Hi, I'm DeadPackets (Youssef Awad)!

💻 A passionate cybersecurity researcher, developer, engineer and hacker!

Won "Best Emirati Startup" with CTFae @ GISEC UAE 2024
Head of Engineering & Co-Founder | Building world-class cybersecurity competitions

$> whoami

  • Computer Engineering graduate (+ CS minor) from AUS
  • Head of Engineering & Co-Founder at CTFae
  • Passionate about CTFs, red teaming, and breaking things
  • DevOps enthusiast - I automate everything
  • Cybersecurity educator and community builder
  • Python & Docker evangelist
  • ⭐ Over my 10 years on GitHub, I have opened 151 issues, opened 135 PRs, pushed 4898 commits, created 45 repositories, contributed to 52 projects, gathered 84 stars across all my repos and gists

$> cat resume.txt

Period Company Role
2021 - Present CTFae Head of Engineering & Co-Founder
2022 - Dec 2025 Malcrove Senior Cyber Security Consultant
2019 - 2024 GDI.Foundation Volunteer

$> ls -la projects/

Most of my meaningful and impactful work lives in private repositories at CTFae due to the sensitive nature of our cybersecurity platforms and client engagements.

💻 Technology 🚀 Projects
Python pwnbox-cli AUSCrawl
NodeJS CRNotify AUSCrawl
Puppeteer CRNotify AUSCrawl
Docker pwnbox
JavaScript DOSArchive CrackTheHack EmailCheck HistoryThief

$> cat skills.txt

Languages

Technologies

Frameworks

DevOps

$> cat life.txt | grep "Achievements"

🏆 Awards & Recognition
  • [2024] 🏆 Guinness World Record for the largest CTF in the world with CTFae @ BlackHat MEA 2024 (link)
  • [2025] 🏆 Won "Best Community Engagement" with CTFae @ UAE CyberSecurity Awards 2025 (link)
  • [2024] 🏆 Won "Best Emirati Startup" with CTFae @ GISEC UAE 2024 (link)
  • [2024] 🏆 Became the Official CTF Partner for GISEC UAE (link)
  • [2021] 🏆 Awarded the "Outstanding CSE Student Talent Award" at AUS (link)
  • [2021] 🏆 Created & hosted the longest CTF in UAE with CTFae (link)
💻 Events Hosted with CTFae
  • [2025] Hosted the first ever Bug Bounty CTF @ DEFCON 33 (link)
  • [2025] Hosted the Dubai Cyber Security Challenge @ GITEX 2025 (link)
  • [2025] Hosted the Bahrain National CTF (link)
  • [2025] Hosted BSides Nashville CTF (2nd year) (link)
  • [2024] Hosted CTF @ GITEX GLOBAL showcasing Cyber Drill technology (link)
  • [2024] Hosted CTF for BSides Nashville (first USA CTF!) (link)
  • [2023] Hosted the ADQ CTF (link)
  • [2023] Hosted CTF for BlackHat Saudi Arabia (link)
  • [2023] Hosted CTF for GITEX Africa in Morocco (link)
  • [2023] Hosted CTF for HITB Amsterdam (link)
  • [2022] Hosted Dubai Police CTF (link)
  • [2022] Hosted CTF for the first BlackHat in Saudi Arabia (link)
  • [2022] Hosted CTF for Government of Thailand @ TBCERT (link)
  • [2021] Hosted the largest CTF in the Middle East @ AtHack (link)
  • [2021] Hosted jeopardy CTF @ HITB CyberWeek (link)
🎤 Speaking & Training
  • [2024] Gave CTFae's first Cyber Drill workshop @ HITB SecConf Thailand (link)
  • [2024] Talk about CTFae's story and success @ CPX CyberAlley (link)
  • [2021] 2-day training in Attack Defense CTFs @ HITB SECCONF (link_1) (link_2)
  • [2020] Demonstrated password stealing Windows attack @ GISEC (link)
  • [2019] Invited speaker @ DESC UAE
🥇 CTF Competition Wins
Year Place Competition
2021 🥇 1st The Hunt SOCathon @ GISEC (link)
2020 🥇 1st CyberKnight CTF (link)
2020 🥇 1st CyberTalents UAE Regional CTF (link)
2020 🥇 1st HITB Lockdown CTF (link)
2019 🥇 1st CyberBattle Of The Emirates (link)
2019 🥈 2nd HITB AI Challenge (link)
2019 🥉 3rd CyberTalents Arab Regional CTF (link)
2019 🥇 1st CyberTalents UAE Regional CTF (link)
2019 🥇 1st Dubai Police CTF (link)
2018 🥇 1st CyberQuest Attack & Defence (link)
2016 🥇 1st CyberQuest CTF (link)
2016 🥈 2nd NYU CSAW Forensics CTF (link)

$> git show stats

deadpackets

$> spotify_cli --currently-playing

spotify-github-profile

This README generates every 3 hours. It was last generated Tuesday, February 3rd 2026, 12:33:12.