Past competitions

2022 eCTF

Teams secured an avionic device by designing a secure firmware update system and bootloader. The system must protect intellectual property and aircraft mission secrets in an untrusted environment, and ensure firmware protection and integrity in the face of supply-chain threats such as hardware trojans.

View Rules – View Technical Specs

2021 ECTF

Teams designed a secure communications system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) package delivery system. The system had to be secure to prevent attackers from gaining access to the network to spy on and disrupt the UAV system. View Rules

2020 eCTF

Teams designed a secure audio digital rights management (DRM) module for a next-generation multimedia player on the Digilent Cora Z7. The system had to be secure to prevent users from playing pirated music, support region locking, and prevent the creation of cloned bootleg players.

View RulesView Reference Design

  • First Place Overall: Husky Records – Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
  • Second Place Overall: Insecure Example – University of Cincinnati, advised by Carla Purdy
  • Third Place Overall: Cornell – Cornell University, advised by Daniel Weber
  • Fourth Place Overall: CyberGatorz – University of Florida, advised by Mark Tehranipoor
  • Additional Awards:
    • Best Documentation: Husky Records – Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
    • Best Write-Up: Husky Records – Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
    • Tech Support Hero: Husky Records – Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
    • First High School Submission: 0xDACC – Delaware Area Career Center, advised by Eli Cochran

2019 eCTF

Teams designed a secure video game console on the Digilent Arty Z7. The system had to attempt to protect the intellectual property of game designers, prevent users from loading their own software, and allow verified users to install and play games that they have purchased.

View RulesView Reference Design

  • First Place Overall: DeNUvo — Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
  • Second Place Overall: ROP it like its hot — Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Martin Carlisle
  • Two-way tie for Third Place Overall:
    • ZOO_MES — University of Massachusetts, advised by Wayne Burleson
    • TigerBytes — Rochester Institute of Technology, advised by Ziming Zhao and Marcin Łukowiak
  • Additional Awards:
    • 0Day Award: ROP it like its hot — Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Martin Carlisle
    • Iron Flag: DeNUvo — Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
    • Best Writeup: ROP it like its hot — Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Martin Carlisle
    • Best Documentation: DeNUvo — Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
    • Tech Support Hero: ZOO_MES — University of Massachusetts, advised by Wayne Burleson

2018 eCTF

Teams designed a secure ATM-bank system.

View RulesView Reference Design

  • First Place Overall: Hokie Hackers – Virginia Tech, advised by Matthew Hicks and Patrick Schaumont
  • Second Place Overall: Anonymous Elephants – Tufts University, advised by Ming Chow
  • Third Place Overall: VuPenn – University of Pennsylvania, advised by James Weimer
  • Additional Awards:
    • First To Market: TechSec – MIT
    • Iron Flag 1: HokieHackers – Virginia Tech, advised by Matthew Hicks and Patrick Schaumont
    • Iron Flag 2: 0xbu – Boston University, advised by Renato Mancuso
    • Golden Flag: VuPenn – University of Pennsylvania, advised by James Weimer
    • Flag Factory: HokieHackers – Virginia Tech, advised by Matthew Hicks and Patrick Schaumont
    • Best Documentation: Nullify – University of Nebraska, Omaha, advised by Bill Mahoney
    • Best Writeup: Anonymous Elephants – Tufts University, advised by Ming Chow

2017 eCTF

Teams designed a secure bootloader for a self-driving car.

View RulesView Reference Design

  • First Place Overall: Firmware Dogs – University of Connecticut, advised by John Chandy
  • Mass Attack Winner: Team Sprite – Northeastern University, advised by Guevara Noubir
  • Iron Flag Winners:
    • Firmware Dogs – University of Connecticut, advised by John Chandy
    • pgm_read_flag() – Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Martin Carlisle
    • Snorlax – University of Massachusetts-Amherst, advised by Dan Holcomb

2016 eCTF

In the inaugural eCTF, teams designed a secure pin door lock system.

View RulesView Reference Design

  • First Place Overall: We’re Probably Insecure – Worcester Polytechnic Institute, advised by Thomas Eisenbarth
  • Most Flag Points: WillHax4Snacks – Northeastern University, advised by Yunsi Fei
  • Iron Flag: Tufts eCTF – Tufts University, advised by Ming Chow

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