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Event Type

Capture The Flag

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Duration

5 Days - Friday to Tuesday

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Region

Global

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Entry Fee

Free

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Prize Pool

$50,000+

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Team Size

1 - 30 Players

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Difficulty

Very Easy to Advanced

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CTF Style

Jeopardy, Cloud, FullPwn

About the event

Operation Blackout: Defend Against the Cyber Dark Age

In a world where advanced technology shapes global power dynamics, the stakes have never been higher.

The Empire of Volnaya, a nation with a long history of espionage and authoritarian rule, has launched a covert operation to destabilize critical infrastructure across rival nations. This campaign, known as Operation Blackout, uses advanced persistent threats (APTs) and sophisticated cyber tactics to disrupt power grids, financial systems, and emergency services, aiming to instigate a new era of Cold War tensions.

In response, an elite coalition of the world’s top cyber operatives—Task Force Phoenix—has been assembled to counter this growing threat. As a member of this task force, you’ll deploy cutting-edge cybersecurity tools, dissect intelligence, and dismantle Volnaya’s cyber operations.

Each challenge will test your team’s skills as you unravel the layers of Operation Blackout and neutralize the looming threat of a Cyber Dark Age.

A New Name, Same Elite Experience

The business-focused competition you know and love is back—better than ever—with a new name: Global Cyber Skills Benchmark 2025. This evolution reflects our commitment to delivering an even sharper focus on benchmarking your team’s cybersecurity capabilities against global peers.

WHY JOIN

TL;DR: For the glory, the training, the prizes, and the certification

Top-notch hacking content

Access exclusive content featuring only the latest attacks and real-world hacking techniques.


Gamified upskilling

Forget static experiences. Be part of an interactive storyline and learn while hacking.


Free training

Bring your team together to train and hack at the same time. Simple as that!


Certify your attendance

Reserve your spot, climb the charts, brag to your friends, and get CPEs and certificates.*


Your prizes await

Get the chance to win the Secret HTB Trophy, swag, advanced services, our hearts, and much more.


Hack The Box Prizes

*We give away 6 CPEs to participants who've provided their (ISC)² IDs, and whose teams have collected at least 15,000 points

Hacking content

More than 40 challenges to take on.

Web

5 Challenges

Reversing

5 Challenges

Pwn

5 Challenges

Forensics

5 Challenges

Crypto

5 Challenges

Blockchain

5 Challenges

Hardware

3 Challenges

Machines

5 Challenges

Cloud

5 Challenges

Misc

3 Challenges

ICS

3 Challenges

Coding

5 Challenges

TIMELINE

Mark your calendar

Registration opens

February 25, 2025

Pre-event live hacking workshops

May 22, 2025

CTF starts

May 23, 2025

CTF ends

May 27, 2025

CTF after party

May 28, 2025

SPONSORS

Global Cyber Skills Benchmark 2025 Operation Blackout: A team effort

Be part of the action and make the Global Cyber Skills Benchmark 2025 a hacking event to remember! If you want to join our sponsors and showcase your brand to our global community of 3M+ cybersecurity professionals, click here to get in touch with our team.

MEET THE AWARDS

Outsmart your competitors, bring home your prizes

Hack like pros, climb the leaderboard, and win our hearts plus much more.

Hack The Box

1st place

$21,750

  • Secret HTB trophy

  • Access to BlackSky (6 months)

  • $100 HTB swag card (for each player)

Hack The Box

2nd place

$16,200

  • CPTS certification (for each player)

  • $50 HTB swag card (for each player)

Hack The Box

3rd place

$12,050

  • Access to Dedicated Labs (6 months)

  • $25 HTB swag card (for each player)

TOTAL PRIZE VALUE: $50,000+

FOR A FAIR PLAY

The dos and the don'ts

  1. Only one team from each company can join the CTF.
  2. Only business emails are allowed to sign up.
  3. Players are prohibited from attacking the CTF's backend infrastructure.
  4. Players are prohibited from attacking other teams.
  5. Do not brute-force the flag submission form.
  6. Avoid exchanging flags or write-ups/hints with other teams.
  7. Respect HTB's Terms of Service.
  8. Do not attempt to DDoS challenges or make actions that could lead to this result.
  9. Players must be part of only one Business CTF team.

Got questions? Read our FAQ.

STRAIGHT FROM LAST YEAR

Don't just take our word for it

Here's what teams who have experienced Global Cyber Skills Benchmark CTF first hand say about it:

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Ignacio Arsuaga

Global Cybersecurity Enterprise Architect @ Siemens

"Amazing experience working with HTB. Not only is it a very complete and fun hacking learning platform, but also the team is full of talent and creativity and will support your CTF setups in a very professional way. I’m looking forward to continuing this great collaboration."

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Pablo Ruiz Encinas

Security Consultant @ Mnemonic

"We used the HTB Business CTF to get our interns into the hacking world at the same time as the new hires and the more experienced members sharpened their skills. It was fun as well as rewarding to spend that weekend working together and sharing knowledge. I will definitely join for similar events in the future."

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Lukasz Lamparski

Security Manager | Senior Incident Responder @ ING INGBank

"Overall the challenges were pretty realistic, which is a big plus for me. Would definitely recommend joining the CTF, as it lets you test your skills in realistic scenarios, and challenge yourself against the best specialists in the field. We will join again next year."

No need for FOMO. Read last year's Business CTF recap here.