Welcome to Round 0 of the New Zealand Cyber Security Challenge 2026

What is the NZCSC?

The NZCSC is an annual Capture the Flag (CTF) competition open to all New Zealanders designed to promote interest in cyber security and encourage students to pursue careers in the field. CTFs are cyber security exercises consisting of multiple puzzles/challenges. Each puzzle has a flag hidden somewhere and the challenge is to find the flag. The flag is considered a secret, recovering it proves the challenge has been solved and you can submit it to collect points. For the NZCSC, all flags match the following regex: NZCSC{[A-Za-z0-9_-]+}

Who can participate in NZCSC?

Anyone in New Zealand can participate in the NZCSC. Competitors play solo for Round 0 and the top 150 players will be invited to attend the on-site round on the 9th and 10th of October. Althought the top 150 will be decided off overall scores, each participant will fall into either Open/Industry, University, or High School.

Artificial Intelligence

The challenge creators recognise both the importance and prevelance of AI in the future of cyber security, and the negative impact it can have on true learning. Although AI (chatbots, agentic, or otherwise) are allowed for Round 0, the challenge creators strongly encourage participants to attempt as much as possible without AI and use it to guide where appropriate rather than asking it to solve the challenges.

First time playing a CTF?

The point values assigned to challenges loosely correlate with their difficulties. The NZCSC website also has solutions of the challenges from previous years and some other resources that may be helpful.

Code of Conduct

By participating in the NZCSC you agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct. Attacks against any of the infrastructure are strictly forbidden and participants identified doing so will not be allowed to continue to participate. The CROW mailbox will be monitored for the duration of the challenge if you require support or would like to report any issues.