John "Mako" McGill
How can we crack these cryptic ciphers? Fortunately, we don't have to supplicate before any ancient world-swallowing, madness-inducing deities. (Although, Mako does feel like losing his mind a little during the NCL games.) Instead, Mako introduces key markers and tricks for identifying encoding schemes!
Paul Buonopane
OSINT is a broad category in the real world—and an ethical gray area. What types of challenges await you in a timed competition like NCL? Paul Buonopane provides a peek behind the curtain and shares his favorite advanced search operators, metadata viewers, and real-world OSINT gathering tools. Use them responsibly!
JeanaByte
There she was—a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, freshman nursing major. We know what you're thinking: How in the world did she end up here? Well, for starters, she was a terrible nursing major. Next came Excel, some HTML... and CryptoKait!
John "Mako" McGill
(First in a five-part series.)
Once a group of like-minded individuals becomes a regular hangout, why turn it into a formal club? Mako offers the practical reasons, and highlights the next important steps. Understanding these is essential if you want to keep folks coming back!
CryptoKait
Like Bryan Mills in Taken, Cyber Skyline's Cheating Audit will find you. Ignorance of the rules is no defense, so CryptoKait explains precisely, and in unambiguous Fight Club terms, what does and does not constitute cheating within the NCL Games.
Hush1e
Hush1e likes to start off each NCL season with a fresh installation of VirtualBox and a shiny, new Kali Linux virtual machine (VM). If you've never set up a VM before, follow along with Hush1e! (Coffee optional.)
CryptoKait
"I told them I was going to use their challenges to help get more girls interested in Capture-the-Flags (CTFs) and I really didn't want to get sued. I had a list of reasons why it was important and why they weren't allowed to say no." Read on to see how one email from the Kait-nado* started it all! (*CryptoKait Tornado.)
CryptoKait
CryptoKait polled the NCL Player Ambassadors and the NCL Board of Directors to bring us this comprehensive list of resources for 2020—blog highlights, practice challenges, coaching resources, live shows, where to ask questions, and more!
wolfshirtz
As a Lead Player Ambassador and high school student himself, wolfshirtz speaks with the utmost authority on the benefits of starting NCL early. You'll network, build self-esteem and professional skills, and set yourself up for long-term success, all while having a blast!
John "Mako" McGill
Mako was once asked to sum up the NCL in five words. After much deliberation, he decided on: "Learned it? Prove it!" (and he had one word left to spare!). In your first NCL competition, you can expect to do both. Mako explains how to find your strengths, confront your weaknesses, and discover your specialty through the Games.
CryptoKait 
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