An Unexpected Fifth Place at Taming25 Finals

My team recently participated in the Taming25 Finals organized by UiTM Jasin.

We originally qualified through an additional alumni slot, which came as a surprise. Since we did not expect to enter the finals, I approached the competition casually and treated it as a short experience rather than something where we would seriously compete for a placement.

However, the competition went better than expected.

During the four-hour event, we focused mainly on Web and Digital Forensics challenges. By the end of the competition, we had managed to solve seven Web challenges and two Forensics challenges.

That result placed us fifth overall.

For a team that entered without expecting much, it was a satisfying outcome.

The competition also pushed me to work on more Web challenges than I usually would. My main interests are generally malware analysis, reverse engineering, and digital forensics, so spending a large part of the event on Web challenges gave me a useful change of perspective.

Some challenges required us to inspect application behaviour, test inputs, identify weaknesses, and understand how the website handled requests. Others required us to investigate forensic artifacts and locate evidence hidden among unrelated information.

Working as a team helped us move faster. Whenever one person became stuck, another person could review the challenge with a fresh perspective.

My teammates, Nasrin Shahirah and Sofea, also made the competition much more entertaining. Even during stressful moments, we still managed to joke around and enjoy the event.

This competition reminded me that entering without high expectations does not mean we should avoid trying our best. Sometimes, a relaxed mindset reduces pressure and makes it easier to think clearly.

It also gave me several lessons:

• Try categories outside your usual specialization
• Communicate partial findings instead of working silently
• Do not underestimate what a small team can accomplish
• Stay calm when the scoreboard changes
• Enjoy the experience even when competing seriously

Congratulations to all the teams that participated, and thank you to UiTM Jasin for organizing the event.

What began as an unexpected qualification ended with an unexpected fifth-place finish.

Taming25 Finals gallery