FIELD NOTES / 06
Recognize the clue.
Choose the right tool.
Repeatable reasoning for common CTF inputs. Each guide explains what the signal means, how to verify it, when the first guess fails, and which local tool to use next.
How to Identify Base64
Use alphabet, length, padding, and decoded structure instead of guessing from appearance alone.
GUIDE 02 / WEBJWT Analysis Checklist
Inspect headers, claims, timestamps, and signatures without confusing decoding with verification.
GUIDE 03 / WORKFLOWHow to Untangle Encoding Chains
Track evidence one layer at a time and know when a transformation should be reversed.
GUIDE 04 / FORENSICSA Repeatable File Forensics Workflow
Preserve the original, hash it, inspect signatures and metadata, then document every action.
GUIDE 05 / FORENSICSFile Signatures and Hex
Recognize common magic bytes and separate a misleading extension from the actual file format.
GUIDE 06 / INTEGRITYVerify Files with SHA-256
Compare digests correctly, preserve evidence, and understand what a matching hash proves.