Segment 02 · Challenge network

Break the signal.

A 48-hour international capture-the-flag built for curious minds, careful teams, and anyone who wants to learn by taking systems apart.

Platform online Competition opens Friday, 30 October at 2:00 PM UTC

Explore the CTF platform View CTF schedule

Free to enter USD 2,500 cash prize pool Top 5 teams awarded

01 //48 hoursStarts Friday at 2:00 PM UTC
02 //70+ planned challengesAcross 12 technical categories
03 //Teams of 1-5Compete solo or build a team
04 //Free to enterVirtual and open to everyone
// AI policy

Choose how you compete.

AI is part of modern cybersecurity. HI Cyber Con welcomes both traditional human competition and teams researching AI-driven offensive security.

One scoreboard two divisions

01 Human competition

Human-Led

For teams that want to compete through human challenge solving.

AI policyReference only

AI may be used as an advanced search or reference tool for general technical information, syntax, commands, arguments, or documentation.

Not allowed
  • Do not provide challenge material to AI.
  • Do not ask AI to solve or analyze an active challenge.
  • Do not generate challenge-specific code.
  • Do not use agentic tools against challenge infrastructure.
02 AI / agent competition

Agentic AI

For teams using AI as part of the actual challenge-solving workflow.

AI policyUnrestricted*

LLM-assisted solving, coding agents, autonomous and semi-autonomous agents, multi-agent systems, automated exploitation, and autonomous hacking pipelines are allowed.

Benchmark mode

Teams are welcome to test, evaluate, research, and benchmark AI/LLM-based cybersecurity and offensive-security agents.

* Agentic AI is unrestricted in solving methodology, but all normal competition scope, infrastructure, rate-limit, and fair-play rules still apply.

For live rules and enforcement decisions, refer to the official CTF platform.

// confirmed CTF rewards

A prize pool built for the top five.

HI CyberCon CTF 2026 features a guaranteed USD 2,500 cash prize pool for the five highest-ranked eligible teams.

Guaranteed cash poolUSD 2,500Five winning teams
01 // payout ledger

Prize distribution

Cash awards per eligible winning team

Cash awards per eligible winning team
PositionPrize
1st placeUSD 1,000
2nd placeUSD 700
3rd placeUSD 500
4th placeUSD 200
5th placeUSD 100
Total prize poolUSD 2,500

Cash prizes are awarded once per eligible winning team and are subject to the published competition rules.

// challenge map

Find the weak point.

Twelve categories cover web systems, infrastructure, intelligence, and the new attack surface created by AI.

01

Web

Applications, APIs, logic flaws

02

Forensics

Disk, memory, artifacts

03

Steganography

Hidden data and media

04

Network

Protocols, traffic, packets

05

Cryptography

Ciphers, keys, number theory

06

PWN

Memory and binary exploitation

07

Reverse Engineering

Disassembly and cracking

08

AI / LLM

Prompt injection and AI security

09

Hardware

Firmware, IoT, embedded systems

10

Blockchain

Smart contracts and chains

11

OSINT

Open-source intelligence

12

Miscellaneous

Everything else that bites

// competition flow

Three stages. One run.

Choose your team, inspect the platform, then make every submission count.

01

Assemble

Enter solo or with a team of up to five. Bring curiosity, patience, and a way to share what you find.

03

Submit

Make your final submissions during the 48-hour competition.

// integrity

Built to reward human skill.

Challenges are designed around reasoning, creativity, and security intuition. Integrity rules and monitoring protect a fair competition.

AI / LLM category Fair-play principles Top 5 team awards