BSides Kristiansand 2025 · Norway · 2025

BSides Kristiansand 2025 Sykt Badge

Norwegian Security BSides SolaSec duck-shaped CTF badge

A source-backed Norwegian Security BSides electronic badge record: Noroff's post-event report documents a custom SolaSec electronic duck badge with seven LED challenge indicators, the official recordings page preserves Caleb Davis's Sykt Badge talk, and Cryptax's CTF write-up documents RP2040/MicroPython behavior, USB serial access, Wi-Fi AP setup, and on-badge web challenges.

BSides Kristiansand Norway Kristiansand Security BSides Electronic Badge CTF Badge RP2040 MicroPython Duck Badge Europe

EventBSides Kristiansand 2025

SeriesBSides Kristiansand

LocationNoroff University College Kristiansand Campus

CountryNorway

People

Authors & Credits

attendee technical write-up author

Cryptax

Cryptax published the technical CTF write-up used for observed RP2040, MicroPython, Wi-Fi, web-CTF, filesystem, and flag-database behavior.

Source

badge developer

Kyle Shockley

Noroff identifies Kyle Shockley from SolaSec as one of the developers of the custom electronic badge.

Source

badge developer and Sykt Badge talk speaker

Caleb Davis

Noroff identifies Caleb Davis from SolaSec as one of the badge developers, and the official recordings page lists Caleb Davis's The making of a Sykt Badge talk.

Source

badge development company

SolaSec

Noroff names SolaSec as the Texas-based cybersecurity company whose Kyle Shockley and Caleb Davis developed the custom electronic badge.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds Norway to the worldwide compendium with a modern regional BSides hardware badge, while keeping the technical description tied to the post-event report and attendee reverse-engineering write-up instead of inventing unrecovered schematics, firmware releases, production files, or image rights.

Hardware

Noroff describes the badge as a custom-designed electronic badge shaped like a duck, made by Kyle Shockley and Caleb Davis from SolaSec, with seven LEDs representing unique challenges. Cryptax's write-up adds observed front LEDs, a USB connector, exposed pins, battery holder, underside button, Morse-code markings, and USB enumeration as a MicroPython board on a Raspberry Pi Pico W / RP2040 platform.

Software & Apps

Cryptax documents MicroPython firmware, USB ACM serial access, a DUCK-prefixed Wi-Fi access point, a web server at 192.168.4.1, on-badge CTF pages, flag submission flow, a MicroPython REPL, filesystem files such as main.py and flagManager.py, and an encrypted JSON flag database. The public trail does not expose an official firmware repository or badge-team challenge archive.

Lore

The first BSides Kristiansand took place on June 6, 2025 at Noroff's Kristiansand campus. Noroff frames the badge as one of the conference's unique elements and quotes SolaSec as saying there were seven different ways to hack it; the official recordings page later published Caleb Davis's talk, The making of a Sykt Badge.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge source-backed

Seven-LED CTF challenge surface

Noroff reports that the duck-shaped electronic badge used seven LED lights, each representing a unique challenge, and quotes SolaSec saying there were seven different ways to hack it.

Compatibility: BSides Kristiansand 2025 Sykt Badge

Source

firmware platform attendee-observed

RP2040 MicroPython firmware surface

Cryptax's write-up records USB enumeration as a MicroPython board, a Raspberry Pi Pico W / RP2040 MicroPython banner, and a MicroPython REPL used to inspect files.

Compatibility: BSides Kristiansand 2025 Sykt Badge

Source

network challenge interface attendee-observed

DUCK Wi-Fi AP and embedded web CTF

The badge created a DUCK-prefixed Wi-Fi access point, exposed an embedded web server at 192.168.4.1, and hosted CTF pages for flag capture.

Compatibility: BSides Kristiansand 2025 Sykt Badge

Source

official talk recording archived

The making of a Sykt Badge talk

The official recordings page preserves Caleb Davis's BSides Kristiansand 2025 talk about making the Sykt Badge.

Compatibility: BSides Kristiansand 2025 Sykt Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

attendee reverse-engineering shortcut note

Cryptax documents extracting and decrypting the flag database through the MicroPython filesystem rather than solving every challenge through the intended path.

The record keeps this as a CTF-solving and archive detail rather than treating it as a badge defect or official intended workflow.

Confidence: attendee writeup
Status: documented
Timeframe: post-event CTF write-up
Source note: Cryptax BSides Kristiansand Badge CTF 2025 write-up.

hardware archive gap note

The recovered public trail proves the electronic duck badge, CTF LEDs, and observed RP2040/MicroPython behavior, but does not expose schematics, PCB files, BOM, official firmware source, case files, or production files.

The catalogue records observed hardware and software behavior while avoiding unrecovered component, board-source, and manufacturing claims.

Confidence: post-event report and attendee observation
Status: needs badge-team archive
Timeframe: post-event archive
Source note: Noroff post-event report, BSides Kristiansand recordings page, and Cryptax technical write-up.

missing rights-cleared image note

No BSides Kristiansand 2025 badge image is published because the recovered event photos, Noroff article images, and attendee write-up images do not provide a specific badge photo or official raster with reusable license or explicit permission, attribution, source URL, and processing provenance.

The Norway record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying event-site media, school-news photos, attendee screenshots, or generated badge art.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, BSides Kristiansand site, Noroff report, and Cryptax write-up.

Resources

BSides Kristiansand 2025 recordings official recordings page · Official recordings page listing Caleb Davis's BSides Kristiansand 2025 talk, The making of a Sykt Badge, with embedded video. BSides Kristiansand current site official event site · Official current site for the BSides Kristiansand lineage, current Noroff Kristiansand campus context, and 2025 archive navigation. Cryptax BSides Kristiansand badge CTF write-up attendee technical writeup · Technical CTF write-up documenting observed badge hardware, RP2040/MicroPython behavior, USB serial access, Wi-Fi AP, web challenge pages, filesystem files, and encrypted flag database. Noroff BSides Kristiansand report post-event report · Noroff report for the June 6, 2025 first BSides Kristiansand event at Noroff's campus and the SolaSec electronic duck badge with seven LED CTF challenges.

Sources

BSides Kristiansand: BSides Kristiansand Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official current site source for the Norwegian Security BSides lineage, Kristiansand campus context, and 2025 archive navigation. BSides Kristiansand: Recordings 2025 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary official source preserving Caleb Davis's The making of a Sykt Badge recording in the BSides Kristiansand 2025 programme archive. Cryptax: BSides Kristiansand Badge CTF 2025 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Attendee technical source for RP2040/MicroPython evidence, front LEDs, USB connector, exposed pins, battery holder, button, Morse-code markings, USB ACM serial access, Wi-Fi AP, embedded web server, challenge pages, REPL, filesystem, and encrypted flag database behavior. Noroff: BSides Kristiansand Unites the Cybersecurity Community Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Post-event source for the June 6, 2025 first BSides Kristiansand conference at Noroff, the custom SolaSec electronic duck badge, seven LED challenge indicators, CTF platform framing, and Kyle Shockley / Caleb Davis credit.