SINCON Reloaded 2023 · Singapore · 2023

SINCON 2023 Khong Guan Building CTF Badge

Singapore building-shaped serial CTF badge

SINCON 2023's first badge was a Khong Guan Building-inspired interactive CTF badge with a custom single-sided PCB, ABOV A96S174 MCU, CH340G USB-serial bridge, micro-USB, CR2032 holder, 12 MHz crystal, SMD passives, and 1206 LEDs.

SINCON Singapore Khong Guan ABOV A96S174 CH340G Micro USB CR2032 CTF OSINT Crypto Stegano SMD Soldering Southeast Asia Asia

EventSINCON Reloaded 2023

SeriesSINCON

LocationVoco Orchard Singapore, Singapore

CountrySingapore

People

Authors & Credits

Singapore cybersecurity community tie

Division Zero

The official SINCON about page ties SINCON to Division Zero, an open and inclusive cybersecurity community in Singapore.

Source

badge concept collaborator

Emil from SINCON

Named by Abhinav SP as the SINCON collaborator who wanted to make a badge and brainstormed the 2023 CTF badge idea.

Source

badge project author and builder

Abhinav SP

Hackster project author for the Khong Guan Building CTF Badge writeup and credited profile for hardware-learning badge work.

Source

event publisher

SINCON / Infosec In the City

Official event-context source for Singapore SINCON and its annual techno-centric cybersecurity conference framing.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds Singapore and Southeast Asia to the compendium with a conference badge that deliberately joined hardware-village soldering and software-side CTF play in one local building-shaped artifact.

Hardware

The Hackster project lists a custom PCB, Micro USB Type B connector, SMD 1206 LED package, CH340G SOIC16 USB-to-serial TTL UART IC, SMD capacitors and resistors, 12.000 MHz quartz crystal, ABOV A96S174, and CR2032 lithium battery holder. The writeup says the electronics were crammed into the limited space of a single-sided PCB.

Software & Apps

The CTF runs over serial using a terminal or Arduino IDE serial monitor at 9600 baud with Both NL & CR. Sending three stars enters CTF mode, unlocks the first elevator challenge, then allows any of six floors to be solved in sequence or out of sequence across OSINT, crypto, and stegano story challenges. The badge remembers flags after disconnect and shows a trophy/leaderboard path when complete.

Lore

Abhinav SP says Emil from SINCON and he had wanted to make a badge for a long time, then brainstormed the 2023 edition around a CTF badge. The artwork combined SINCON's maze-like logo with Singapore's heritage Khong Guan biscuit-company building, while the hardware village turned tiny upside-down SMD LED soldering into the hands-on activity.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge source-backed

Khong Guan building CTF firmware

The badge CTF uses serial interaction, OSINT, crypto, and stegano story challenges, six floor unlocks, elevator navigation, remembered flags, and a final trophy/leaderboard prompt.

Compatibility: SINCON 2023 Khong Guan Building CTF Badge

Source

firmware interface source-backed

USB-serial badge interface

The badge is played by turning off battery power, connecting micro-USB, opening a terminal or Arduino IDE serial monitor at 9600 baud with Both NL & CR, and sending three stars to enter CTF mode.

Compatibility: SINCON 2023 Khong Guan Building CTF Badge

Source

workshop village source-backed

Hardware-village SMD soldering activity

The SINCON hardware village used the badge for a soldering activity with tiny SMD LEDs mounted upside down, pairing hardware work with the software CTF.

Compatibility: SINCON 2023 Khong Guan Building CTF Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No local SINCON 2023 badge photo has been added because the recovered Hackster article images have not been paired with explicit image reuse rights, attribution, and processing notes for catalogue publication.

The Singapore entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying project photos without a complete image provenance record.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and Hackster.io badge writeup.

source-code archive gap note

The recovered project-owner writeup documents hardware components and CTF behavior, but this pass did not recover a public firmware, schematic, PCB, or BOM archive for the SINCON badge.

The dossier records the observable hardware and serial CTF flow while avoiding unsupported repository or source-code claims.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs public firmware or schematic recovery
Timeframe: 2023 badge archive pass
Source note: Hackster.io Khong Guan Building CTF badge writeup.

Resources

AiSP community events 2023 event listing · AiSP listing corroborating SINCON Reloaded Conference dates of 5-6 Jan 2023 and Voco Orchard Singapore venue. Khong Guan Building CTF Badge writeup badge writeup · Abhinav SP's project-owner writeup documenting the first SINCON badge, hardware components, building design, SMD soldering village, serial CTF behavior, and credits. SINCON about page event page · Official SINCON/IIC page describing SINCON as Singapore's annual premier techno-centric cybersecurity conference tied to Division Zero.

Sources

AiSP: Community Events 2023 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Event-listing source for the SINCON Reloaded Conference date range and Voco Orchard Singapore venue. Hackster.io / Abhinav SP: The Khong Guan Building CTF Badge | SINCON Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary project-owner source for the first SINCON badge, ABOV A96S174, CH340G, micro-USB, CR2032, SMD LED soldering, serial CTF operation, six-floor challenge model, and Abhinav SP / Emil credit. Infosec In the City: About SINCON Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary event-context source for SINCON's Singapore techno-centric cybersecurity-conference framing and Division Zero tie.