The 2015 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge

SANS Institute · Intermediate ·🔐 Cybersecurity ·10y ago

Key Takeaways

The 2015 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge is an intermediate-level cybersecurity challenge that involves Internet of Things analysis, internet scavenger hunt, vulnerability analysis, and hacking, with a mysterious plot to unravel and attribution to figure out the bad guy, all wrapped up in a fun holiday story, utilizing tools such as SANS On-Demand courses and target lab environments.

Full Transcript

hi I'm ed scotus and I'd like to tell you about something really special we've got coming up it's the 2015 sands holiday hack challenge for the last 11 years my team is put together some holiday hack challenges that we release each year in december so that you can work on building your information security skills and they're all available for free this year's holiday hat challenge is our best ever you're going to be doing part Internet of Things analysis so you're gonna get some items some data items that are associated with the Internet of Things they say well what's the story behind this one oh we're keeping that one really super secret it'll be part internet scavenger hunt you're going to have to comb through the whole internet to try to find certain things and once you find them appropriately you're going to be doing vulnerability analysis and hacking of those things and you're going to find that there's some sort of mysterious plot going on and you're gonna have to do some attribution to figure out who the bad guy is behind this plot and this is all wrapped up in a fun whimsical holiday story the point here though is for you to build your information security skills and we've created for you a whole Christmas world for you to explore so I hope you'll set aside a little bit of time during the holiday season to work your way through the holiday hack challenge we tried to make this year's the best one we've ever done because there's there's great stuff for you to build your skills on defensive skills analysis skills vulnerability assessment skills and frankly even offensive skills all piled together in this fun challenge you'll be coming the second week of December 2015 please do be on the lookout for it the grand prize for the best entry in this year's challenge is going to be a free sands on-demand course you get to choose for more than 30 Sam's on-demand courses and the best part about sands on demand is you take it according to your own schedule you get four months of access to the materials as well as to the target lab environment so you can keep working and building your skills you can repeat and review sections you can practice your skills and you can do this from anywhere you can do it at any time I think you're going to have a lot of fun with a holiday hack challenge I encourage you to check it out at holiday hack challenge

Original Description

The SANS Holiday Hack Challenge is back! The 2015 Challenge is the best one yet by Ed Skoudis and his team. Information Security pros, this is a great way to have some fun while practicing your craft. This year's challenge is: * Part Internet of Things Analysis * Part Internet scavenger hunt * Part vuln analysis and hacking * Part attribution * All wrapped up in a whimsical holiday story A Whole Christmas World for you to explore (Fun for the whole family!)
Watch on YouTube ↗ (saves to browser)
Sign in to unlock AI tutor explanation · ⚡30

