HackFu Challenge 2014

We know you’ve all been waiting for it so we are pleased to announce that its MWR challenge time again!

This is a really exciting time of the year for us as it enables us to engage with some of the brightest emerging talent in the industry. We also get to give away some tickets to HackFu where we will get a chance to meet and compete alongside you in this year’s event.

Unless you have been chrooted to dev/null, you would know that HackFu is the most prestigious hacking event this side of the asteroid belt. And in 2014 it is again coming to your local planet! It is the event where the most skilled and gifted security minds come together and compete in an epic struggle for control. Teams face challenges ranging from network infrastructure, web applications, hardware reversing, RF, operating systems, logic puzzles all the way through to bespoke systems like message queues and SAP.

The event is by invitation only, with the lucky few already invited. But don’t despair! You can join the elite and win an invite by competing in this year’s open challenge. Apply your mind and prove that you deserve a spot at HackFu 2014!

We will be hunting enemy agents again in “Ilichy Prime”. Since he got away last year (spoiler alert), the trail has become cold… Until now! We have found some traces of him again and will catch him this time! Join a special task force, dedicated to apprehending Ilichy and see how the story plays out. You’ll find out more once you take a look at the mission briefing included in the initial data files. Your instructions are simple, register, solve and submit.

With the open challenge now activated we officially start the build-up for HackFu 2014. Keep watching this space for clues, hints, allegations, rumours and sometimes facts about the theme and location for this year’s event.

“So you mentioned prizes”, I can hear you saying. Yes we did! This year all entries received before the 31st May will have the chance to win a place at this year’s HackFu in the UK. In this prize you will get entry to the venue, a roof over your head for 3 nights (you need to provide something to sleep on), food & alcohol, great goodies to take home with you and most importantly a chance to compete in one of the greatest hacking events on the planet.

We are hoping to give away 10 tickets to the event this year but the exact number will depend on how many people solve the challenges and how good the write ups that are submitted to us are. For exceptional entries the judges may also include travel to the event in the prize. The judging panel will be made up of people from the teams in SA and the UK who have worked together to put these awesome challenges together and their decisions about winners will be final. Even if you don’t want to have a chance of coming to HackFu (crazy I know) we are still interested in your submissions and if you would like to apply for a position as a consultant be sure to let us know (you may want to sneak your CV in with your entry).

Good luck and we hope you have fun catching Ilichy!

Important but boring legal bits below…

Competition Rules

In order to be eligible for the HackFu prizes, you will need to:

1. Download the challenge files in the link below.
2. Register for the competition by email including your name and country of residence. (Registration instructions are included in the challenge)
3. Submit your correct solutions to the challenges before the 31st May 2014 (Instruction on how to submit is included in the challenge)
4. Be able to travel to HackFu which is hosted in the UK between 26th June 2014 and 28th June 2014 (you will need to hold any required travel documents)
5. Be 18 years old or over on the 27th June 2014

Download the Challenge files

Judges’ decisions are final and any prize offered to an entrant cannot be exchanged for cash or favours. MWR will not officially publish a list of competition winners; however, entrants can send us an email to request confirmation about whether they have won an invite or not.