Security challenges with story, scale, and chaos.
Multi-stage Holiday Hack Challenge writeups documenting the technical path through web, cloud, forensics, reversing, identity, and infrastructure puzzles without losing the narrative that makes each KringleCon memorable.
Walkthroughs preserve the sequence of discovery, pivots, tooling, and validation across each event.
Holiday Hack blends security domains, making each year useful beyond any single challenge category.
Recent entries include video walkthroughs alongside the written archive for multiple learning styles.
Enter KringleCon by year.
Each event stands on its own, with a different story, threat model, challenge structure, and collection of technical lessons.
2 Turtle Doves
Explore the 2019 Holiday Hack Challenge and its mix of technical objectives, hidden clues, and narrative-driven investigation.
- PowerShell
- Splunk
- Zeek
- Machine Learning
4 Calling Birds
Follow the 2021 challenge path through its layered technical objectives and evolving KringleCon storyline.
- Web Security
- Cloud
- Forensics
- Logic
5 Golden Rings
Review the 2022 event as a complete case study in investigation, challenge chaining, and practical security problem solving.
- Identity
- Web Apps
- Cloud
- Threat Hunting
6 Geese A-Lei'ing
Work through the 2023 challenge archive, preserving both the solution path and the reasoning behind each technical decision.
- Cloud Security
- Linux
- Web Exploitation
- Incident Response
Holiday Hack Playlist
Watch the 2024 Holiday Hack Challenge walkthrough series directly from the Phoenix YouTube collection.
- Video Walkthroughs
- Challenge Solutions