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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.
Schedule
Mark your calendar. Dates are posted here as they're locked in.
Partners
Sign up
Choose your level and your side. Qualifiers open the competition; the bracket ends it.