Overview
Join us for the National Cybersecurity Challenge, happening online from Monday, 13th May 2024 12:00 CET to Sunday, 19th May 2024 23:59 CET. This event is dedicated to identifying and recognising local talents aged 16 to 25. Our mission is to foster a culture of Information Security among youths, to educate, and ultimately, have fun.
Participants will compete individually in solving 16 Jeopardy-style challenges, covering various cybersecurity domains such as web security, mobile security, crypto puzzles, reverse engineering, and forensics.
This Capture-The-Flag (CTF) event is open to participants of all skill levels, from aspiring enthusiasts to seasoned professionals. Not only will you gain valuable experience and knowledge, but you’ll also have the chance to win prizes. The top 3 contestants will receive €700, €500, and €300 in vouchers, respectively.
And that’s not all! The most promising participants will have the opportunity to attend 8 days of onsite training, complemented with online sessions, led by international cybersecurity professionals. Trainers of this year’s training bootcamp are actual competitors in high ranked international CTFs.
This training will bring to a final selection of participants that will represent Malta at the ninth edition of the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) in Turin, Italy this October 2024.
The ECSC is a prestigious event organised by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and multiple European nations. Each year, thousands of aspiring talents from across Europe come together to represent their nations at the prestigious ECSC Grand Finals. Each country can bring a team of not more than 10 members, so selection for Team Malta is exceptionally rigorous – reserved for the most adept. All training, flights, subsistence, and lodging costs for this competition will be sponsored by MITA-NCC.
This competition is open to individuals that are:
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Maltese Nationals or Permanent Maltese Residents
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born between: 1st January 1999 – 31st December 2008
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passionate for cybersecurity and hungry for challenges
The Competition features 16 Jeopardy-style Capture-the-Flag (CTF) Challenges, distributed as follows:
- 3x binary exploitation (pwn) challenges
- 3x cryptography challenges
- 3x reverse engineering challenges
- 3x web challenges
- 4x other challenges
Topics in the last category can range across every topic, not limiting to the ones already listed above. Examples are forensics, hardware, OSINT, programming, or just miscellaneous challenges.
Challenges will be released in batches within the first 48hours, in 24 hours intervals.
Players can submit their solution writeups within 72 hours after the end of the competition.
Scoring is dynamic. The more a challenge is solved, the less points it weighs. Every challenge starts at 500 points and decreases to a minimum of 50 points.
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- One account per player with the option to change the name/nickname during the challenge.
- Email confirmation required; winners/shortlisted will be contacted via registered email addresses.
- Collaboration with other players is prohibited. This includes (but is not limited to) sharing hints, exploits or flags.
- Only targets within *.challs.open.ecsc2024.it are allowed, unless specified otherwise.
- Flags follow the format openECSC{l33t_string} unless specified otherwise.
- Use of automatic scanning tools and excessive traffic generators is prohibited.
- Attacking other participants or challenge infrastructure is strictly prohibited.
- Altering challenge behaviour or generating excessive load is not allowed.
- Asking privately for hints (to organisers or players) is prohibited. This is valid for both asking and giving hints.
- Organisers reserve the right to interview participants about their challenge approaches.
- Prizes for the Malta Cyber Security Challenge 2024 are strictly redeemable upon presentation of proof meeting the eligibility criteria.
- The Scoreboard is not reflective of the Malta Cyber Security Challenge 2024 scoreboard.
- In case of any difficulties, please feel free to get in touch through [email protected].
Our Journey to the ECSC
Information Sessions for the Public Administration & General Public
National Cybersecurity Challenge 2024, online
Shortlisting participants for Training Bootcamp
1st Bootcamp – Onsite Training
2nd Bootcamp – Onsite Training
Announcement of Team Malta, 10 shortlisted individuals to participate in the ECSC
3rd Bootcamp – Online Training
European Cybersecurity Challenge in Turin, Italy