game, we ranked 218th out of 4,893 (96th percentile), once again proving our capability as a high-performing squad. My technical toolkit was sharper than ever, and I was tackling harder challenges with greater confidence.
🔧 Tools That Helped Me Succeed
Wireshark – Deep packet inspection for traffic analysis
John the Ripper / Hashcat – For efficient password cracking
Autopsy, binwalk, Volatility – For digital forensics
nmap, gobuster, dirb – For network scanning and recon
Burp Suite – For identifying web app vulnerabilities
CyberChef – Fast decoding, hashing, and crypto analysis
theHarvester & Recon-ng – For OSINT and footprinting
💡 Key Lessons Over Time
You only get out what you put in – I spent hours in the Gymnasium and it paid off.
Teamwork accelerates growth – Sharing knowledge in team games strengthened my skills.
Documentation is gold – Having a cheatsheet for commands and tools gave me an edge.
Every season is a new benchmark – My percentile jumped from 86% to 96%+ in one year.
🧠 Beyond the Scoreboard
More than rankings, the NCL helped me identify my career strengths. I now know I have a knack for:
Digital Forensics
OSINT investigations
Exploitation & binary reversing
Log and network traffic analysis
🚀 Looking Forward
Participating in three consecutive NCL seasons gave me tangible proof of progress, technical growth, and teamwork under pressure. It's more than just a competition—it's a launchpad for your cybersecurity career.