You had decided to spend Halloween night watching horror movies at home, curled up with your beloved Labrador retriever, Bones.

But Bones caught a whiff of something irresistible: the sweet, sugary scent of Halloween candy. He bolted out the door before you could grab your flashlight or even finish your bite of toffee apple, and vanished into the fog.

The trail of paw prints leads to Specter Street. It's not the kind of place you want to explore alone at night. The neighbors are... strange. Their houses creak even when no one moves. Whispers drift from basements. And some of them haven’t been seen in decades.

But you have to find Bones! You need to search every house on the street to find him.

Lab 1: Trick or Trace

Defensive, Wireshark packet analysis, SOC Analyst

You make your way to the first house: a dusty Victorian manor with broken windows and a rusted iron gate. The occupant has clearly prepared for Halloween – you can see pumpkins glowing and a lifelike skeleton grinning from the garden.

When you knock on the door, a kind lady greets you with four mysterious bowls. These aren’t ordinary treats — inside are packets of unprotected data, and only by sifting through the noise can you uncover the sweetest rewards. You're not sure your lab is here, but a tasty treat might help your search.

Lab 2: S.I.L.V.E.R.

CTI, OT, dark web

Welcome to the dark world of cyber threat intelligence, where the supernatural is cybersecurity reality. You're a freelance CTI analyst who has been monitoring emerging threats. During what should be a quiet Halloween evening, your threat monitoring systems have flagged unusual activity on the dark web forum "GhoulNet" that demands immediate investigation.

Your automated alerts have detected mentions of an operation called "S.I.L.V.E.R." along with references to water infrastructure and something about "werewolf territories." The communications appear to be coming from users with vampire-themed handles, but in this world where supernatural creatures exist alongside modern technology, that might not be as unusual as it sounds.

Lab 3: Ripper’s Riddle

Defensive, hashing algorithms, SOC Analyst

The next house along Specter Street is covered in police tape. The decor really goes all out – they’ve even got a police car parked in the driveway for realism!

You knock on the door, unsure of what goodies you’ll get this time. Will it be a trick or a treat? The door swings wide open, revealing a body on the floor. The police tape, the police car – this isn't just spooky decor, it's a real crime scene!

The police begin to usher you out of the house. But before they kick you out, one of them notices your Immersive hat. They realise you're a cyber professional and invite you in to help with the case.

Need help solving the mystery? OisinB​ will be on hand in this pre-recorded webinar to walk you through Ripper’s Riddle.

To locate the Trick or Treat on Specter Street challenge navigate to Exercise > Challenges & Scenarios > Trick or Treat on Specter Street