ECHOClub participated in a community CTF: boroCTF 2026

Here is my honest opinion on boroCTF 2026 within the first 2 hours you saw the experienced teams clear the flags for most of the event, what I did surprise me and enjoyed was the layered release of the flags as the streamed more flags and challenges into the events as it progressed. Playing solo for ECHOClub I went in order through the sections/topics, sending about 20 minutes per challenge before moving on to something else to optimize the vector. the 200-300 level challenges proved to be challenging. Overall the event was fun fininshed scoring 5000 points and placing 200th over 800 teams. The highlight of the event was when I was adding the information to the LinkedIn page, I found out that the hosts and organizers of the event are all high school students! 

ECHOClub competed solo in boroCTF 2026, solving 41 challenges and finishing with 5,000 points across the 3-day event. The writeups below document our methodology, tools, and thought process for selected challenges — broken down step by step so the community can learn from them.

• boroCTF 2026 — Competition Highlights

• boroCTF 2026 ran over 3 days (days 13–15), attracting highly competitive teams from around the world

• The top 10 teams all finished between ~16,000–18,500 points, showing an extremely tight and competitive field right to the end

• WillHackForBeer finished at the top of the leaderboard, edging out the competition in the final hours

• A major scoring surge occurred around day 14 noon — the largest single jump of the competition — where top teams leapt from ~6,000 to over 13,000 points, suggesting a wave of harder challenges were cracked simultaneously

• RubiyaLab showed the most consistent and steady scoring curve across all 3 days

• CazaBanderas had the most dramatic late-game surge, climbing from mid-pack to top 10 in the final stretch on day 15

• The competition saw no clear runaway leader — teams swapped positions multiple times across all 3 days making it one of the most competitive boroCTF scoreboards to date

• ECHOClub competed in the same event, gaining real-world experience going up against internationally ranked CTF teams

Disclaimer: boroCTF 2026 is an independent competition organized and hosted by the boroCTF team — not ECHOClub. ECHOClub participated as a competing team in the Open Division. All prize logistics, customs responsibilities, and competition rules are governed solely by the boroCTF organizers. For prize and shipping inquiries, please refer to the official boroCTF communications: "prizes will be shipped directly to winners, however any issues with customs, import fees, or local regulations will be the responsibility of the recipient." ECHOClub has no affiliation with the organization or administration of boroCTF 2026.

This event is being held by boroCTF. ECHOClub is NOT hosting or responsible for the event. ECHOClub is only looking to provide community information for community participants. All official information is available at boroCTF 2026 | CTFtime