EPFL's Capture the Flag Team reaches new heights

Capture the Flags or CTFs are cyber security competitions with the goal to reverse engineer, decrypt and hack into computer systems to capture flags and win points for your team. Recently the 0rganizers - a coalition of teams that EPFL and ETHZ are a part of - won the China based 0CTF, organized by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Chinese tech company, Tencent.

It’s one of the largest Capture the Flag competitions and is also considered one of the most difficult. The format of the game is jeopardy style and open to any team in the world. After placing 14th in the qualification round team 0rganizers was invited to take part in the finals. Due to COVID-19, this year’s event was online, therefore the EPFL students instead travelled to Zurich to play in person with their ETHZ colleagues.

“We knew we could do well, we were hoping to place on the top side of the scoreboard, but first place? I honestly don't have the words to explain what an amazing result it is!” said EPFL Doctoral student and assistant in the HexHive Laboratory, Lucio Romerio, a polygl0ts spokesperson. “Thanks to this event 0rganizers is now the 7th best team in the world!” he continued.

Professor Mathias Payer, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Communication Systems in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC) and head of the HexHive Lab, along with a group of motivated students, started Team polygl0ts in 2018.

"Challenges at CTF competitions are extremely fun and allow students to playfully learn about all aspects of cyber security. By playing, students analyze the newest types of security threats, figure out how to assess them, and practice how to mitigate such issues. In addition to being entertaining, students learn practical skills ready to be used in practice," says Payer.