Playlist

Uploads from SANS Institute · SANS Institute · 13 of 60

← Previous Next →
1 SANS FOR610: Reverse Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools & Techniques
SANS FOR610: Reverse Engineering Malware: Malware Analysis Tools & Techniques
SANS Institute
 2 SANS Institute Cybersecurity Training Customer Stories
SANS Institute Cybersecurity Training Customer Stories
SANS Institute
 3 SANS Institute UK Cyber Academy
SANS Institute UK Cyber Academy
SANS Institute
 4 SANS Institute UK Cyber Academy
SANS Institute UK Cyber Academy
SANS Institute
 5 CISSP® Prep Exam, MGT414, by SANS Institute
CISSP® Prep Exam, MGT414, by SANS Institute
SANS Institute
 6 SANS Institute's Rob Lee Discusses The OPM.GOV Hack on CNN
SANS Institute's Rob Lee Discusses The OPM.GOV Hack on CNN
SANS Institute
 7 Information Security Training from SANS Institute - Student Testimonials
Information Security Training from SANS Institute - Student Testimonials
SANS Institute
 8 SANS NetWars
SANS NetWars
SANS Institute
 9 SANS DFIR NetWars
SANS DFIR NetWars
SANS Institute
 10 Hack The Drone - SANS Cyber Academy UK
Hack The Drone - SANS Cyber Academy UK
SANS Institute
 11 SANS VetSuccess Immersion Academy
SANS VetSuccess Immersion Academy
SANS Institute
 12 SANS Cybersecurity Training, Certifications & Placement for Veterans
SANS Cybersecurity Training, Certifications & Placement for Veterans
SANS Institute
 ▶ The 2015 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
The 2015 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
SANS Institute
 14 SANS VetSuccess Academy: Hands-on Skills
SANS VetSuccess Academy: Hands-on Skills
SANS Institute
 15 SANS VetSuccess Academy Overview
SANS VetSuccess Academy Overview
SANS Institute
 16 SANS ICS Security Summit & Training 2017
SANS ICS Security Summit & Training 2017
SANS Institute
 17 Exploring the Unknown Industrial Control System Threat Landscape – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
Exploring the Unknown Industrial Control System Threat Landscape – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 18 WannaCry recap, patches, and analysis
WannaCry recap, patches, and analysis
SANS Institute
 19 If We’re Doing So Well at Cyber Security, Why Are We Still Doing So Poorly?
If We’re Doing So Well at Cyber Security, Why Are We Still Doing So Poorly?
SANS Institute
 20 Graduation Day - SANS HM Gov Cyber Retraining Academy
Graduation Day - SANS HM Gov Cyber Retraining Academy
SANS Institute
 21 Incentivizing ICS Security: The Case for Cyber Insurance – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
Incentivizing ICS Security: The Case for Cyber Insurance – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 22 SANS Data Breach Summit & Training 2017
SANS Data Breach Summit & Training 2017
SANS Institute
 23 SANS Secure DevOps Summit & Training 2017
SANS Secure DevOps Summit & Training 2017
SANS Institute
 24 How Threats Are Slipping In the Back Door - SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
How Threats Are Slipping In the Back Door - SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 25 SANS Webcast – Continuous Opportunity: DevOps & Security
SANS Webcast – Continuous Opportunity: DevOps & Security
SANS Institute
 26 SANS Cybersecurity Programs for the Department of Defense
SANS Cybersecurity Programs for the Department of Defense
SANS Institute
 27 SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit & Training 2017
SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit & Training 2017
SANS Institute
 28 SANS SIEM & Tactical Analytics Summit & Training
SANS SIEM & Tactical Analytics Summit & Training
SANS Institute
 29 If We’re Doing So Well, Why Are We Still Doing So Poorly? – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
If We’re Doing So Well, Why Are We Still Doing So Poorly? – SANS ICS Security Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 30 SANS Institute
SANS Institute
SANS Institute
 31 ICS515: ICS Active Defense and Incident Response
ICS515: ICS Active Defense and Incident Response
SANS Institute
 32 SANS Institute
SANS Institute
SANS Institute
 33 Introducing the NEW SANS Pen Test Poster
Introducing the NEW SANS Pen Test Poster
SANS Institute
 34 SANS Institute - An Inside Look at the Newly Updated ICS515 Course
SANS Institute - An Inside Look at the Newly Updated ICS515 Course
SANS Institute
 35 SANS ICS Security Training, Munich, Germany
SANS ICS Security Training, Munich, Germany
SANS Institute
 36 SANS Automotive Summit Webcast
SANS Automotive Summit Webcast
SANS Institute
 37 Privesc Playground - SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit 2017
Privesc Playground - SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 38 Introduction to Reverse Engineering for Penetration Testers – SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit 2017
Introduction to Reverse Engineering for Penetration Testers – SANS Pen Test HackFest Summit 2017
SANS Institute
 39 Honey, Please Don’t Burn Down Your Office: Fun with Smart Home Automation
Honey, Please Don’t Burn Down Your Office: Fun with Smart Home Automation
SANS Institute
 40 SANS Security Operations Summit & Training 2018
SANS Security Operations Summit & Training 2018
SANS Institute
 41 Sh*t Happens! (But You Still Need to Drink the Water) – SANS ICS Summit 2018
Sh*t Happens! (But You Still Need to Drink the Water) – SANS ICS Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 42 ICS Threat Intelligence: Moving from the Unknowns to a Defended Landscape – SANS ICS Summit 2018
ICS Threat Intelligence: Moving from the Unknowns to a Defended Landscape – SANS ICS Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 43 You’re Probably Not Red Teaming (And Usually I’m Not, Either) – SANS ICS Summit 2018
You’re Probably Not Red Teaming (And Usually I’m Not, Either) – SANS ICS Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 44 A Sneak Peak at the New ICS410
A Sneak Peak at the New ICS410
SANS Institute
 45 Jumping Air Gaps – SANS ICS Summit 2018
Jumping Air Gaps – SANS ICS Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 46 Introduction to Linux
Introduction to Linux
SANS Institute
 47 Introduction to Malware Analysis
Introduction to Malware Analysis
SANS Institute
 48 You’re Probably Not Red Teaming (And Usually I’m Not, Either) Webcast by Deviant Ollam
You’re Probably Not Red Teaming (And Usually I’m Not, Either) Webcast by Deviant Ollam
SANS Institute
 49 Hacking your SOEL: SOC Automation and Orchestration – SANS Security Operations Summit 2018
Hacking your SOEL: SOC Automation and Orchestration – SANS Security Operations Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 50 Hunting for Post-Exploitation Stage Attacks with Elastic Stack and the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Hunting for Post-Exploitation Stage Attacks with Elastic Stack and the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
SANS Institute
 51 Apples and Oranges?: A CompariSIEM – SANS Security Operations Summit 2018
Apples and Oranges?: A CompariSIEM – SANS Security Operations Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 52 SANS Webcast - Perimeter Security and Why it is Obsolete
SANS Webcast - Perimeter Security and Why it is Obsolete
SANS Institute
 53 SANS Webcast - Trust No One: Introducing SEC530: Defensible Security Architecture
SANS Webcast - Trust No One: Introducing SEC530: Defensible Security Architecture
SANS Institute
 54 The Science of Security: The Psychological Impacts of Security Awareness Programs
The Science of Security: The Psychological Impacts of Security Awareness Programs
SANS Institute
 55 How I Pulled Off an Edgy Security Campaign – SANS Security Awareness Summit 2018
How I Pulled Off an Edgy Security Campaign – SANS Security Awareness Summit 2018
SANS Institute
 56 Practical Advice for Submitting to Speak at a Cybersecurity Conference
Practical Advice for Submitting to Speak at a Cybersecurity Conference
SANS Institute
 57 SANS Webcast - Consuming OSINT: Watching You Eat, Drink, and Sleep
SANS Webcast - Consuming OSINT: Watching You Eat, Drink, and Sleep
SANS Institute
 58 SANS Webcast - Zero Trust Architecture
SANS Webcast - Zero Trust Architecture
SANS Institute
 59 SANS STX Cyber Range
SANS STX Cyber Range
SANS Institute
 60 Part 1 – SANS Institute and Tenable talk about cloud security
Part 1 – SANS Institute and Tenable talk about cloud security
SANS Institute

