TAMUctf Terms & Conditions

Short Version

Detailed Version

Super short-and-sweet version:

This system is owned and under development by the TAMU cybersecurity center. We worked hard, and are working hard to provide you with a totally awesome cybersecurity challenge platform. We want you to use it responsibly and not try to do anything nefarious, mischievous, or illegal with it. The system is provided “as-is”. What you see is generally what you get (unless you’re working on a steganography challenge). Although we do our best to make sure things work as they’re supposed to, occasionally bugs do appear. We appreciate you letting us know about those pesky bugs and may reward you with bonus points!

You are expected to use your own wit and cunning to solve each challenge and allow all other players the same opportunity. Please feel free to seek out information that may help you complete the challenges. DO NOT share information about the challenges, or your solutions or keys with others. Don’t try and break or abuse the system. You should know what we mean by this. If you have questions or would like to report a bug in the system, please email ctf@tamu.edu.

Finally, if you try and break the system, you may be banned from the competition and any damage you cause may be investigated as an offense against Texas A&M University. There will be super sweet prizes for finishing in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place as either a TAMU graduate student, undergrad, or member of the public. In order to receive prizes as a student, YOU MUST USE YOUR @tamu.edu EMAIL!!! We will notify winners via the contact info they provide and they’ll need to respond by 24 April 2017 at 3pm! Also, winners MUST show up to the awards ceremony in HRBB 124 in order to pick up their prize.

By continuing to participate in this challenge, you agree to hold the University, TAMU Cybersecurity Center, the CSE Department, the development team, and all systems administrators and IT staff harmless for any explicit or implicit damages that result from your participation. You also agree to abide by the rules outlined herein and acknowledge that violations of the rules may result in point penalties or even getting banned from the competition.

Detailed Version:

1. Definitions

The Texas A&M University (TAMU) capture-the-flag (ctf) development team, hereafter referred to as “we”, provide an awesome platform for you to complete cybersecurity challenges. This system is owned by, and provided courtesy of TAMU Cybersecurity Center and the Computer Science and Engineering department.

2. What we do (and don’t do)

We will provide a stable, secure, and professional platform on which you can participate in challenges to earn points in the competition. TAMUctf will officially begin on 12 April 2017 at 7:00pm CDT and end on 23 April 2017 at 7:00pm CDT. Communication among participants, moderators, and developers will take place via Discord. The official channel is https://discord.gg/2MA5gwf.
We will do our best to collect information on any bugs in the system or challenges and fix them in a timely manner. Recognize that TAMU network systems are independent of our platform and that we cannot be responsible for their maintenance. Any issues with TAMU’s network should be addressed to the IT department.
We reserve the right to collect information that you provide us for the purposes of reviewing and improving our system and platform, as well as notifying winning participants of their prize. We may store at our discretion any information you provide including, but not limited to, your name, age, demographic information (as applicable), IP address and other system information, and usage statistics. We do not sell, publicize, or give away any information you provide to us except in accordance with applicable laws and TAMU privacy policy. We make every effort to ensure the security of this information but make no explicit guarantees.
We appreciate information about bugs and/or errors in our system. We strongly encourage you to report any bugs that you discover, and as a reward, we may issue you bonus points at our discretion. You may report bugs to ctf@tamu.edu.

3. What we expect you to do (and not do)

You are expected to ensure the security and stability of your connection to our system. You are expected to provide your best effort in completing the challenges. You may seek information about challenges from external sources, and we encourage you to learn as much as you can about each challenge. DO NOT share solutions, keys, or other information about the challenges! Keys (the flags) are designed to be unique to each participant. Participants found sharing and submitting identical keys will be disqualified.
You agree to use our system and platform only for the purpose of completing challenges in TAMUctf. You also agree to not use our system for any immoral, illegal, or dangerous activities such as (but not limited to) wiretapping, unauthorized system access, fraud, harassment, theft, or vandalism. While we encourage the study of cybersecurity in both an offensive and defensive context, we *strongly* advise you to use what you learn from this CTF in a responsible and legal manner.
Any attempt to damage, disrupt, or compromise our system or other TAMU IT systems may result in you being suspended from the competition and/or restricted from our system. Such incidents will be investigated as an offense against TAMU property and may be subject to TAMU sanctions as outlined in their rules for student conduct.

4. Prizes

There will be awards given to the highest achievers. Participants are divided into three categories: TAMU grad students, TAMU undergrads, and the general public. Each category will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finalist.

Prizes for the general public will only be awarded in the form of a pre-paid Visa gift card:
1st place = $50, 2nd place = $35, 3rd place = $25.
TAMU students will not receive pre-paid cards or cash prizes.

In order to receive prizes, TAMU students MUST USE A @tamu.edu EMAIL ADDRESS!!!
Prizes for TAMU students will be divided into three tiers:
The 1st overall student winner receives two Tier-1 prizes.
1st place finishers in undergrad and graduate categories receive a Tier-1 and a Tier-2 prize.
2nd place finishers in undergrad and graduate categories receive a Tier-1 prize.
3rd place finishers in undergrad and graduate categories receive a Tier-2 prize.
Any Tier-1 prize may be traded for one Tier-2 prize and one Tier-3 prize.
Any Tier-2 prize may be traded for two Tier-3 prizes.

In the event of a tie, the award will be given to the participant who achieved their score first.
Winners in each category will be notified via the contact information they provide. Participants MUST RESPOND to notification of winning no later than Monday, 24 April 2017 at 3:00pm CDT. (We CAN NOT make any exceptions!)
Finally, all prizes will be handed out during the TAMUctf awards ceremony on Thursday, 27 April 2017 at 7:00pm CDT in the Harvey R. Bright building (HRBB) room 124. Winners will need to be in attendance in order to claim their prizes.

5. AGREEMENT

By continuing, you agree to these terms and conditions and to abide by TAMU student rules, the Aggie Honor Code, and the Aggie code of conduct as they pertain to TAMUctf. These rules and code of conduct can be found at student-rules.tamu.edu. You also agree that your activity on our system is subject to monitoring and moderation by system administrators.
Finally, you agree to hold harmless the TAMU Cybersecurity Center, the TAMU Computer Science and Engineering department, all members of the development team, and all system administrators and technicians for any adverse negative effects resulting from your participation in TAMUctf or use of our systems. We will not be held liable for any damage caused to your systems, computers, or networks while participating in TAMUctf.
Any questions about these terms and conditions may be addressed to ctf@tamu.edu.