SANS

The 2020 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge


'Zat You, Santa Claus?
featuring KringleCon 3: French Hens

Santa Claus Portrait in gold frame

The 2020 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge has officially ended, although the targets and all game assets remain available for you to practice. The official answers and winners are located here.


Welcome to the 2020 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge, featuring KringleCon 3: French Hens! This year, we're hosting the event at Santa's newly renovated castle at the North Pole.


For an introduction to this year's SANS Holiday Hack Challenge and KringleCon, please listen to the Ed Skoudis START HERE: Welcome and Tips talk.


Please join us on Discord where you can team up with other players in various text or voice channels. In the General channel, you might see one of our Kringle Concierges who can help familiarize you with the Holiday Hack world.


To play, simply click HERE to register and then hop on the New Jersey Turnpike to get to Santa's gondola for your ride to the North Pole.


Exit 7A


If you'd like to enter the contest for a chance to win a prize, please submit a report with a description of how you solved each objective in the Google form here (requires Google account to access) by the end of the day on January 11, 2021*. Alternatively, if you'd rather not use the Google form, you can email your answers to SANSHolidayHackChallenge@counterhack.com. You DO NOT have to answer all questions to be eligible to win a prize. All reports must be 50 pages or fewer in length.


From all submitted entries, we'll pick ten winners, according to the following plan:


  • Seven random draw answers selected from all entries, regardless of how complete or incomplete they are
  • The best technical answer - ONE SUBSCRIPTION TO NETWARS CONTINUOUS 2 for FOUR MONTHS
  • The most creative answer that is technically correct - A PASS TO ATTEND THE VIRTUAL ON-LINE RSA CONFERENCE IN MAY 2021
  • The best overall answer, our GRAND PRIZE WINNER - ONE SANS ONLINE TRAINING COURSE**


Remember, even if you can't answer one or more of the questions, please do submit an answer of any kind to be entered in our random draw. Seriously, if you get 50%, 80%, or 98% of the answers, you'll still be eligible to win.


The seven random draw answers will receive a much coveted, beautiful Holiday Hack T-Shirt from KringleCon.


The best technical answer will receive a subscription to NetWars Continuous 2, with 4 months of access to the exciting SANS cyber range to develop skills, have fun, and earn CPEs!


The most creative answer that is technically correct will receive a pass to attend the virtual on-line RSA Conference USA in May 2021.


The very best overall answer earns our Grand Prize - a complimentary SANS Online Training course of your choice! The winner will choose from any of SANS' 30+ Online Courses, and will complete SANS training at their own pace from anywhere on the internet.


We kindly ask that you refrain from publicly publishing any answers, write-ups, or walkthroughs until after our submission deadline of January 11, 2021. Once that passes, please feel free to publish!


Happy Holidays!
--Counter Hack and Friends
* Any time zone on planet Earth will do.
**SANS will choose only one winner for the Grand Prize. These prizes are not transferable to another person or event and do not include a certification attempt. Only one course will be awarded per category, regardless of how many people contributed to a winning submission. No substitutions are allowed. For any of these prizes, SANS is not responsible for lost, late, or unintelligible entries, lost connections, miscommunications, failed transmissions, reindeer attacks, or other technical difficulties or failures.