To ensure a fair, rigorous, transparent, and ethical competitive environment, all contestants participating in Hack2Innovate CTF + Hackathon 2026 must strictly adhere to the following Rules of Engagement.
If the CTF platform experiences unexpected network downtime, or if the in-portal Support Chat is temporarily unreachable, join our official Emergency WhatsApp Community to address your queries and receive real-time announcements directly from the CTF Organizing Committee.
High-value challenges start at 500 points and decay quadratically toward a floor of 100 points as more teams solve the target (decay threshold: 30 solves).
If two or more teams finish with identical total points, the team that reached the tied score at an earlier timestamp will be ranked higher on the leaderboard.
The public scoreboard freezes 2 hours prior to the conclusion of the 10-hour CTF to build suspense for the final prize ceremony.
Unlocking optional challenge hints incurs explicit point deductions directly deducted from your team's score. Free hints cost 0 points.
All captured flags must be submitted in the standardized wrapper format:
Ensure there are no leading or trailing whitespace characters. Rate limits allow a maximum of 15 flag submissions per minute per contestant.
| Violation Severity | Infraction Example | Enforcement Action |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: Minor | Rate limit bursting, unintentional scanner flooding | Formal warning & 5-minute submission cooldown |
| Tier 2: Moderate | Attacking non-challenge URLs, unauthorized credential sharing | 20% to 50% Point deduction & solve nullification |
| Tier 3: Severe | Flag sharing, DoS attacks on portal, cross-team collusion | Immediate disqualification, account ban & university reporting |
Review your team setup, test your cryptographic tools, and analyze the live targets.
