// OVERVIEW
Competition Format
ICO 2026 features two separate 7-hour competition days with jeopardy-style CTF challenges. Each day is independent -- no tasks are repeated between competition days.
Jeopardy-Style CTF
Each competition day features 3 tasks, each worth 100 points. Tasks are split into subtasks with multiple flags. The competition is cloud-hosted and accessed through a Wireguard VPN connection.
- 3 tasks per day, 100 points each (300 total per day)
- Tasks split into subtasks with individual flags
- Individual scoring -- contestants ranked independently
- No bonus points for first solves or clever solutions
- Real-time scoreboard updates
6 Challenge Categories
Tasks and subtasks span six categories. Getting a medal requires skills across a broad range of topics.
- Binary Exploitation -- memory corruption, shellcoding, x86_64
- Cryptography -- modern protocols, mathematical and implementation flaws
- Digital Forensics -- hidden data extraction, steganography, post-exploitation analysis
- Reverse Engineering -- compiled binaries, bytecode, obfuscated source
- Web Security -- server and client side vulnerabilities
- Miscellaneous -- mobile security, network security, AI, cloud, radio, etc.
