Please be on the lookout for emails from competitions@hivestorm.org!

The next Hivestorm event will be held Oct 16, 2024 and is free to enter. The competition runs from 11 AM Central time through 11:59 PM on Oct 16. Teams have a 4 hour competition window to work on the provided virtual machines (which starts when a team powers up any of their competition virtual machines). Teams choose when their 4 hour window begins, but they must complete all their efforts by 11:59 PM Central time. There is no pausing/stopping of the 4 hour window - once you start competing you have a total of 4 hours to work on ALL the provided virtual machines.

To register a team for Hivestorm, please visit Hivestorm Registration and fill out the online Hivestorm Roster form. Registration closes Sept 30, 2024 at 10:00 PM Central Time.

Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams.

Two practice VMs (one Linux and one Windows) will be provided to each fully registered team roughly a week prior to the competition.

FAQ

Q: Do we need any special equipment/software to play?

A: You will need a way to run the provided virtual machines. VMWare Workstation is available for free from Broadcom (though you may need to create an account) and is the recommended method. You may also use Fusion (Intel chips only - no ARM) or vCenter/vSphere/ESXi to run the provided VMs. All VMs will be distributed as OVAs. Due to performance and compatibility issues in previous competitions, no other virtualization solutions are officially supported.



Q: Can we increase the amount of cores or memory allocated to the VMs?

A: Yes, you can modify those parameters on your local VMs.



Q: Do we have to use our school systems or can we use personal systems?

A: Completely up to your team. As long as the system can run the VM and connect to the scoring server on TCP ports 80 and 443 you can use any system you have access to.



Q: Do all the VMs need to run on the same system?

A: No. You can run different VMs on different systems. However, do not run more than one copy of a competition or practice VM at the same time. You can run one copy of image #1 and one copy of the image #2 at a time, but DO NOT run multiple copies of either at the same time even if they are on different systems.



Q: What sort of tools/scripts can we use to secure these systems?

A: You can use any open source, freeware, trialware, or openly published tool or script. Basically, if you did not have to pay money for it then you can use it.



Q: Do we have to compete from our home campus?

A: Absolutely not. As long as you have a reliable Internet connection, space, and power your team can compete from any location they choose (including having team members in completely different locations). Your team can compete from entirely different locations if they choose to do so.



Q: Will we be able to track our score/progress during the competition?

A: Yes. Each virtual machine has a local scoring report that shows you the score for that specific VM and there is a web-based scoreboard where you will be able to see your team’s overall score and rankings relative to other teams.



Q: What happens if there is a tie?

A: Teams will be ranked based on their total score. In the event multiple teams have the same score, the time it took for each team to achieve that score will be used to determine final rankings. For example, if two teams score 345 points and one team took 3 hours to achieve that score and the other team took 4 hours to achieve that score, the team that reached 345 points in 3 hours will be ranked higher.



Q: How are we supposed to train for this type of event?

A: The same way you have been training for any similar event. Learning how to hunt down and remove malware, learning how to identify and correct misconfigurations or poor security practices, learning to update and maintain operating systems and software, and so on.



Q: Are there any official training materials for Hivestorm?

A: No. Hivestorm is a general security skill and knowledge competition. Apart from the practice VMs, there are no official training materials for Hivestorm.



Q: Will we be able to communicate with competition officials during the event?

A: Yes. A Discord link will be sent out prior to the competition.



Q: Will we get a complete answer key at the end?

A: No. We sometimes use Hivestorm images for other competition efforts so we will not release complete answer keys for each image. We will provide partial answer keys for each image after the event (with a percentage of how many teams solved each challenge in the partial answer key). We do provide answer keys for the practice images.



Q: Can I play if I'm taking a dual credit or dual enrollment class in high school?

A: Unfortunately, no. All competitors must be registered students of a college or university (two- or four-year degree granting institution).