After a few months of sporadic work, I finally finished the “Bandit” games on OvertheWire. These are fairly basic challenges where you’re essentially trying to retrieve a hidden password from a Linux VM.

Proof, Base64 encoded...
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

What a great product; I’ve already started working through Natas. It builds on itself, but you can leave a few notes and pick it up/put it down for a while.

There is a certain stickiness to what you learn from working through these small attainable problems. They don’t try and do to much or take massive jumps in difficulty. I would highly recommend these to anyone, even if you’re not interested in cyber security… I mean, what a great way to get familiar with in OS and a command line.