Kannan

Competitive Cybersecurity 101: Course Materials & Lecture Archive

"We are in the most dangerous period, the transition when attackers might gain a significant advantage as the technology ecosystem digests the impact of AI... Falling behind is not an option."
— Jim Zemlin, CEO of the Linux Foundation

The official open-source repository for Competitive Cybersecurity 101. This educational initiative is designed to equip students with the foundational skills, technical pipelines, and ethical frameworks required to compete in the National Cybersecurity Olympiad (NCO) and the International Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO).

Originally developed for the Cybersecurity Club at DPS International School, Singapore, this curriculum is freely available to educators, students, and self-taught enthusiasts worldwide.

Ethical Framework & Disclaimer

All knowledge, tools, and methodologies presented in this course are strictly for educational purposes. Participants must only apply these techniques in environments where they have explicit, documented permission (e.g., authorized CTF platforms like picoCTF). Unauthorized access or testing on systems without explicit authorization constitutes a criminal offense under the Computer Misuse Act.

Lecture Archive

This page will be updated weekly as the 2-month course progresses. Below are the materials for the foundational sessions.

Lecture 1A: Introduction to CTF & Cybersecurity

Date: July 10, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: This foundational session establishes the strategic importance of cybersecurity in the modern AI-driven threat landscape. It outlines the NCO-to-ICO competitive pipeline, demystifies the mechanics of Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions, and introduces beginner-friendly, gamified learning environments such as picoCTF. The lecture concludes by establishing strict ethical boundaries and the principles of responsible conduct in cybersecurity.
View Lecture 1A Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 1B: Python Foundations for CTF Scripting

Date: July 10, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: Python is the industry standard for cybersecurity automation. This session bridges fundamental programming concepts with their direct application in CTF challenges. Topics include Python data types, string manipulation, ASCII/Unicode translation, and the critical distinction between encoding (Hexadecimal, Base64) and encryption. The lecture culminates in practical control flow mechanics (loops and conditionals) required for automated data parsing and pattern recognition.
View Lecture 1B Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 2: Python for CTF Scripting

Date: July 17, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: Moving beyond basic syntax, this session focuses on writing robust, automated scripts to solve CTF challenges efficiently. Students learn to leverage Python dictionaries for fast data mapping and functions for modular "decoder toolboxes." The lecture covers essential forensic and web exploitation techniques, including memory-efficient File I/O for parsing massive logs, bulletproof exception handling (try/except), command-line arguments via sys, and making HTTP requests using the requests library. The session culminates in a hands-on automated log parser challenge.
View Lecture 2 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 3: Cryptography I (Classical & Symmetric)

Date: July 24, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: This session demystifies the core goals of cryptography—confidentiality, integrity, and authentication—while clarifying the critical distinctions between encoding, encryption, and hashing. Students explore classical ciphers like Caesar and Vigenère, learning to break them using Python modulo arithmetic and automated solvers like CyberChef and dCode.fr. The lecture then transitions to modern symmetric encryption, explaining the mathematical foundation of the XOR operation and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as applied in CTF environments.
View Lecture 3 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 4: Cryptography II (Asymmetric & Post-Quantum)

Date: July 31, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: This lecture tackles the key distribution problem by introducing asymmetric cryptography, focusing on the mathematical foundations of RSA and the Diffie-Hellman key exchange. Students learn how digital signatures reverse RSA keys to prove identity rather than secrecy. The session also looks to the future, exploring the existential threat that Shor's Algorithm and quantum computing pose to current encryption standards, and introduces Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) like lattice-based cryptography. Practical CTF skills include using gmpy2, FactorDB, and RsaCtfTool to exploit weak RSA implementations.
View Lecture 4 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 5: Forensics I (Files, Metadata & Steganography)

Date: August 07, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: Grounded in Locard’s Exchange Principle, this lecture introduces the digital forensic mindset required to recover and analyze hidden evidence without altering the original files. Students learn to bypass deceptive file extensions by verifying Magic Bytes and extracting hidden metadata using industry-standard tools like exiftool and hex editors. The session also covers the art of steganography, teaching students how to uncover data hidden in image color planes (LSB) and audio spectrograms, as well as how to extract embedded files using strings and binwalk.
View Lecture 5 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 6: Forensics II (Networking & Disk Forensics)

Date: August 14, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: This session expands the forensic toolkit into network traffic analysis and disk imaging, emphasizing the golden rule of always analyzing bit-for-bit copies rather than original evidence. Students master Wireshark to filter millions of packets, intercept data exfiltration, and extract hidden files directly from HTTP traffic. The lecture also debunks the "deleted file" myth by exploring unallocated space and teaching file carving techniques using command-line tools and the Autopsy GUI to recover wiped evidence.
View Lecture 6 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 7: Web Exploitation I (Client-Side Attacks)

Date: August 21, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: Focusing on the principle that "the client is never to be trusted," this lecture explores the architecture of web applications and the vulnerabilities inherent in client-side execution. Students learn to weaponize browser Developer Tools (F12) to manipulate the live DOM, bypass HTML input restrictions, and hijack session state by editing plaintext cookies. The session concludes by demonstrating the inherent flaws of client-side JavaScript validation, teaching students how to read source code to extract hardcoded credentials.
View Lecture 7 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Lecture 8: Web Exploitation II & Mini CTF

Date: August 28, 2026
Instructor: Kannan Murugapandian
Description: Transitioning from the browser to the backend, this lecture tackles severe server-side vulnerabilities where untrusted user input interacts directly with the operating system and databases. Students learn the mechanics and syntax of Command Injection and SQL Injection (SQLi), practicing classic login bypasses and arbitrary command execution. The session also introduces Burp Suite as the ultimate web proxy for intercepting and modifying HTTP requests. View Lecture 8 Slides on SpeakerDeck

Practice Challenges & Resources

Licensing

All educational materials, presentation slides, and practice challenges associated with Competitive Cybersecurity 101 are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.

Educators, students, and CTF enthusiasts are highly encouraged to use, adapt, and share these resources for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given and any derivative works are shared under the same license.

For curriculum adaptation inquiries, or feedback, please contact the instructor at kannan [dot] mp [at] proton [dot] me