Call for DEFCON Capture the Flag Organizers.
-----------------------------------

Wanted:
An evil large multinational corporation, or...
An nefarious group of genius autonomous hackers, or...
A shadowy government organization from somewhere in the world

To:
Host, recreate, and innovate the worlds most (in)famous hacking contest.

Why:
For everlasting fame, intrusive media interviews, the respect of your=20
peers, or the envy of your enemies.

Do you have what it takes and know what we're talking about?

The Story:
After taking it to the next level, creating a spectators sport out of gee=
ks=20
sitting at their keyboards 0wning machines, and fabulous recognition arou=
nd=20
the world, the Ghetto Hackers have retired their Root Foo as the hosts of=
=20
DEFCON's Capture The Flag. Our contest is not over, merely in transition=
=20
to the next keepers of the flame. This is the opportunity you and your=20
crew, company, or government has been waiting for.

You too can pour your heart, countless hundreds of hours into planning,=20
producing, and executing the world's most famous contest of hacking=20
skills. Like all of our contests, they are run by volunteers.

Our intent is to make a game that's fun for its participants. While the=20
Ghetto did a fabulous job of allowing CTF to be a team and spectators spo=
rt=20
through scoring visualizations, commentators, game updates, et cetera, th=
is=20
is not a requirement. They took it to a new level in one area, and you ca=
n=20
take it to another. The heart hacking has many facets.

Your constraints:
You must design a cool contest. This contest could have a multiplayer/te=
am=20
aspect, but does not have to. Your contest can be based on previous game=
s,=20
but shouldn't be a mere replication of previous games. You can determine=
=20
the teams/participants before DEFCON, or at the conference. You can have=
=20
multiple contests (for example, one contest with individuals, one with=20
teams). You determine the constraints, size of teams, allowing remote=20
teams to play, and more.

You design the network topology. You determine the rules. Your group wi=
ll=20
determine the winner, and the losers. The idea behind this CFP is not to=
=20
ask people to reproduce past Capture the Flags, but to have your group=20
reinvent and create something new, based on the same ideas of creativity=20
and energy. Challenge your friends!

You MUST:
Clearly communicate the rules to the participants before the contest, se=
t=20
up clear eligibility requirements (if any) before the conference, set up=
=20
the network, provide any infrastructure that you wish to be part of the=20
game, referee the game while it is taking place, create a scoring system,=
=20
and determine winners. The easier it is for contestants to understand how=
=20
to win, the more fair the contest will feel. The contest must end no late=
r=20
than two hours before the end of DEFCON (5pm Sunday) in order to provide=20
time for final scoring and the awards ceremony.

Your contest MUST NOT:
Interfere with the DEFCON networks (ie: it must be a separate network),=20
interfere with the 'live internet', involve non-consensual parties (ie:=20
anyone who hasn't explicitly agreed to take part in the contests), take=20
bribes that are not equally shared with the DEFCON staff.

In the past network traffic on CTF has been captured for later forensic=20
analysis by groups such as shmoo, and Source Fire and shared with the=20
community to further ids and network sniffer developers. Expect that we=20
will give access to those wanting to capture traffic while not actively=20
participating in the contest.

Suggestions:
Allowing 'lone gunman' to participate (not require group play). This coul=
d=20
be a separate contest, or they could participate in competition with team=
s=20
(handicaps for teams, perhaps)

Allowing 'outside players', perhaps a VPN connection with one=20
representative at DEFCON, the rest of a shadowy team located elsewhere in=
=20
the globe.
Incorporating non intrusion/defense techniques to the game - stenography,=
=20
covert communication channels, riddles/puzzles, social engineering,=20
hardware hacking, radio direction finding, etc.

A 'theme' (like forensics, covert channels, attacking, defending,=20
application security, host security, etc.) that would be announced=20
beforehand with the contest focused around the theme.

You will be judged:
On any innovations or revolutionary enhancements to the game.
On the feasibility of your team getting all the work done (note: we will=20
publicly humiliate you if you get accepted and fail to perform!).
On the amount of fun (as measured in FunMeters) that participants will ha=
ve.

