FCC Forum CTF 2023: 1st Pre-qual, 3rd at the Final
Competing across borders with Redteam TG, at one of West Africa’s serious cybersecurity forums.
The FCC
The Forum de Conakry sur la Cybersécurité (FCC) is a West African cybersecurity conference organized by Guinea Cybersecurity (GCS) and ANSSI Guinée (Guinea’s National Cybersecurity Agency). It brings together government officials, experts, and academics to discuss threats, infrastructure protection, and digital policy across the sub-region.
The 2023 edition ran December 11-12 at the Primus Hotel Kaloum in Conakry, under the theme “Cybersecurity: The Central Role of Humans.” The CTF is one of its main competition tracks.
Playing with Redteam TG
For this one I played with Redteam TG, which brings together some of the strongest cybersecurity practitioners in Togo. The bar was high and the team was serious. Good challenge.
In a team CTF, several challenges are moving at once. We divided the categories, passed partial findings to one another and dropped a path when it was eating too much time. Playing with Redteam TG taught me how much of a result depends on that coordination.
The result
| Phase | Result |
|---|---|
| Pre-qualification | 1st place |
| Final | 3rd place |
FCC CTF 2023 pre-qualification scoreboard: RedTeam-TG 1st.
The pre-qualification scoreboard. RedTeam-TG finished 1st with 2412 points, tied at the top with three other teams. The tie held through the pre-qual; we separated in the final.
We finished first in pre-qual and held a podium position in the final.
The pre-qualification and final did not feel the same. The first stage was about solving enough to make the cut. In the final, every remaining team had already done that, and small delays cost places.
Context
Playing in Guinea with a cross-border team was something different. It showed that the level I had built at home was competitive outside of it. More practically, it confirmed what I already believed: good CTF performance comes from the team dynamic as much as individual skill.
Why the result mattered
We led the pre-qualification and dropped to third in the final. I would have preferred to keep first place, obviously. The drop showed that topping an online stage and winning the full event were two different jobs.
The next results were 1st place at the Togo National CTF 2024, selection for Team Africa at ICC Japan 2025 and qualification for the ECOWAS Grand Final 2026.
Evidence and scope
The scoreboard image above records RedTeam-TG at the top of the pre-qualification table with 2,412 points. The final position is a team result. This article deliberately avoids claiming individual ownership of challenges that were solved collaboratively.