/dev/side-quests

linux btw.

Fedora lives on the laptop. I like tech, I occasionally poke at Hack The Box and TryHackMe, and I enjoy the very specific satisfaction of making a computer do something it initially refused to do.

// workstation mood

Fedora, on purpose.

$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Fedora Linux"

$ echo $HOBBIES
linux ctf troubleshooting breaking-things-fixing-them

$ sudo dnf upgrade
[sudo] password for anton: ********
Nothing to do.
Complete!
// current rabbit holes

Things worth losing an evening to

FedoraLinuxHack The BoxTryHackMenetworkingsecurityshell scriptinghomelab energy

The line between “learning” and “why did I reinstall my bootloader at 1:30 AM?” is thinner than advertised.

// ctf loop

The scientific method,
but louder.

I am not pretending to be a movie hacker. CTFs are mostly curiosity, enumeration, documentation, rabbit holes, and eventually realizing the clue was right there.

01. Enumerate everything

Ports, services, versions, files, weird behavior. Collect facts before writing fan fiction about the exploit chain.

02. Form a theory

Pick the suspicious thing and test it. Accept that the suspicious thing may be completely innocent.

03. Read documentation

The forbidden technique. Extremely effective.

04. Get flag / get humbled

Both count as learning. Only one produces dopamine immediately.

// rule zero

Keep the security stuff legal.

Labs, CTF platforms, systems I own, or systems I have explicit permission to test. Breaking into random things is not a personality trait.

secret diagnostic
BOXER
NOISES

You typed BRZ. The website approves.