Resources we can provide:
Badges to the conference and access to the CTF area for setup on Thursday=
,=20
the day before the con.
Physical space roughly equal to that which has been provided at past DEFC=
ONs.
Tables for participants to use.
Screens and LCD projectors to display data with.
Network connections from the net if necessary.
Some network gear and power strips - please let us know early what you ne=
ed=20
so we can plan for it.
Prizes for the winning people or teams.

Research pointers:
If you haven't been to DEFCON before, you should understand the environme=
nt=20
your contest must operate in! http://www.defcon/ will get you started.
These may help give you an idea about past contests, what has worked, and=
=20
what hasn't. Ceazar gave a presentation on running hacking contests at=20
Black Hat Asia (learn from a master):=20
http://www.blackhat.com/presentation...fs/bh-jp-04-e=
ller/bh-jp-04-eller.pdf
Shmoo's CTF sniffing project: http://www.shmoo.com/cctf/
DC 10 Rules:=20
http://www.DEFCON.org/html/DEFCON-10...ctf-rules.html
DC 11 CTF Announcement:=20
http://www.DEFCON.org/html/DEFCON-11...ctf-teams.html
White paper on a teams participation:=20
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~crispin/disc...mix_DEFCON.pdf
Ceazar briefly discusses CTF before GH ran the contest:=20
http://www.antioffline.com/10/ghettohackers.html

So you want to play a game?

Here's the process:
1.Fill out the application below. You will receive an acknowledgment that=
=20
your submission was received within 48 business hours of us receiving it.
2.We will use relatively simple criteria to judge your entry. 1=20
Feasibility of your team pulling off this task, 2 The amount of fun we=20
image the participants will have with your contest, 3 the coolness or=20
innovation you bring to the contests.
3.We will contact finalists and ask them further questions, and talk over=
=20
any questions that we will inevitably have.
4.We will announce the winner(s) on XYZ date. It is possible that we will=
=20
choose multiple teams that run concurrent contests that are different.
5.We will hammer out details over the phone, participating in your game=20
creation (not interfering with it, just ensuring everything is going=20
smoothly). We will conference call with you and may fly you down to sunny=
=20
Seattle to meet with us to discuss planning for the event.

Application:
All contact information will be kept private, and not disclosed outside t=
he=20
DEFCON planning organization.

About you and your group
Name of your organization:
Name of primary contact:
Email Address of Primary contact:
Phone number of primary contact
Number of people in your organization (that will actively be participatin=
g=20
in creating/planning/executing CTF):
Experience team members have had in planning events (This could be a bake=
=20
sale with 500 people, or a DoD briefings for 20 people, something that=20
indicates some planning experience):
Technical ability of team (this would include a general list of people's=20
abilities =AD networking, hardware, et cetera):
Physical resources (if any) that you will be bringing to help run CTF:
What experience have your team members had in playing CTF in the past (th=
is=20
is not a requirement, but shows real-world knowledge of the game as it ha=
s=20
been played in the past)

Your Vision for CTF
-Explain, in a general manner, your vision of your CTF.
-Provide three reasons your group should host CTF.
-How do players or teams qualify (if there are qualifications)?
-Is it multi player or single-player, or a combination?
-What innovations or new ideas are you bringing to CTF.
-How long will the contest take, will it be 24x7, 8 hour shifts, etc?
-What technical work is required to execute your plan. This includes=20
setting up environments beforehand, pre qualification work if any, writin=
g=20
a scoring system, etc.?
-Give an outline of the rules that will be presented to the participants:
-Why do you want to do this?
-What hardware resources do you request or need from DEFCON?
-Explain what you believe is the best way to gauge a hacker's abilities,=20
and how your vision of the contest could do this?
-Tell us anything else that you think may be important or that we might=20
consider in choosing your group to host CTF.

Send it in! Deadline is March 31st, 2005. Submissions go to ctf [at] defc=
on=20
[d0t] org

A discussion area has been created on the DEFCON forums=20
(http://forum.defcon.org/) under the DEFCON 13 Events section to cover ne=
w=20
ideas, ask for feedback, and get an idea of what is going on, new=20
announcements will be on the main DEFCON web site (http://www.defcon.org/=
).

Thank you,
The Dark Tangent