\n
Do and Don’t<\/h2>\n
The rules for the Hackers Challenge might be loosely defined, but strictly include the following:<\/span><\/p>\nPlay the game ethically:<\/b> You should not take any unfair advantage of other players. Here are some examples of things that will get you get you penalized or even disqualified from the game:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Brute-forcing the scoring server<\/span><\/li>\n
- Stealing flags from other players<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sabotaging challenges to gain an advantage<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Do not share flags:<\/b> Players cannot share flags with each other, but hints and help to solve challenges is accepted.<\/span><\/p>\nTeamwork is allowed and even encouraged:<\/b> You can collaborate with other people; however, there can only be one winner of the game. Choose your friends wisely, and remember: do not share flags.<\/span><\/p>\nSocial engineering is ok:<\/b> You can social engineer other players or the HC staff to get flags or hints as long as it is within the context of the Hackers Challenge.<\/span><\/p>\nRequirements<\/h2>\n
Here are additional things to keep in mind when playing the Hackers Challenge:<\/span><\/p>\nUsername\/Email address:<\/b> You must register to the scoring server(s) with the same email address that you registered for SAINTCON.<\/span><\/p>\nSupported Systems:<\/b> We can only guarantee that all the software you need to run locally will work on Ubuntu on X86 architecture. We will do our best to support all operating systems and platforms, but cannot make promises.<\/span><\/p>\nStages<\/h2>\n
This contest will have two stages:<\/span><\/p>\nFirst Stage:<\/b> The first stage is a qualifying competition for the final stage. You will be presented with a Jeopardy-like scoring board with progressive challenges sorted by categories. The value of each challenge is dynamic and their points change based on the number of people that solve the challenge. New challenges may or may not be added during the contest, but we will never remove challenges.<\/span><\/p>\nOnly the top three players on the scoreboard will move to the final stage. In the case of a tie, the person that reached the tied point value earlier will move to the final stage. The first stage will start on Tuesday at noon and will end Friday at 7:00 AM. On Thursday at 10:00 PM, we will hide the board to spice things up. We will notify the top 3 through Discord on Friday at 7:05 AM with instructions for the final stage.<\/span><\/p>\nFinal Stage: <\/b>The final stage will be an in-person event with a new scoring board and new challenges. It will start at 8:30 AM and go until 10:30 AM. The person with the most points will be the winner. In the case of a tie, the person that reached the tied point value earlier will be the winner. Unlike the first stage, the final stage will be statically-scored (all challenges worth the same amount).
<\/span><\/p>\nDuring the final stage, no help is allowed, including (but not limited to) social media, chats, texts, voice messages, etc. Players are also not allowed to use AI, including ChatGPT, Claude, and others. Failure to follow this rule could lead to penalties or disqualification.<\/span><\/p>\nScoring<\/h2>\n
For each of the two stages, your final score will be the sum of all the points given by the challenges you solved. Each challenge will start at 1000 points. Some challenges will have a dynamic score that will be adjusted based on the number of solves for that challenge. Other challenges will have a static score that do not change.<\/p>\n
Rule Violations & Penalty Guidelines<\/h2>\n
At any point during the contest, the SAINTCON Hackers Challenge admins reserve the right to disqualify and\/or change scores of participants for any reason that upon our own judgement violate the game rules or participate in unprofessional conduct. We reserve this right without right of dispute or for any other reason we feel is appropriate or prudent.<\/p>\n
Also be warned: We have ways of monitoring cheating, sharing of flags, and other shenanigans that might go on. Get away with it\u2026 Good for you! Get caught, your score will suffer.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Frequently Asked Questions:<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n- \n
Is this for individuals or teams?<\/h3>\n\n
A:<\/b> It\u2019s an individual contest — you can collaborate with other contestants, but there can only be one winner.
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Do I need to bring a laptop?<\/h3>\n\n
A:<\/b> Yes. Some of the challenges will require a laptop to play and we cannot provide you with one.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
What if I\u2019ve never hacked anything before? Can I still play?<\/h3>\n\n
A:<\/b> Absolutely! Different challenges will have different difficulties, so there are challenges of the appropriate difficulty for everyone. Also, HC staff can help you with hints.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- \n
Can I have a flag?<\/h3>\n\n
A:<\/b> Nice try.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brought to you by Santiago and Legoclones The Hackers Challenge is the premiere challenge of SAINTCON The Hackers Challenge contest is a Jeopardy-like progressive game where players are presented with challenges that require various security and technical skills to solve. Players work on these challenges and submit keys collected from solving them in order to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":329,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-669","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1527,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669\/revisions\/1527"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintcon.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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