FAQ
What is a CTF?
CTFs (short for Capture the Flag) are cybersecurity-focused competitions where teams of participants solve a series of technical challenges, each associated with an area of cybersecurity such as cryptography, web application security, or digital forensics. Challenges typically involve identifying and exploting vulnerabilities to obtain a "flag," which the teams then submit to earn points.
What categories do you guys have?
We have web exploitation, cryptography, forensics, reverse engineering, binary exploitation, hardware, open source intelligence, miscellaneous, and an in-person ARG.
You may see them shortened to as web, crypto, forensics, rev, pwn, hardware, osint, misc, and arg, respectively. You can check the #faq channel in our discord to learn more about each category.
How can I participate in this competition?
The competition runs October 25th to 27th, but you can register now. To access challenges and submit flags, you must register an account with your Five College email (@umass.edu, @amherst.edu, @smith.edu, @hampshire.edu, or @mtholyoke.edu) and make a team (even if it's just yourself).
What is the discord link?
What are the prizes in UMassCTF?
You can find all available prizes in the #prizes channel in our discord server.
What are the allowed team sizes?
The allowed team size is maximum 4.
I don't have a team; can I still participate?
You absolutely can! If you are looking for members (optional), you can message people in the #team-building channel in our discord server.
Am I allowed to post challenge write ups?
We encourage players to publish write ups for our challenges, but please wait until the competition has ended before sharing these with people other than your team.
I have a question about a specific challenge, who should I ask?
If you have specific questions, you can react to the ticket message in the #tickets channel in our discord, and an organizer will be with you shortly.
I have a question that is not listed here, how can I get help?
To receive help with a question that is not listed above or in #rules, you can either ask in #discussion, or open a ticket in #tickets (all in our discord server).
What is the flag format?
MINUTEMAN{flag}