Strength in Security

Capture The Flag Information

Intro

Welcome everyone and thank you for signing up for the CTF. Due to time limits, registration will be open for 10 minutes and then the CTF will start. You are allowed to have a team size of 1 – 5but no greater than 5. During the CTF you will be challenged with a combination of hacking challenges, puzzles and quizzes. Everything you will need to successfully answer the flags can be found within a browser and with using the internet. We suggest using Chrome if possible during the competition.

Registration

Teams must register before they can play. Teams may consist of 1-5 players.

Registration instructions:

Location / URL for Registration
Minnesota Participants /
Kentucky Participants /
  1. See table for the URL for your location to register. You can also access the main side and click on Registration.
  2. Enter a unique team name/password, choose your emblem, and click ‘SIGN UP’. Please use appropriate team names. Inappropriate team names will be removed.

  1. After a successful registration, you should be automatically logged in and sent to the game board. Share your team credentials with your team mates if applicable.
  2. Please wait until all other teams are successfully registered and the game begins before proceeding. We will try and start 10 minutes after registration is open.
  3. If there is late registration, please notify one of the moderators and we can manually set you up.

Game Rules

  • The objective of the game is to capture as many countries as possible to obtain as many points as possible.
  • Countries with challenges available will appear on the map as gray, black countries are not part of the game. You can view a country challenge by simply clicking on the country.
  • Challenges range in difficulty and include quizzes, source code reviews, exploits, etc.
  • Challenges are worth different point values depending on the skill level required to complete it.
  • Using the internet to help solve challenges is allowed and encouraged.
  • The first 3 teams to capture a country will receive bonus points.
  • Multiple teams can capture the same country. Points will not be removed from a team once they already captured it.
  • Hints are sometimes available for challenges. Hints cost points to obtain them. The point cost of a hint is revealed when you hover over it.
  • Challenge answers are scored by entering the correct unique string. All answers are lowercase. If you believe you have successfully answered a question and are not receiving points, please try different permeations of the answer. If you still are not getting the answer, please reach out to a moderator for assistance.
  • The bottom right of the game board will show the game clock. Once time runs out, the game is over and the team with the most points wins.
  • You can tell what countries your team already captured or what countries your opponents have captured by the color of the triangle on the country.
  • DO NOT attempt to exploit/attack the game board or brute force answers. If a team is caught doing this, they will be removed from the game.

For a more detailed tutorial, navigate to the game board tutorial.

End of CTF

At the end of the CTF the top team at each location will be crowned champions. If you are part of the winning team please contact one of the moderators at your site before leaving.

Due to the limitation of time, we will continue to host the CTF for 5 days after the conference. You will be able to access it using the URL you were provided. All rewards for the CTF will be presented at the end of the CTF today. If you want to continue to compete or play within the CTF after the conference this will be only for fun, the learning experience and possibly bragging rights with your fellow class mates. If you run into issues during the 5 days after the conference you can reach out for assistance by emailing the temporary account .