Online Prelims Contest

ICO Online Prelims Contest Details:

Date: 01 March 2025
Session 1: 08:00 AM - 11:00 AM (SGT)
Session 2: 04:00 PM - 07:00 PM (SGT)
Format: Multiple-choice questions (MCQ), and CTF format challenges
Duration: 3-hour continuous contest.
Contest Platform: https://admin-slcs.simcc.org/

Rules/Format:

Open-book format – students can use any online tools and resources
Internet access is required throughout the contest
Any updates to the contest format will be communicated in advance

Training Resources for Participants

To help students prepare, we have compiled a list of recommended training materials:
NCL Online Training Materials (Pre-recorded Videos) available at https://ico2025.sg/training-materials/

Example Questions and Topics:

We recommend students refer to https://picoctf.org/ to practice CTF-style questions. They can start with the General category CTF questions and then try the questions in categories such as Cryptography (e.g., hashing, password cracking), Networking, Forensics, Web Exploitation and Binary Exploitation.

Programming Knowledge Requirements:

To effectively participate in the contest, students are encouraged to have a basic understanding of Python and C programming, particularly in the following areas:

Python Programming:

Basic concepts: Variables, Data Types, Conditional Statements, Loops, File I/O, OOP, Exception Handling
Network libraries: Requests, Socket, Scapy, Paramiko, Socket.IO, HTTPx, PyCurl
Cryptography libraries: SSL, Cryptography, PyCrypto, PyCryptodome, Hashlib, PyNaCl
Penetration testing libraries: Impacket, Python-nmap, Pwntools, BeautifulSoup

C Programming:

Basic syntax and structure, Data types, Memory management, Control structures, Functions, Pointers & Arrays
File I/O, Bitwise operations, Buffer overflows, Structs & Typedefs, Assembly & System Calls, Debugging tools (optional)
Students are encouraged to explore any additional resources they find useful beyond NCL’s materials.

The online qualifier contest will be based on the above topics but is not limited to them. Students should aim to build a strong foundational understanding of cybersecurity concepts to perform well.

Client Device Requirements for the Contest:

General Requirements:

Each participant should have access to a device that is able to access internet.

This device should have the following capabilities.

Supported Operating Systems (either one of the following):

Windows: Windows 10 or higher
Mac: macOS 12 (Monterey) or higher
Linux: Ubuntu 20+, Debian 10+

Browser Requirements:

A web browser is required to access the contest platform. Supported browsers include (but not limited to):
Google Chrome
Firefox 80+
Opera
Microsoft Edge 17+

SSH Client (Optional):

Some challenges may require SSH access to a cloud instance. Participants can use the ssh command line or install one of the following SSH clients:
PuTTY: https://www.putty.org/
MobaXterm: https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/download.html

Other Tools/Packages/Software:

Participants may need to install the following tools to complete certain challenges:

Python: https://www.python.org/downloads/
GCC (GNU Compiler Collection): https://gcc.gnu.org/install/
Windows Subsystem for Linux (for Windows users): Installation guide: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
Wireshark: https://www.wireshark.org/download.html

Contest Instructions:

Please refer below for the contest instruction videos and ICO Online Prelims contest setup requirement documents. It is important that you watch the videos and follow the set-up instructions, otherwise you may experience technical difficulties during the competition. Please note that we will not play these videos again during the competition and it is the student's responsibility to understand all the instruction.

Please make sure that you have good internet connection during the competition and for those countries that need to setup the VPN, please ensure that you test the connectivity before the competition day.

Please inform us immediately at info@ico2025.sg or admin@simcc.org if you have any issues login to the contest platform.

***Important Notes; Rule and Regulation:

All students, please attempt to log in to Competition Platform website using your assigned username and password to ensure there is no issue. If you encounter any issues with logging in, kindly inform us immediately.
Please be reminded that punctuality is crucial for the 2025 ICO Online Prelims competition. Students who arrive late will not be allowed to join the contest once it has begun.
Teachers/Country Partners is required to rename their Zoom Display Name to this format “<Teacher Name – School/Country Name>”.
Please note that the zoom session (details shared to the respective teachers/country partners) is for students and teacher to login and post only if they have any questions, need clarification on challenges/questions, or encounter any issues.
Students are only allowed to participate in the contest using Laptop and Desktop. NO Phone, IPAD or Tablet are allowed.

Disclaimer: All cited sources on this page, except for the training materials, belong to their respective owners, and while the site may include third-party links for educational purposes, we do not own, monitor, or take responsibility for these external resources or any interactions with third-party providers.