Competition Rules
Conduct
- Violation of the Rules of Conduct as outlined may result in disqualification from the competition.
- Enforcement of the Rules of Conduct is at the discretion of the Competition Staff.
- Competitors will conduct themselves in a manner that befits employees of the Federal government and members of the Uniformed Services in all aspects of the competition.
- When choosing team and individual nicknames, competitors will show decorum and refrain from any names that are vulgar or political in nature (In accordance with the Hatch Act). Names will go through an approval process before appearing on the leaderboard. Inappropriate language, references to political persons or parties, or otherwise inappropriate content will be asked to be changed. The competition aims to support morale building, esprit de corps, and friendly rivalries between military units, and government departments and agencies. The competition staff reserves the right to ask any team or individual to change their name and maintains final judgement on what is acceptable.
- Classified toolsets are not authorized for use. All challenges are designed to be solved using open source tools including those provided on the hosted virtual machines
- Any attempts at unauthorized access or “Denial of Service” attacks are forbidden and will result in disqualification. “Escaping” the virtual machines or otherwise tampering with or targeting the hosting environment is prohibited.
- Competitors will not disclose any information involving the challenges to anyone during the competition outside of their competition team.
Team Composition
- Participants can only be on one team and cannot change teams during the competition. Once a team is locked during registration, it can NOT be changed later in the competition.
- Teams of 2 to 5 members must be from the same federal Executive Branch department or agency. For example, a cross-service, joint Department of Defense team is permitted as well as a Department of Justice team comprised of members from FBI, DEA, and ATF.
- Detailees to an external department can represent their home or detailed department. For example, a member of the Coast Guard detailed to DoD's US Cyber Command can be on a DoD or a DHS team.
- Detailees should seek approval of both their home agency and detail supervisor, including agreement on which agency will be responsible for awards.
- Team members must be government civilian employees or military service members. Government contractors are NOT allowed to participate in the 2021 President's Cup.
Time and Challenge Submission Restrictions
- During the qualifying rounds, teams have 8 hours to complete as many challenges as they can. Individuals have 4 hours per track to solve as many challenges as they can.
- In the event of a tiebreaker, the "Cumulative Time" figure will be used to determine who moves on to the Final Round. The Cumulative Time is the total time spent in challenges successfully solved. This is calculated using a timer specific to each challenge on your game board. When you start a challenge, the timer starts. When you successfully solve a challenge, your score and cumulative time are updated.
- Correct answers will vary based on the challenge format and the questions being asked. Please refer to each challenge description which will clearly articulate the format of the answer.
Registration
- Teams: Starts at 12:00 PM ET on August 30, 2021 and ends at 4:00 PM ET on September 20, 2021
- Individuals: Starts at 12:00 PM ET on August 30, 2021 and ends at 4:00 PM ET on October 4, 2021
- Participation in the President's Cup will be closed after these dates/times.
Support and Contact Information
To ask a question, report a problem, or provide other feedback on the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition, send email to: prescup-support@sei.cmu.edu or call (412) 268-3054.
Please include as much detail as possible including the specific challenge title, challenge Support Code (found in the lower-right corner of the challenge pane), any system element(s) involved, and any error messages you may have received.
Hours of Operation
The President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition is open for participation 24/7 during registration and qualifying. Support during registration and qualifying is available:
- Registration period – Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
- Qualifying rounds – 24x5 support starting Monday at 8:00 AM ET and ending Friday at 11:59 PM ET; Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
- Finals – support throughout Finals
- Hours are Eastern Time
PLEASE NOTE: Support availability is limited on weekends during the competition; participants who choose to compete during this time do so at their own risk. Please make use of the demo challenges to ensure access and compatibility before competing.