Game play

• Several teams are connected to a central router and scoring system
• Each team has one host to defend and keep running
• Teams attempt to hack each other in order to score faster
• Highest total credits at the end of the contest wins

Scoring

• Every few minutes, the scoreboard simulates honest user interaction with each host.
• Each host is rated Up or Down and then queried for a team-specific key file
• To score any points in a given period, a team's host must be Up.
• A team scores one credit for every host that is Up and responds with their key.
• Teams are severely penalized for using more bandwidth than other teams.
• Points do not follow defectors who change teams

Hosts

• Teams will be given identical ready-to-run x86 distributions to host.
• The distro contains many scripts and services that the scoring system relies upon.
• Teams can choose to port, upgrade or replace the services.
• Any action that causes the scoring system to dislike a host is exclusively the fault of that team and will result in lost scoring opportunities.
• No mulligans, time-outs, make-ups or do-overs will be granted for mistakes.

Scoreboard

• The scoreboard reflects the street *opinion* of a team's performance
• Recent performance sways opinion more than past performance
• Numbers on the scoreboard are not necessarily in line with the final scores.

Courtesy

• Don't whine
• No physical coersion. This is still a game.
• Denial of bandwidth will be punished by the scoring system.
• Denial of service is only acceptable if it directly helps the attacker gain root.
• All patches to open-source software must be published on your host's FTP server.
• All commercial software used must be accompanied by proper license.

Judgement

• The staff reserves the right to make final judgement on any matter in question. Their authority is final.
• Team leaders should feel free to work together with the contest staff to resolve any disputes that arise.

Tips, tricks and hints

• Learn what your distribution does before you try to replace it.
• Use the scoreboard to get a sense of whether you're doing the right or wrong thing.
• Have a team manager who keeps information flowing in your team.
• Dedicate a skilled person to monitoring the network.
• Secure your physical assets