How to Use KillChain Labs
A practical guide to navigating the platform, completing challenges, and climbing the ranks.
Getting Started
- 1
Create an account
Sign up with email/password or Google OAuth. You'll be taken through onboarding to pick a display name.
- 2
Browse challenges
Head to Challenges to see all available tasks. Filter by domain, kill chain phase, difficulty, or completion status.
- 3
Start with Difficulty 1
Higher difficulties are locked until you build experience. Begin with 1-star challenges to unlock progressively harder content.
- 4
Track your progress
Your Dashboard shows your rank, points, domain coverage, kill chain progress, and skill radar.
Setting Up Your Lab
KillChain Labs challenges require a local security environment — you work on your own machine and submit the flag you find. You have two options: Docker (fastest, works everywhere) or a dedicated Kali Linux VM.
Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Install Docker Desktop from docker.com, then run:
# Pull and launch Kali Linux
docker pull kalilinux/kali-rolling
docker run -it --name kcl-lab \
-v kcl-data:/root \
kalilinux/kali-rolling bash
# Install common tools (run inside the container)
apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
kali-tools-top10 nmap wireshark \
python3-pip git curl wget
To re-enter your lab later: docker start -ai kcl-lab
A full VM gives you a complete Kali desktop with all tools pre-installed. Download the Kali Linux ISO or pre-built VM image from kali.org/get-kali, then set up a hypervisor for your OS:
Windows
macOS
Linux
Prefer a lighter OS? Parrot OS (parrotsec.org) is a solid alternative — smaller footprint, same core tools.
How Challenges Work
Read the scenario
Each challenge presents a realistic cybersecurity scenario. Read carefully — the context contains everything you need to solve the problem.
Submit your answer
Challenges require a specific flag or answer. Flags are case-sensitive and validated server-side. Type your answer in the submission field and hit Submit.
Earn points
Correct submissions award points based on challenge difficulty. Points are added to your total and update the leaderboard in real time.
The Kill Chain Framework
Every challenge is tagged to one of the 7 phases of the Cyber Kill Chain — a model describing the stages of a targeted attack. Understanding each phase helps you think like both an attacker and a defender.
Passive and active information gathering on a target.
Creating malicious payloads and attack tools.
Transmitting the weapon to the target environment.
Triggering vulnerability execution on the target.
Establishing persistence on the compromised system.
Command and control channel communication.
Achieving the final goal — exfiltration, disruption, etc.
Scoring & Hints
Each challenge may have up to 3 hints. Using a hint costs 25% of the base point value per hint.
Hint deductions are applied at submission time. Minimum payout is 10% of base points (floor: 10 pts) no matter how many hints you use.
Use hints strategically — they reduce your score on that challenge permanently.
Difficulty & Unlocks
Progressive Unlocks
Difficulty 3, 4, and 5 challenges are locked until you demonstrate competency at the previous tier. Complete 3 or more challenges at a difficulty level to unlock the next one.
Diff 1
Diff 2
Diff 3
Diff 4
Diff 5
Ranks & Progression
Your rank is determined by total points accumulated. Ranks are purely cosmetic — they reflect your experience level and appear on your profile and the leaderboard.
Leaderboard
The Leaderboard ranks all operators by total points. You can filter by time period (all time, this month, this week) to see who's been most active recently.
- → Your rank is always visible in the top banner
- → Your row is highlighted in teal for quick reference
- → Rankings update in real time as challenges are completed