The 2015 SANS Holiday Hack Challenge is a fun and interactive way to build information security skills, involving IoT analysis, internet scavenger hunt, and hacking, with a grand prize of a free SANS On-Demand course. The challenge requires participants to analyze vulnerabilities, conduct attribution, and develop defensive and offensive security strategies. By completing the challenge, participants can improve their skills in vulnerability analysis, hacking, and information security.

Key Takeaways
  1. Register for the SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
  2. Complete the IoT analysis tasks
  3. Conduct the internet scavenger hunt
  4. Perform vulnerability analysis and hacking
  5. Conduct attribution to figure out the bad guy
  6. Submit the final report for the challenge
💡 The challenge provides a unique opportunity to build information security skills in a fun and interactive way, with a focus on IoT analysis, vulnerability analysis, and hacking.

Related Reads

📰
Firebase PWA Security Audit: XSS via innerHTML, Hardcoded Credentials and a Custom Token Migration
Learn to identify and fix 3 critical security vulnerabilities in a Firebase PWA, including XSS via innerHTML and hardcoded credentials
Dev.to · Andrea Roversi
 📰
Outil de Cybersécurité du Jour - Jul 2, 2026
Learn to use Wireshark for network security analysis and improve your cybersecurity skills
Dev.to · CyberMaîtrise CyberMaîtrise
 📰
HackTheBox: vulnEscape Writeup
Learn to exploit a Windows box using RDP and gain administrative access
Dev.to · Yogeshwar Peela
 📰
Ethical Hacker vs Cybercriminal: What’s the Difference?
Learn the key differences between ethical hackers and cybercriminals to understand the dual-use nature of offensive technical skillsets
Dev.to · Aditya Pandekar
Up next
Surfshark Review — The Honest Pros, Cons and Final Verdict (2026)
Tutorial Stack
Watch →