Eligility for Participation

• If you were part of a team that placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd during any of the previous challenges, you cannot participate as a team member in the 2023 Cyber Security Challenge.
• However, if you need to participate as a requirement to complete a practical, you can then still register and participate in the qualification round but you will not be eligible to qualify for the finals.
• Previous winners will be allowed to participate as a team mentor for the 2023 Cyber Security Challenge.
• Team members must be made up exclusively of students from SADC tertiary educational institutions and be registered for tertiary studies for 2023.

Rules for the Training Challenges

Team Size

• Teams are restricted to 3 members if all members are of the same gender, otherwise the teams can be up to 4 members.
• The team leader is a member of the team that has been designated as the Point of Contact (PoC) for that team.
  • The organisers will interact with the team leader regarding all correspondence related to the competition.
• Teams must compete without any outside aid from non-team members.

Team Eligibility

• Team members must be made up exclusively of students from SADC tertiary educational institutions.

Additional Rules for the Qualifier Round

• Each team is expected to participate in the qualifier round remotely.
• The organisers will invite the winners to attend the final round at the CHPC National Conference.
  • Please note, teams will have to achieve a minimum in the qualifier round to be invited to the finals.
• At the discretion of the organisers, more than one team from an institution may be invited.

Additional Rules for the Final

• All team members should be present at the event.
• All team members will wear badges identifying team affiliation at all times during competition.
• If the member of a team advancing to the final round of the competition is unable to attend, that team may substitute a person in their place, as long as that person qualifies under the eligibility rule.
• Teams may not modify the hardware configurations of competition systems.
  • Teams must not open the case of any system such as, laptop, monitor, router, switch, firewall, or any other piece of equipment used during the competition.
• Teams may not remove their assigned laptops from the competition area unless specifically authorised to do so by organisations members.
• All network activity that takes place on the competition network will be logged and subject to anonymised release.
• Teams will be supplied with laptops for the competition.
  • This is to ensure a fair base for the games.
  • These laptops are not allowed to be moved from the booths.
• All team members are expected to attend morning briefings, plenary speakers sessions and the prize ceremony and dinner.
• In addition to published rules, new policies and rules may apply throughout the games.
  • These rules will be communicated to each team leader.
• Social Engineering is allowed at the competition, but strictly limited to Cyber Security Challenge participants.
• Sabotage is not allowed.
• If unsure ask the organisers.

Challenges for the Final Round

• Capture The Flag – The Main Competition
  • This competition will use the hacking lab scoring mechanism. The qualifier round will only be a hacking lab challenge.
• Attack and Defend Challenge
  • The last day of the competition, teams will be required to defend a system, and attack the other teams’ systems.
• Social Engineering Challenge
  • A unique challenge that provides students with the opportunity to experience and attempt a social engineering attack in a safe and ethical way.
• Hack Challenge
  • An additional bonus challenge