Join us for the 2025 Hack Warz®

What is Hack Warz?

Life Cycle Engineering's Hack Warz® is a capture-the-flag event. It's intended to help participants learn about security while also helping cybersecurity professionals hone their skills. The event was designed to be FUN and stretch the competitors' security muscle! Competitors have several systems to compromise and gain valuable tokens (flags) for points. Tokens are valued by difficulty and skillset required.

How does the competition work?

The event is comprised of a virtual private network of vulnerable instances that have tokens (flags) to be found. Competitors can find tokens if they follow any standard penetration testing methodology. As competitors go through the pen testing phases (Planning, Discovery, Exploitation, Reporting), they will find tokens for points. Setting up the competition in this way reinforces the idea of following a structured process for a successful pen test. Teams receive three bastion hosts, one for each competitor. The hosts have all the tools they will need to compete. Rules of engagement are provided which explain what competitors are and are not allowed to do in the competition. Failure to follow the rules of engagement will disqualify the team from winning or competing in future events.

How does scoring work?

Life Cycle Engineering created a scoring engine that allows competitors to enter a token (15 or 16 digit hexadecimal number) to gain points. These tokens are found in the compromised systems. Some are easy to find. Finding others requires more work and carries a bigger point reward.