Team 'I'm not a robot' wins SURFcert's Capture the Flag 2023

Theme: Future & AI bots

Each edition of Capture the Flag has a different theme. This year's theme was Future & AI bots, with AI bots trying to wipe out humanity in 2025.

38 IT security-related challenges

To get the coveted flag, the 33 teams had to solve as many of the 38 challenges as possible within 5.5 hours. The challenges were divided into the following categories: Intro, Crypto, Encoding & Decoding, VirtualMachine, Encryption, Binary, Forensics, Networking, Nerd and Multi. A total of 5,800 points could be earned. In addition, extra points could be earned by being the first to submit the correct answer to a question.

Exciting competition

It was another exciting battle, with several teams in first place throughout the day. In the last half hour, the scoreboard went into freeze mode, preventing teams from seeing the standings. This created extra tension until the end.

During the freeze, team 'I'm not a robot' retained the lead with a whopping 4,058 points, helping them retain the 2022 crown. Second was team 'CTF Team TU Delft' with 3,819 points, followed closely by team 'SURF bezemwagen' with 3,800 points.