CTF Machine Engineer

About WissenHive

WissenHive eLearning Private Limited builds instructional design and cybersecurity learning content, working alongside CyberYami's SkillUp platform to deliver hands-on, practical security education — including CTF (Capture the Flag) challenges, virtual labs, and hackable environments for learners ranging from students to enterprise professionals.

Role Overview

We're looking for a CTF Machine Engineer Intern to design, build, and deploy Capture the Flag challenges and vulnerable machines for our CTF platform and training labs. You'll work on everything from beginner-friendly boxes to advanced, multi-stage insane-difficulty machines, helping shape how thousands of learners practice real-world offensive and defensive security skills.
This is a hands-on, build-heavy role — not a theory role. You'll be scripting exploits, containerizing environments, and thinking like both an attacker and a challenge designer.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build CTF machines/challenges across categories: Web, Network, Binary Exploitation (Pwn), Reverse Engineering, Cryptography, Forensics, and Cloud Security
• Develop vulnerable-by-design environments using Docker/Docker Compose, ensuring reliable, reproducible deployments
• Write exploit code and proof-of-concept solutions for each machine to validate difficulty and solvability
• Design multi-stage/multi-flag machines with realistic attack chains (privilege escalation paths, lateral movement, rabbit holes, etc.)
• Document machines thoroughly: build guides, walkthroughs, hints, and platform integration notes
• Calibrate difficulty ratings (Easy → Insane) and estimated solve times through testing
• Collaborate with the content and platform teams to integrate machines into the CyberYami CTF infrastructure
• Stay current with CVEs, real-world attack techniques, and CTF trends (HackTheBox, TryHackMe, DEF CON CTF, etc.) to keep challenges fresh and relevant
• Support security and QA testing of lab infrastructure to prevent unintended machine breakout or misuse

Required Skills

• Strong understanding of common vulnerability classes: OWASP Top 10, buffer overflows, privilege escalation, insecure deserialization, SSRF, etc.
• Hands-on experience with Linux systems administration and scripting (Bash/Python)
• Familiarity with Docker and containerized environment design
• Working knowledge of at least 2–3 CTF categories (Web, Pwn, Crypto, Forensics, Reversing, Cloud)
• Comfortable using tools like Burp Suite, Ghidra/IDA, Wireshark, Metasploit, Nmap
• Prior CTF participation (individual or team) — CTFtime profile, HackTheBox/TryHackMe rank, or similar is a strong plus

Good to Have

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) for cloud-security-themed challenges
• Exposure to Wazuh, Splunk, or other SIEM tools
• Basic scripting for automated flag validation/checker scripts
• Interest in instructional design — ability to explain a machine's logic to learners at different skill levels
• Any security certifications (CompTIA Security+, eJPT, OSCP in progress, etc.) — not mandatory

What You'll Gain

• End-to-end ownership of published CTF machines used by real learners
• Direct mentorship from the CyberYami/WissenHive security and platform team
• A strong portfolio of published, credited CTF content
• A clear path to a full-time offer (₹3.00–4.80 LPA) at the end of the internship, based on performance

Eligibility

• Students/recent graduates in Computer Science, IT, or Cybersecurity, or self-taught candidates with demonstrable practical skills
• Able to commit full-time (remote) for 12 months
• Self-driven — comfortable working independently in a remote-first environment

Compensation

Stage Details Internship (12 months) ₹10,000/month stipend, fully remote Post-internship (on conversion) ₹3.00 – ₹4.80 LPA, based on performance evaluation