a new kind of Capture The Flag hacking
Source: YouTube · John Hammond · published Nov 16, 2025 · 15:44
"The Future is Redacted" is a cybersecurity comic by REA Comics (Black Hills Information Security) with embedded CTF challenges, blending entertainment with hands-on learning 0:35-0:50, 1:56-2:05.
Key Takeaways:
• Features hidden puzzles like pigpen cipher challenges on covers, solvable using tools like decode.fr 2:30-3:12
• Challenges hosted online with a scoreboard for submitting flags and tracking progress 3:38-4:04
• Demonstrates solving a Python-based challenge by reverse engineering a smart rifle console to extract the admin password 9:00-12:56
• Built an active community sharing solution writeups and collaborating on challenges 13:31-13:56
• Available at the Spearfish General Store 3:48-4:06
This innovative cybersecurity education approach effectively teaches practical hacking skills through interactive storytelling while building community engagement.
Sources:
- 0:35-0:50 Introduction to REA Comics as part of BHIS
- 1:56-2:05 Explanation of embedded CTF challenges
- 2:30-3:12 Pigpen cipher challenge demonstration
- 3:38-4:04 Online platform and scoreboard
- 9:00-12:56 Python reverse engineering challenge walkthrough
- 13:31-13:56 Community participation and writeups
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First 800 characters of the transcript
The future is >> redacted. >> And when I say that, I mean the comic book. Maybe you've heard of or been to Wild West Hacking Fest, one awesome information security event, and personally one of my favorite conferences. And maybe you've seen or even played back doors and breaches, a super cool approach to tabletop exercises, an incident response card game. These are some of the sweet innovations from the Black Hills information security tribe or family of companies. There's BHIS itself. There's Active Countermeasures, Wild West Hackingfest, Annie Siphon Training, and maybe one that you haven't seen before, Rea Comics. Obviously, these folks have a great knack for making some super creative stuff that helps share cyber security education and celebrate what we do. REA Publishing, and you might…