The FLARE team is once again hosting its annual Flare-On challenge, now in its eighth year. Take this opportunity to enjoy some extreme social distancing by solving fun puzzles to test your mettle and learn new tricks on your path to reverse engineering excellence. The contest will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sept. 10, 2021. This is a CTF-style challenge for all active and aspiring reverse engineers, malware analysts, and security professionals. The contest runs for six full weeks and ends at 8:00 p.m. ET on Oct. 22, 2021.

This year’s contest will consist of 10 challenges and feature a variety of formats, including Windows, Linux, and JavaScript. This is one of the only Windows-centric CTF contests out there and we have crafted it to represent the skills and challenges our FLARE team faces.

If you smash your way through all 10 challenges, you will receive a prize and permanent recognition on the Flare-On website to honor your greatness. Prize details will be revealed later, but as always, it will be worthwhile swag to earn the envy of your peers. Prior year’s prizes were belt buckles, a replica police badge, a challenge coin, a medal, a massive pin, and a cyber-styled skeleton key.

Check the Flare-On website for a live countdown timer, to view the previous year’s winners, and to download past challenges and solutions for practice. For official news and information, we will be using the Twitter hashtag: #flareon8.