Welcome to DalCTF 2026!

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DalCTF 2026 is the second annual CTF at Dalhousie University hosted by DalCTF Society and ShiftKey Labs. Thank you for joining!

This event has two bracket options, in-person, and online.

In Person Bracket

DalCTF in collaboration with ShiftKey and Digital Nova Scotia will be hosting an in-person space in Dalhousie Campus to participate in the CTF at Mona Campbell Building in room 1108.

In person attendance is highly encouraged for the following reasons:

  • Introductory Cybersecurity workshops will be hosted throughout the day, which may help you solve challenges.
  • A lockpicking workshop and competition will occur where the person with the fastest lockpicking time gets a prize!
  • Breakfast and lunch will be served on the first day, and breakfast on the second day!
  • Refreshments and Coffee will be available throughout the event.
  • Network with cybersecurity professionals and enthusiasts alike, a lot of the DalCTF Society and ShiftKey members work in the cybersecurity industry and academia!

To be eligible for the in-person prize, you must register here and check in with ShiftKey in person at the Mona Campbell building. Otherwise, you will not be eligible for the in-person track reward.

Online (Open) Bracket

The online track will run alongside the in-person track on CTFd. It is open to everyone, and there are no limits on the number of members in a team. The challenges are the same for both tracks, with the exception of the lockpicking challenge (which is worth no points, only a lockpicking set which is only provided on-site for the fastest time.)

Logistics:

Throughout the day, food, refreshments, and workshops will be provided. Announcements on the timing of these, as well as any changes to the competition, will be made in the DalCTF2026 discord. This is also where the ticketing system will be hosted, where if you get stuck on a challenge or think the challenge has an issue that is preventing it from being solvable, you can talk to us. You should pay attention to the Discord throughout the competition!

Schedule:

The schedule will be posted separately and can be found on the dalctf2026 discord.

In-Person Prizes

  • First place: $300
  • Second place: $200
  • Third place: $100

Online Prizes

  • First place: $200
  • 2nd place: $100
  • 3rd place: $50

Rules

  • In person team size limit is 5 members. Online has no team limit.
  • Flag format is dalctf{...} unless otherwise specified
  • Do not share any flags, solutions, or challenge info publicly during the CTF.
  • If you need help with a challenge open a ticket, do not post about it in discord.
  • Do not attack event infrastructure (DoS/exploit/etc)
  • There are no challenges that require automated fuzzing tools, please do not use them
  • Do not discuss challenges with members from other teams, or people not participating in the event.
  • Do not attack other players machines or otherwise sabotage other teams
  • Winners are determined at the end of the competition by the leaderboard on CTFd.
  • Organizers reserve the right to make on-the-fly decisions and modifications to the rules in the case of unforeseen circumstances.

The Event Organizers/DalCTF Society Organizers reserve the right to remove points and/or disqualify individuals and teams for any violations of the rule.

AI Policy

While we have no way to enforce a ban on AI, we encourage players to limit their use of LLMs and AI agents for this CTF. We believe all our challenges are human-solvable; even if you are a beginner there are challenges that are accessible to you. Use AI as a teacher, but not to auto-solve the entire CTF. Our challenge authors put time and effort into making these challenges, so ideally people will put in some honest effort in solving them.

DONT SLOP

Thank you for your cooperation to make DalCTF fun for everyone! And as a treat for reading the rules, here's your first flag for the "Warmup" challenge: dalctf{pr00f_y0u_4t_l3ast_0p3ned_7his_page}