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A defend-the-flag championship fought on real machines — not simulations. Attack a bot-defended box or survive an escalating one to qualify, then climb your level's bracket, human against human, to a single champion.
The Nationals
Real machines. Real exploits. One champion per level.
CyberNationals is a live attack-and-defend championship. You earn a seed in a qualifier — rooting a bot-defended box, or holding your own against an escalating attacker — and the bracket does the rest, advancing winners automatically down to a single champion. No simulations, no black boxes: a real shell, a real privilege escalation, a single root flag.
The three events
Everyone competes on a side to earn a seed — then the Nationals bracket settles it, human vs human.
Break into a box guarded by an active defender bot and root it. The fastest time-to-root earns the top seeds.
Hold your box against an escalating, adaptive attack bot. The longer you survive, the higher you seed.
A seeded single-elimination bracket at your level. Same-side pairings play role-swap. Last one standing takes the crown.
Pick your level
You only ever face your own level. Each box is authored by us and tuned to difficulty — a genuine foothold and a genuine privilege escalation to a single root flag.
A classic web foothold into a straightforward root. The place to earn your first flag.
A subtler foothold and an escalation that rewards real enumeration.
A chained foothold and a capability escalation. For competitors who hunt.
How it runs
The whole event runs on its own from real results — no operator deciding anything.
Play your side's qualifier. Your time-to-root or survival becomes your metric.
Each level's qualifiers are ranked and interleaved into a seeded bracket.
Real matches on real machines. Root the box, or hold it for 4.5 hours.
Winners advance automatically — live on the bracket — down to one champion per level.
Partners
Sign up
Choose your level and your side. Qualifiers open the competition; the bracket ends it.