Network Defenders Get Stuck in to Honeynet Challenge
"The binary was downloaded over 5,000 times. The challenge required highly sophisticated skills, so we were excited to see so many people try it out," organiser of the Reverse Challenge, Lance Spitzner, told ZDNet Australia.
With stringent documentation required, just 35 contestants from across the globe decoded the challenge and submitted their findings in full -- and the winner was 27-year-old Australian Dion Mendel.
Mendel's involvement was out of "professional curiosity" as well as the challenge to learn something new. A computer programmer by trade, Mendel's interest in computing is that it provides a wealth of puzzles to be solved. "Unfortunately, it is also addictive," he said.
"I have been told that reverse engineering and de-compiling are extremely difficult tasks. I wished to see if this were true," Mendel said. Furthermore, he added, the challenge provided an opportunity to see just what the technical capabilities of crackers are.
Mendel spent 80 hours participating in the challenge, 25 of which were spent writing up the prerequisite documentation.
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