In 2025 I represented Team Albania at the European Cyber Security Challenge (ECSC).
🔐 The Challenges
We faced:
- Web exploitation & XSS/SQLi
- Binary exploitation & reverse engineering
- Network analysis & packet inspection
- Crypto puzzles & CTF-style tasks
Example: a tricky crypto challenge required reconstructing a custom stream cipher output. Our team combined Python scripting with quick mental math to break it under time pressure.
💡 Teamwork
- 4 members, each specializing in different domains (web, binary, crypto, networking)
- Shared live notes and problem-solving pipelines
- Daily scrimmages before the main event
Outcome
The competition exposed the difference between solving a challenge alone and solving as a team under time pressure. Clear ownership, short updates, and useful notes made as much difference as individual technical skill.
ECSC 2025 gave me a stronger foundation for the next cycle. I have since been selected for Team Albania for ECSC 2026, and I am using what I learned to train with more structure across every category.