Welcome to the European CyberRace Final!!

Requirements
Here is what you can do to prepare for the finals. You will need a PC or Laptop with Internet
connection.

On the 17th of December you will be using the Capture the Flag (CTF) platform that requires
a Cisco ID and Packet Tracer. So, make sure you complete the following steps to prepare
your team before the start time. I recommend you do this as soon as possible to avoid last-
minute problems.

Create an account and Cisco ID

https://netacad.ciscoctf.io/

You will receive the link to the Sprint round depending on which pool you have been
assigned. However, you can use the link on top to start registering and creating an account.

1. Click on Login. If you have played before you may already have a login and password,
but quite likely you will have to create one.

2. To login, it is going to ask you for a Cisco ID. If you don’t have one, follow the steps to
create one.

-
 3. When you select the Login with a Cisco ID, you will be able to sign in with it or create
a new account.

4. Please complete the required fields and click on Register.

-
 Download the latest version of Packet Tracer
You will need the latest version of Packet Tracer installed in the PC or laptop where you will
be working. Only for the Grand Final, some tasks will require you to download a Packet
Tracer activity. Please make sure you go to netacad.com and download the latest version:
Packet Tracer 8.2.2

https://www.netacad.com/resources/lab-downloads?courseLang=en-US

Schedule and Organization

Team Leader: The instructor of the Academy will be the Team Leader that will communicate
with the organization during the competition. They should not join the CTF platform.

Team Players: 4 students will form the team and will be the ones accessing the CTF platform
and working on the challenges. If they have any issues, they should communicate through
their Team Leader.

Access to CTF: Link will be shared on 16th of December.

Capture the Flag Challenge: 17th December - Time: 11:00 – 13:00 CET

Location: Online. 10:45 we will start a webinar that team leaders can join to follow the
leaderboards and for any communication from the organization.

Register for the Webinar here: http://cs.co/broadcastregistration

Webex Space: For communication with the organization, ONLY the Team Leader should join
the Webex Space for the Pool that your team have been assigned to:

- Pool 1: https://eurl.io/#hUMtfLUI7
- Pool 2: https://eurl.io/#rKtMNODcy
- Pool 3: https://eurl.io/#adUU8xXoF

Any questions or problems that arise before and during the competition will have to be
raised in the Webex Space.

Before you submit any question, make sure you have read this guide in case your answer is
already there.

Competition Rounds
The Sprint Round will be divided into 3 pools that will run simultaneously. This will be a 2-
hour CTF challenge based on the McLaren Learning collection.

The Top 4 teams of each pool will move into the Grand Final.

The rest of the teams won’t qualify for the finals but will be entitled to prizes as in the Terms
and Conditions.

-
 The Grand Final Round,12 qualified teams will have to find flags related to Cybersecurity

Access to CTF: Link will be shared after we have notified the teams moving into the final.

Grand Final: 17th of December Time: 15:00 – 16:00 CET

Location: Online

The content and level of difficulty will be based on CCST Cybersecurity.

Communication: Team leaders will be added to a Webex Space for the final, after we see the
winners of the Sprint, to communicate with the organization.

The final will be broadcasted starting at 14:30 till the end of the competition where we will
announce the winners. Participants don’t have to watch or be in the broadcast as they will be
completing the challenges, Team Leaders can be a part of it if they want to. You can invite
other people to join the broadcast and cheer for your team!

Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/live/heMphoR9OVI

General information
Here are some important points to understand what Capture the Flag (CTF) is and how to
prepare for the final competition.

You can visit this page for more information about the steps:
https://www.netacadlearnathon.com/projects/eurocyberrace-2024/

I recommend that you watch the video to get in the spirits of the challenge ahead!!
http://cs.co/cyberracefinalsguide

In the Sprint, teams (Academies) will be competing to complete four missions. On each
mission, there will be a number of flags that need to be completed, some of them are
unlocked and some others need to be taken in order. Each participant of a team will try to
solve the flag as soon as possible, and once one of the participants of a team gets a flag,
they can all move to the next flag. So, each flag only needs to be answered by 1 participant
of each team. Some missions are locked until the previous one is completed, once they
complete a mission, they will get the key to answer the first flag on the next mission. Only
Mission 1 is completely unlocked. Full details of points, hints and Flags can be found in the
Terms & Conditions.

You can have the team together with the lead (instructor) in the same physical location to do
the competition, this could be beneficial so you can help each other. If you are not able to do
that, you can just have some channel to communicate between the participants.

-
 First time in CTF Platform
You will receive a link to sign up to capture the flag on Monday 16th. When you click on the
link, this page will load.

Please click on login. You should already have created an account as indicated previously in
the guide.

Once you log in, you will be able to see the events where you have been registered.

You will need to select the nickname that you will use for the event and click on Join this CTF
Event!

Then you will get a screen with the time left of the event, and a button that says Start
Playing! Click here to access the competition.

-
 Creating a Team
This is your first task as a team, you need to coordinate with other team members. You can do
this before the actual time of the event, to save some time.

The first player of a team to enter will need to create a Team, select Create a New Team and
write the name of your team, exactly as it was submitted on the registration form. Do not
change the name of the team to something different.

You will then get a code that you need to share with your other team members to join your
team.

You will find that code on an INFORMATION message at the top of the screen. Copy that code
and don’t lose it. Share it with your other team members.

-
 Joining an existing team
When you are going to register for an event and someone has already created your team, they
should have shared a code with you. Select Join Existing Team using Team Code and enter
the code.

Then you will be added to that team.

-
 What to expect on the CTF Platform
The first time you get a tour of the platform; you can do it or skip it.

Make sure you sign up and read that information before the actual competition on 17th of
December.

This is what you will see at the CTF Home once you join the real event.

The European CyberRace Sprint!!

These are the four missions of the Sprint round. When you click on a mission, you will get
this screen:

-
 This image is an example and not the real Mission or flags.

Open a flag by clicking on the + sign. Next to that sign you also have information on the
maximum number of attempts (0 means no limit) and the points you will get for answering it.
Some flags may have extra information to help you answer it ( Read More Task Details).

Read the task and submit your answer.

If there are hints available, you will see a button to Show the hint (for a cost). Ask for the hint
only if you need it because they cost you points.

There will be a leaderboard showing the progress of teams and another one showing the
Most Valuable Players.