SANS Holiday Hack Challenge™ 2024

Join the global cybersecurity community in the most festive and challenging event of the year! The SANS Holiday Hack Challenge cyber range offers FREE, high-quality, and super fun hands-on cybersecurity challenges designed for all skill levels. Play to learn or practice your skills and stand a chance to win exciting prizes for the top entries.

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Holiday Hack Challenge™ 2024: Snow-maggedon

Whether you're a first-time player or a seasoned participant, this year’s Holiday Hack brings exciting new features you won’t want to miss! We’ve introduced a new dynamic for this year: challenges will be gradually released* in sync with the story, keeping the experience fresh and immersive. See challenges release dates and new features included.

November 7........Prologue
November 11......Act 1
November 18......Act 2
December 2........Act 3

Skill Levels: Every challenge will offer two modes: an easy mode and a harder mode. Players can choose either mode to solve the challenge, depending on their skill level or preference.

Challenge Skipping: Each challenge will include a “play-through” mode, allowing players to advance the storyline without solving the challenge immediately. You can skip a challenge and return to it later.

Share Solutions: For the Prologue, Act 1, and Act 2, participants can post answers or livestream their solutions starting one week after each section's release. This allows others to learn from shared solutions and progress in the game. However, for Act 3, players must wait until after the competition ends before sharing their answers or solutions.

Scoreboard and Cohorts: Track your progress on a live scoreboard of all players, plus a separate scoreboard dedicated to a cohort exclusively for your organization or group of friends, allowing you to have a friendly competition with peers.

*Sign up below to be notified when new challenges are released.

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The SANS Holiday Hack Challenge 2024: Snow-maggedon is here! Listen to Ed Skoudis, Chief Holiday Officer, in the Welcome and Game Orientation video to make the most of this cyber range. Join us on Discord to chat with other players, share tips, and connect through text or voice channels. Follow us on X for the latest updates. And if you're up for it, enter the contest for a chance to win one of the coveted Holiday Hack Challenge prizes!

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2024 Challenge Topics

Ransomware Reverse Engineering
Hardware Hacking
Web App Hacking with MQTT and Video Feed Manipulation
Video Game Hacking
Threat Hunting with KQL
SIM/SEM Analysis
Mobile App Penetration Testing
OSINT via Drone Path Analysis
Web Exploration with cURL
PowerShell for Cyber Defense