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What is @HACK 2025?

Hosted by TECHNATION and Hexploit Alliance, a graduate student-led cybersecurity group at Concordia University, @Hack (“At Hack”) is one of the largest cybersecurity student hackathons in Canada.

This annual event welcomes hundreds of cybersecurity enthusiasts to Concordia’s downtown Montréal campus for a weekend filled with unique cybersecurity challenges.

The second of its kind, this year will introduce all new super fun and mind-glitching challenges, with a beginner track for CTF first timers.

Grab your friends, form a team, and get ready to hack your way to glory.

Timeline

March 1st

7:00 - 9:15 AM
Check-in & Breakfast
9:30 - 10:30 AM
Opening Ceremony
11:00 AM
Hacking Begins
1:00 - 5:00 PM
Workshop
2:00 - 6:00 PM
Career Fair
5:00 - 7:00 PM
Dinner
7:30 - 9:00 PM
Social Event

CTF platform is paused

March 2nd

3:00 - 6:00 AM
Support Closed
10:00 - 11:30 AM
Breakfast
12:00 PM
Scoreboard Closes
2:00 PM
Hacking Ends
2:15 - 3:15 PM
Closing Ceremony

Challenge Champion Sponsor

Interac

Hosted by

Technation
Hexploit Alliance

Funding Partner

Canada
Become a Sponsor

Hexploit Alliance Committee

Hexploit Alliance
Luna Etihad

Luna Etihad

Social Media, Marketing & Graphics Design Lead
Anthony Andreoli

Anthony Andreoli

President Hexploit Alliance
Alireza Toghiani

Alireza Toghiani

Application Dev & Vice President
Ali-Moussa Darkallah

Ali-Moussa Darkallah

Finance Lead & Treasurer
Dhiaa Elhak Rebbah

Dhiaa Elhak Rebbah

Website Dev Lead
Anis Lounis

Anis Lounis

Challenge Design Lead
Hugo Kermabon

Hugo Kermabon

Challenge Design Lead
Jeremy Frandon

Jeremy Frandon

Infrastructure Lead
Sofiane Benahmed

Sofiane Benahmed

Infrastructure Co-Pilot

Last Year Lowdown

$16 000

Prize money

420+

Participants

4

Prize Partners

25+

Volunteers

30+

Challenges

29

Hours

Photos from @Hack 2024

Rules of Engagement

The following specifies the Rules of Engagement (RoE) each member (hacker) partaking in the event must adhere to.

