12 Days of Cyber
Holiday CTF Challenge Series - Saving Christmas at the North Pole
The Story
North Pole Operations Center - December 2024
It's December at the North Pole Operations Center (NPOC), and everything should be running smoothly. Santa's elves are working overtime preparing for Christmas Eve - the Nice/Naughty List is being finalized, toys are being manufactured, and the sleigh's navigation systems are being tested.
But something's wrong... Merry Tinselcode, Senior Security Elf, notices strange encoded messages where there should be system updates. What starts as a minor glitch quickly escalates into a full-blown Christmas crisis.
The attacker? Jack Frost and his crew, "The Frost Giants" - a mischievous group bent on ruining Christmas! Over 12 days, you'll help the North Pole Security Operations team investigate the breach, learn cybersecurity skills, and race against time to save Christmas.
Skills You'll Learn
How It Works
- 12 days + 1 bonus challenge - progressive difficulty from easy to expert
- Each day includes a story chapter, learning lesson, and investigation artifacts
- Flags are in format:
FROST{l33t_sp34k_fl@g} - Gated progression - each day's flag unlocks the next day's artifacts
- Day 1 is open to start - solve it to unlock Day 2, and so on through Christmas Eve