About

Key Information

• Location: Wareville, home of The Best Festival Company (TBFC)
• Event: SOCMAS - annual cyber celebration being prepared
• Problem: System glitches, password failures occurring
• Suspect: McSkidy suspects foul play; King Malhare name keeps appearing
• Purpose: Each mission teaches essential cybersecurity skills and provides clues for Advent of Cyber 2025

Major Plot Development

• McSkidy has been kidnapped – escalating the stakes from system glitches to direct threat
• Wareville's defenses are compromised without McSkidy's leadership
• Christmas is at risk – the overarching threat has expanded beyond SOCMAS to the entire holiday

New Investigation Lead

• Primary Target: tbfc-web01 (Linux server)
• Function: Processes Christmas wishlists for TBFC
• Evidence Potential: May contain traces of McSkidy's final actions or King Malhare's plans

Antagonist Evolution

• King Malhare's endgame: EASTMAS (a corrupted version of the festival)
• Motivation: Appears to be actively sabotaging TBFC operations, not just causing random glitches

Investigative Direction

The challenge shifts from discovering glitches in isolated systems to forensic investigation of a critical server for evidence of:

• McSkidy's last actions before kidnapping
• King Malhare's involvement and plans
• How the Christmas wishlist system was compromised

THM Credentials

• username: mcskidy
• password: AoC2025!
• Machine IP Changes upon start
• ssh mskidy@ip