  • Registration is open to Canadian post-secondary students (including abroad) or international students in a Canadian post-secondary school. Recent graduates who completed their studies within the past six months are also eligible.
  • Proof of enrollment (with a student ID) is necessary upon entry to the competition.
  • Registration for the event will occur in two separate steps:
    • An initial registration where participants enter their information on our registration system - dates announced on event web page
    • A secondary confirmation step where prior-registered participants confirm their desire to attend the event. Emails will be sent to registrants towards the end of January with confirmation steps.
  • Teams are composed of 2 - 4 members; each member must be an eligible registrant (see Eligibility and Registration for details).
  • Team construction will take place over Discord, which will be available after the registration and confirmation phases
  • There are no “solo” teams of one member.
  • Registering and competing in two different teams is strictly forbidden (e.g., under two different accounts). Any faulting participant will be expelled.
  • The event begins March 1st, 2025 [7 AM Check-in] and ends on March 2nd [2 PM Hacking closes, closing ceremony ends at 3:15 PM]. All times are in reference to Eastern Standard Time (EST).
  • A portion of CTF challenges will be available on the first challenge day, while an additional subset will be unveiled on the second.
  • Submissions will have a strict closing time, details of which will be available during the event.
  • Rooms for hacking will be labelled with specific door signage.
  • Rooms without signage are not allowed to be used, and any team unwilling to adhere to this rule will be removed from the room immediately. Volunteers will circulate to verify compliance with this rule; please respect them if they request you leave your room.
  • Rooms can be reserved on the morning of the event by writing your team’s name on the signage. If the room only has room for a single team (four chairs and a table), only one team name can occupy it; multi-team rooms are open to as many teams that can sit in the allotted seats in the room.
  • No team is allowed to reject other teams’ use of a multi-team room.
  • Challenges contain 1 to multiple flags.
  • Flags will be scored in terms of the difficulty needed to capture them.
  • The total score of all flags from the same challenge will be made available in each challenge description.
  • Teams will be ranked by the scores associated with the number of flags captured across the provided challenges.
  • In the case of a tie-breaker, the first team to reach the tie-score will be the victor.
  • The participants are split in two tracks (named “beginner” and “regular”).
  • Each track is an independent competition.
  • Teams are not allowed to compete in both tracks.
  • Teams are not allowed to change track after the beginning of the competition.
  • The choice of participating in the “beginner” or “regular” track is made through a self-assessment of the team members, and is done at registration. Teams are expected to select the track that genuinely reflects their skill level to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all participants, especially those in the beginner track.
  • The beginner track is reserved only for students who have not taken part in a CTF competition before.
  • The organizers reserve the right to investigate and ensure that the track in which a team registered actually reflects their skill level. In particular, regular/advanced participants should not register in the “beginner” track, and the organizers reserve the right to change a team’s track if it is deemed necessary, even during the course of the event.
  • Each track has their own scoreboard, and its own cash prize. In no way a team scoring higher than prize-winning teams on the other track can claim their prize instead (for instance, team A in regular track scores 3,000 points and ranks 5th, while team B in beginner track scores 1,500 points and ranks 1st; team A cannot claim the prize of team B in any circumstances).
  • The same challenges will be made available to participants regardless of the track they are registered in. Similarly, the scoring system will be the same.
  • Teams will submit flags through the custom CTFd platform hosted on @Hack’s infrastructure.
  • Only registered members of the event are permitted to partake in the problem solving and submission of events.
  • A team is not allowed to share insights, findings, solutions and flags with other teams, and will be immediately disqualified under such conditions. This includes teams coming from the same establishment but competing in different teams.
  • Teams are expected to cooperate with the organizers if asked to show, explain, or demonstrate a solution they used to solve a particular challenge. Failure to comply may result in the revocation of flag points or, in severe cases, the disqualification of the team.
  • A Discord channel will be available during the event for reporting CTF-related issues, not limited to:
    • Challenge clarifications
    • Scoring discrepancies
    • Technical problems (e.g., submission issues)
  • Organizers can be reached through Discord for any non-technical concerns, like sleeping arrangements, food allergies, etc.
  • A hotline number will be available for emergency situations and provided at event opening. If you see something abnormal, do not intervene, and alert the organizers.
  • Any of the following will lead to team-wide expulsion:
    • Any attempt to alter the equipment on site, to attack other participants, to set up a hotspot, fake scoreboard, wifi scan, or to use the competition as an excuse to attack elsewhere.
    • Denial of service attempts
    • Brute force on the flags submission system. Don’t attack the scoreboard in general.
    • Giving out flags or writeups/solutions during the competition.
    • Flag tampering
    • Attempts to attack or probe the event’s infrastructure, including but not limited to: services hosting online challenges, networks and devices utilized to access the internet.
  • Participants must maintain an air of respect towards other participants, organizers, sponsors, volunteers, and university staff. Failure to do so will lead to personal disqualification.
  • The event will not tolerate any form of harassment - be it verbal or otherwise - and will lead to personal disqualification.
  • No form of taunting, ridicule, or belittling will be tolerated, and will lead to personal disqualification.
  • A cash prize pool of up to $16,000 will be awarded to the top scoring teams (accounting for both tracks).
  • Involvement in illegal activities, such as (non-exhaustively) smoking, using drugs, and drinking on location is not permitted and will result in immediate disqualification.
  • Hacking of any university infrastructure (routers, access points, student and lab computers, etc.), as well as other participant devices is strictly prohibited.
  • Any changes to the event will be announced primarily through Discord, as the layout of the event will allow hackers to disperse. Volunteers will assist by verbally spreading the word to reserved rooms.
  • Feedback will be collected following the event through a post-event email sent to participants.
  • Organizers reserve the right to make on-the-fly decisions and modifications to the rules in the case of unforeseen circumstances, and we request your patience and understanding in this regard.