Daedalus 2014

picoCTF Hacking Competition

Newsletter 3

Posted on February 1, 2014 in Newsletters

 This week our team has focused our efforts on developing a narrative which encases the positive aspects of our previous narratives (See week 2) and mitigates the areas of concern.

Act 1

Our narrative begins as a robotics expert is kidnapped from his home for unknown reasons. Before he is taken, he gives his son a storage disk and tells him to avoid going to the police. His son (you, our protagonist), afraid and confused, sets out on a task to unravel the mystery behind his father’s kidnapping. He begins by searching through his father’s storage disk, and then computer files to figure out his father was actually developing a high tech robot. At this moment, policemen stumble upon the crime scene and inform you that they are here to arrest your father as he is the mastermind behind the development of an illegal and highly dangerous weapon. Unsure about the truth of the matter, our protagonist decides to aid the policemen in their investigations by turning over the storage disk his father left him. He is then brought to the police headquarters for further questioning.

Act 2

Our protagonist, who witness the kidnapping feels something is amidst and tries to convince the police officers that his father is the victim and not the perpetrator. However, police officials with heaps of collected evidence are not easily convinced. Our main character, with much experience in how his father protects his files, offers to help break into the encrypted evidence the police officers have collected, in an attempt to prove his father’s innocence. Each piece of evidence he breaks into, he reveals a little piece of the real story, and bit by bit reduces the doubts he had about his father. Once all required files have been open, police officers realize that our protagonist’s father has been coerced to work for an evil corporation named Daedalus, which is bent on using his robot as a weapon to take over the world. By proving his ability to break into his father’s security protocols, our main character earns the trust of the police and is requested to join the task force to stop Daedalus’s evil plans and rescue his father.

Act 3

At the tower which Daedalus has built to house the non-active robot, our players are tasked to break through digitally protected doors, terminals and security protocols, to scale the tower and reach the final floor where the robot is kept. Unfortunately, as the player reaches the final floor, our main character finds his father lying unconscious on the ground. And to their dismay, Daedalus leaders have already spotted the intrusion and booted up the robot to destroy the intruders.  The police task force battles the powerful robot to distract it as the player is tasked to hack into each portion of the robots body to deactivate it. Daedalus leaders take this opportunity to flee the compound. Once the player is successful in hacking into each component of the robot, it deactivates and the area is under police control. The characters father is rescued and sent to the hospital where he is safe but remains unconscious.

Act 4 & 5

Daedalus’s plans for world domination has been faltered, but the leaders are still at large. Players are now granted full access to the Daedalus tower where they can find computer terminals with highly protected information, but hacking through these files, you uncover more information about Daedalus leaders in hope that you will be able to find them and put a stop to their menace. Players who are able to solve multiple questions in this act will be granted details about the founders of Daedalus and the wicked plans they have for the rest of the world. Once all questions are solved, players will then be able to track down the founders and give them the justice they deserve.

That concludes our team narratives of choice, stay tuned for any further developments in our story!