Cipher Chase — Capture the Flag is a 24-hour online cybersecurity competition organised by the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bangalore, as part of its Synergy '26 event series. It is designed for ethical hackers, security researchers, students, and developers who want to test their offensive and defensive security skills against a curated challenge set.
What it is
- A jeopardy-style Capture the Flag contest hosted entirely online on the CTFd platform.
- A continuous 24-hour window in which participants race to solve challenges, uncover hidden flags, and climb the leaderboard.
Challenge domains
The challenge pool contains 24 distinct problems spanning multiple cybersecurity disciplines, including:
- Web exploitation
- Cryptography
- Reverse engineering
- Binary exploitation
- Digital forensics
Challenges are offered across varying difficulty levels, so both newcomers and seasoned CTF players can find suitable targets.
Format and mechanics
- Platform: CTFd, accessible online.
- Duration: exactly 24 continuous hours.
- Tooling: publicly available resources, scripts, and open-source security tools are permitted unless a specific challenge statement restricts them.
Rules and regulations
- Team size: compete individually or in teams of up to 2 members.
- Flag submission: all flags must be submitted through the official CTFd platform to earn points.
- Strict zero-collusion: sharing flags, write-ups, or solution hints between competing teams during the active contest window is prohibited.
- Infrastructure protection: automated attacks, denial-of-service attempts, or any malicious activity targeting the CTF infrastructure, scoring platform, or fellow competitors will result in immediate and permanent disqualification.
- All decisions made by the organising team and CTF administrators are final.
Evaluation criteria
- Primary score: final rankings are determined strictly by total points accumulated on the official CTFd leaderboard.
- Tie-breaker: ties are broken automatically based on submission speed — the team that reaches a given score first ranks higher.
Who should attend
This event suits cybersecurity enthusiasts, ethical hacking practitioners, computer science students, and developers looking to sharpen practical security skills in a competitive, hands-on environment. It is also a strong opportunity for teams preparing for larger national and international CTF circuits.
Registration
- Team size: 1–2 members.
- Registration deadline: 2026-11-12.
- Entry is free.
IIIT Bangalore is a well-regarded technical institute known for its computer science and research programmes, and Synergy is its flagship student-run technical festival, which typically features hackathons, workshops, and competitive coding events.