Capture the Flag Challenge
Hosted on UnstopFetched 16 days ago
Friday, January 30, 2026
to Saturday, February 14, 2026
•
2 weeks long
CybersecuritySocial ImpactStudentInnovation
Student only
This hackathons is only open to students. Double check the event page for more information as this may mean only those from a particular university/country are eligible.
Event Type
in person
159
Participants
₹7,000
Prize Pool
14
Est. Projects
Organizers
The Capture The Flag (CTF) Challenge is a gamified cybersecurity competition designed to demystify cybersecurity and test practical skills in a controlled environment. Unlike theoretical exams, this event evaluates lateral thinking, persistence, and technical agility.Participants will compete in a "Jeopardy-style" format, solving technical puzzles to find hidden text strings called "flags" buried within vulnerable websites, encrypted files, and hidden network data. The objective is to identify vulnerabilities, solve challenges, and submit flags to the central scoreboard to accumulate the highest score.
Domains and Challenge Scope:
Participants will face 15–20 challenges of varying difficulty across the following domains:
Web Exploitation: Finding flaws in web applications (HTML inspection, Cookie manipulation).
Cryptography: Decrypting secret messages (Base64, Hex, Classic Ciphers).
OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence): Finding public information hidden on the internet.
Digital Forensics: Extracting hidden data from files or images (Steganography, Metadata analysis).
Reverse Engineering: Understanding program logic to find credentials.
Eligibility and Logistics:
Eligibility: Open to all students (No prior hacking experience required).
Team Size: Individual or Teams of 2–3 members.
Mode: Fully Offline (On-Campus Lab/Hall).
Duration: 4 Hours (Sprint Format).
Requirements: Participants must bring their own laptops. The venue will provide Wi-Fi/LAN.
Competition Structure:
The event consists of a single high-intensity hacking sprint:
The Hacking Window (4 Hours)
Onboarding (30 Mins): Rules briefing and platform registration.
Live Hacking (3 Hours): Teams actively solve challenges ranging from Easy to Hard. Dynamic scoring applies (harder challenges grant more points).
Scoreboard Freeze: Scores are hidden in the final 15 minutes to build suspense.
Conclusion: Winners announcement and solution walkthroughs.
Rewards and Prizes:
1st Prize: ₹4,000 + Certificate
2nd Prize: ₹2,000 + Certificate
3rd Prize: ₹1,000 + Certificate
Special Award: "First Blood" (For the first team to solve a Hard challenge).
Evaluation Criteria:
Winners are decided automatically by the scoring engine based on:
Total Points: Sum of values of all solved challenges.
Speed: In the event of a tie, the team that reached the score first wins.
Accuracy: Fewest failed attempts (used as a secondary tie-breaker).
Rules and Code of Conduct:
Fair Play: Sharing flags between teams results in immediate disqualification.
No DoS/DDoS: Attacking the CTF infrastructure/scoreboard is strictly prohibited.
No Brute Force: Automated brute-forcing is banned unless specified.