A cybersecurity high school student competition designed by students, for students.
CanHack is the Canadian category of picoCTF, a free online cybersecurity competition developed and run by Carnegie Mellon University. The game features a series of digital challenges based on unique storylines.
Register below!
About CanHack
In today’s digital world, understanding cybersecurity matters more now than ever before. The DMZ at Ryerson University, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, have come together to launch CanHack - a cybersecurity student competition. Participants will learn critical computer security skills, work with experts in the field and have an opportunity to win up to $16,250 in cash prizes for both themselves and the school they attend!Participants must reverse engineer, break, hack, decrypt, or do whatever it takes to solve the problem statement. At the end of the challenge, students will walk away with a basic understanding of cybersecurity systems and:
Explore new careers |
Leverage our up-to-date digital learning tools to teach the latest tech skills. Introduce students to career possibilities that exist in the growing cybersecurity field and computer science sector.
Access complimentary educational tools |
Access industry approved supplies, lesson plans and guides that cover everything from coding to computational skills in order to create a well-rounded experiential learning opportunities.
Learn cybersecurity skills |
Establish basic digital literacy, cybersecurity and privacy skills by providing hands-on learning for students and introduce them to experts in the field.
Get Started
Are you a teacher/supervisor or a student?
For all other information and FAQsBe sure to read our Resource Guide!
STEP 1.
Sign up for CanHack here
(This ensures you can win the prizes!)
STEP 2.
Register an account on PicoCTF.
(This is where the game will be played!)
STEP 3.
Teachers will assign students to classrooms, In the classroom page, you can view the progress of your students. Pro-tip: Visit our resource guide on how-to
STEP 4.
Collect all usernames and teams that your students will be using on the PicoCTF platform and fill out this excel template here.
STEP 5.
Upload the excel sheet with the team names and usernames here.
STEP 6.
For support with the challenge from industry mentors, you and your students can follow along on the official PicoCTF discord server or send an email to: canhackquestions@gmail.com
STEP 1.
Sign up for CanHack here
STEP 2.
Tell your teacher about Canhack and have them register as your supervisor here!
STEP 3.
Register an account on PicoCTF This must be done for all of your team members!
STEP 4.
Have one member from your team inform your teacher or supervisor of your PicoCTF usernames and team name.
Prizes for top 3 teams
Prizes for top 3 schools
New this year
*Winning this prize does not disqualify a team from other prize pools
Prizes
CanHack Award Badges:
If over $16,000+ in prizes wasn’t enough, the DMZ is excited to introduce digital student badges! Digital student badges allow students to share the completion of their training in cyber security from us on their social media channels, resumes and on college/university applications!
These never expiring digital badges are a visual representation of a student’s completion of CanHack workshops and quiz completions with a passing grade. In order to receive a badge, students must:
- Register and participate in the CanHack competition
- Complete the CanHack cyber quiz launching on February 24nd here
Best part of all? Badges are endorsed by Carnegie Mellon University's Security and Privacy Research Institute!
Awards criteria
In order to participate students must adhere to the following criteria:
- Be enrolled at a Canadian high school
- Apply individually or with a team consisting of no more than five students
- Be registered by a teacher or adult supervisor
There is no fee to participate and students can sign up to compete until March 2021. There is no limit to the number of teams that can represent a single school, and members do not have to attend the same school.
*Students and teams that do not meet these requirements can still participate, but will not be eligible to win contest prizes. Please see competition rules for details.
Workshops
Tailored for students in all grades from 9 to 12, these introductory workshops will help
students learn about the fundamentals of cybersecurity, including key content on:
Register your students for a workshop here
REGISTERSee below for full dates:
Date |
Subject |
|---|---|
| Wednesday, January 13th | Advanced Web Security |
| Wednesday, January 20th | Advanced Cryptography |
| Wednesday, January 27th | Advanced Computer Forensics |
| Wednesday, February 3rd | Jobs in the Cyberspace |
| Wednesday, February 10th | Advanced Reverse Engineering |
| Tuesday, February 16th | PicoCTF Registration Opens |
| Wednesday, February 17th | Advanced Binary Exploitation |
| Wednesday, February 24th | Hacking the All-Female Prize: CanHack Cybersecurity Webinar for Girls |
| Monday, March 15th | CanHack Launch Event |
| Tuesday, March 16th, - March 30th | Canhack PicoCTF Competition |
Program Timeline
January 2021 - February 2021:
February 16th, 2021:
March 11th, 2021:
March 16th to 30th, 2021:
April 28th, 2021:
Have a question?
Naveed Tagari
Programs & Partnerships CoordinatorCanHack Newsletter
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