Codebreaker Challenge Community of Practice

This community exists to provide Codebreaker Challenge participants and people interested in cybersecurity a place to talk about Codebreaker, cybersecurity, and other related topics.

This community is a resource for you. It’s a place to talk and share ideas, and is made up of the Wiki and the Discord. The goal of these resources is to help participants from any background or experience level in cybersecurity get up and running, find answers to their questions (even the questions they may be afraid to ask). This is also a place where you can help others learn more about cybersecurity and cybersecurity culture.

From tools to jargon, concepts to pop culture references, the Wiki is here to cover everything it can to help you explore the field of cybersecurity and participate in community discussions. If you think of a term, tool, or concept that's missing, go ahead and add it to the Wiki. This resource is something we hope the community will both use and help grow.

The NSA Codebreaker Challenge official site is: https://nsa-codebreaker.org/home. Specific resources for previous challenges are provided on the Challenge site: https://nsa-codebreaker.org/resources.

Membership in the Community of Practice is encouraged, especially for students and faculty at institutions of higher education. Only people from institutions approved by the Codebreaker Challenge may be members in the Community of Practice and the Wiki discussions. 

The End User License Agreement for the Community of Practice is shown below. To become a member you will have to agree to follow the EULA shown below.

The CBC CoP wiki [link coming soon] provides resources for cybersecurity cultural and technical learning. 

The CBC CoP discord is a place for discussions and community engagement. The focus is on codebreaker challenge and learning cybersecurity, but the cultural background and influences for cybersecurity are also topics of interest. You should have received an invitation to the discord when you registered with Codebreaker Challenge; you will need to use the same email address in the discord server as you used for registering for the challenge. 

I will respect others and their questions

      As a member of this community, you should encourage members to participate and ask questions, even if they are rudimentary. Focus on giving each member an opportunity to say their part and provide positive feedback -- not everyone has the same technical skills and knowledge. This group was formed to close those knowledge gaps but also promote self-learning.

I will foster learning and continuous improvement

      As a member of this community, you are encouraged to contribute to a conversation if you have information that could help guide another community member to discover the answer. You are encouraged to contribute to the community knowledge base, which can contain tutorials on how to use tools, but cannot contain step-by-step guides or code developed to solve codebreaker challenges during the competition. 

I will focus on concepts, not answers

      As a member of this community, questions you ask should help you better understand the general principles of how protocols, tools, and architectures work. Make sure to include descriptions of what you already know and have tried to give context to your questions. Avoid questions that amount to “What do I do?” until you’ve exhausted your own knowledge and research capabilities; figuring things out for yourself is much more rewarding. In the Solo Challenge competition scenario, YOU are the person with the expertise to do research and determine the next step; you are not to collaborate with anyone.

I will encourage others to live by this code

      As a member of this community, if you see or notice other members of the community violating the code of conduct, you should kindly remind them about the code. If you see extreme/continued violations or a violation in a Solo Challenge, report the violation(s) to the moderators. We want this community to stimulate growth and knowledge and need all members to encourage others to abide by the code. 

I won’t do harm

      As a member of this community, you pledge to be a force for good, both in and out of the community. You will not degrade people; all criticism should be constructive and tactful. You will not use the considerable skills you develop here to disrupt or destroy systems you do not have authorization to attack, including the Codebreaker Challenge itself.

I won’t cheat, plagiarize, or give spoilers

      As a member of this community, you pledge to abstain from any fraudulent or deceptive conduct on activities relating to the Codebreaker Challenge. You pledge that you will not misrepresent other’s work as your own, claim ownership of material you did not create, or post spoilers. Solo Challenges are to be solved on your own, so collaborating with others on those is cheating. Community members found guilty of cheating/plagiarism will face consequences determined by a panel of moderators and will be reported to the NSA Organizers.

I won’t discourage ideas or feed trolls

      As a member of this community, you pledge to treat others with respect and to maintain civil discourse in person and in online communication platforms. Specifically, you should treat ideas with respect and should do your best to keep an open mind while solving problems and helping others with their questions. If you recognize that others are willfully engaging in toxic or otherwise abrasive behavior, disengage and report their behavior to the moderators. 

I won’t collaborate on any Solo Challenge

      As a member of this community, you pledge to abide by the stipulations on each stage of the challenge. Solo Challenges must be solved by the participant without any guidance, assistance, or help from any other person. You also pledge to not give or receive help on Solo Challenges during the competition.