Training Schedule - November 14th 2025
NOTICE: All Training Sessions are at The University of North Florida, University Center, located at: 12000 Alumni Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224
Please check the posted schedule for updates. The schedule is subject to change.
| Time | Track 1 | Track 2 | Track 3 | Track 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00-12:00 |
# It's a Literal Cluster F*** ## Over-Engineering Your Homelab 101 and All the Stuff They Don't Teach You at the Academy! Christian McLaughlin |
Binary Jiu-jitsu: White Belt Fundamentals Joshua Connolly |
The Burglar’s Guide to Web Application Testing: Stealing Secrets Like a Hobbit, a hands-on, story-driven workshop Kevin Johnson |
No Morning Session | |
| 12:00-13:00 | Lunch Break - Offsite | ||||
| 13:00-17:00 |
# It's a Literal Cluster F*** ## Over-Engineering Your Homelab 101 and All the Stuff They Don't Teach You at the Academy! Christian McLaughlin |
Binary Jiu-jitsu: White Belt Fundamentals Joshua Connolly |
The Burglar’s Guide to Web Application Testing: Stealing Secrets Like a Hobbit, a hands-on, story-driven workshop Kevin Johnson |
From Datasheet to .data Section: Acquiring Firmware from a Code-Protected Microcontroller RJ Crandall |
|
Training
| # It's a Literal Cluster F*** ## Over-Engineering Your Homelab 101 and All the Stuff They Don't Teach You at the Academy! |
|
This isn’t your traditional homelab talk it’s a masterclass in **overengineering the hell out of your homelab**. Why? Because we can. And more importantly because that's how real infrastructure is built. Most talks stop at “how to set up a homelab” or “what services to deploy.” Not this one. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll go beyond Docker and VMs to explore how engineers and architects design resilient, scalable systems in production environments and how you can recreate those same practices at home. **You’ll learn how to build and manage:** - High availability clusters and quorum logic - Reverse proxies and load balancers with **HAProxy**, **Nginx**, or **Traefik** - Internal DNS, service discovery, and local PKI - Infrastructure monitoring with **Prometheus**, **Grafana**, **Loki**, and **Alertmanager** - Failure domains, backups, and disaster recovery strategies - CI/CD pipeline integration with your services - Orchestration and automation with **Ansible**, **Terraform**, and GitOps flows - Infrastructure as Code — and why it matters even in your homelab This workshop is ideal for tinkerers, SREs, engineers, and anyone who wants to simulate real-world production infrastructure at home. You’ll walk away with hands-on knowledge and **resume-ready skills** that make you stand out from the crowd. Trainer: Christian McLaughlin Requirements: A Linux Laptop with the latest version of KVM installed (Lab VM instances can be provided to users with Windows or Mac devices however they will need an SSH Client) Cost: $100 |
| Binary Jiu-jitsu: White Belt Fundamentals |
|
Binary exploitation can feel overwhelming for beginners. With so many tools, techniques, and architectures to learn, it’s easy to get lost without a structured path. Binary Jiu-Jitsu is designed to guide students through the fundamentals of binary exploitation using a skill-based, hands-on approach inspired by martial arts training. In this workshop, we’ll cover the essential building blocks for exploiting simple 64-bit Linux ELF binaries. Attendees will learn the fundamentals of computer architecture, reverse engineering with Ghidra, debugging with GDB, finding stack-based buffer overflows, and developing custom exploits using pwntools. Throughout the session, participants earn “stripes” by completing progressively harder hands-on challenges in a live CTFd environment. By the end, students will have the knowledge — and practical skills — to identify vulnerabilities, write working exploits, and pop their first shell. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: • Understand CPU architecture and memory layout fundamentals. • Use Ghidra for disassembly and static analysis. • Debug and inspect binaries using GDB. • Identify and exploit stack-based buffer overflows. • Build exploit scripts using pwntools. • Gain experience solving CTF-style binary exploitation challenges. • Earn four stripes by solving challenges tied to key skills. • Finish with a belt test — a mini-CTF with real exploit scenarios. • Top scorer wins a prize, and all students receive collectible Binary Jiu-Jitsu skill-level stickers. Trainer: Joshua Connolly Requirements: Computer with Virtualbox installed Cost: $100 |
| The Burglar’s Guide to Web Application Testing: Stealing Secrets Like a Hobbit, a hands-on, story-driven workshop |
|
Abstract TBD. Trainer: Kevin Johnson |
| From Datasheet to .data Section: Acquiring Firmware from a Code-Protected Microcontroller |
|
You will learn the following material in the specific context of a PIC18 microcontroller: * Reading datasheets and interacting with microcontrollers with vendor-provided tools * Reading configuration bits and unprotected memory regions * Identifying and attacking improper configuration of microcontroller code protection * Interfacing with a UART peripheral in PIC18 assembly * Bit-banging a microcontroller programming specification via an FTDI cable * Dumping code-protected memory regions from a breadboarded microcontroller * Loading the firmware into a disassembler for initial reverse engineering What this workshop will NOT teach you: * Hardware attacks (e.g., glitching, side-channel analysis, fault injection) * A universal bypass for a properly code-protected PIC18 * In-depth software reverse engineering with Ghidra Trainer: RJ Crandall Requirements: Laptop requirements: * Ability to run a 64-bit virtual machine * VM Specifications: * 4GB RAM * 50 GB Virtual Disk * 4 vCPUs * 2x USB 3.0 (xHCI) ports, concurrently * Tested with: * Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS Host (AMD) * VirtualBox 7.1.12 Hardware kits will be loaned to attendees and available for purchase separately. Cost: $100 |