Official Competition Rules

Table of Contents

Code Quest^® - Overview

Each year, Lockheed Martin hosts Code Quest^®, an annual computer programming competition where teams of two to three high school students work together to solve problems by using JAVA, Python, C#, and/or C++ programming to complete the “quest”. The problem set consists of 20 to 30 challenging problems created by Lockheed Martin engineers and computer programmers.

Please note that all rules are subject to change at any time without notice. Please refer to this page frequently for the latest updates.

We look forward to your participation this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by email using the contact form below.

Code Quest^® - Teams

• Lockheed Martin Code Quest^® is open to students of high school age (in the United States, grades 9-12, or international/home-schooled equivalents). Specifically:
  • Students ages 12 and under may not participate.
  • Students ages 19 and older are unlikely to be allowed to participate but may be permitted on a case-by-case basis.
• Each team consists of 2-3 students plus one coach.
• Coaches exclusively hold the responsibility for creating registration profiles and registering teams; students are not permitted to perform these tasks. This ensures coach awareness and an accurate registration process, contributing to a streamlined competition experience.
• Registration will remain open at each contest site until that contest site reaches capacity or the scheduled registration end date is reached.
• Students on the same team must be from the same school or STEM program. Exemptions for home schools are granted on a case-by-case basis.
• Teams should be affiliated with and represent the high school under which they are registering.
• STEM programs are eligible to register teams, as follows:
  • A STEM program offers an interdisciplinary, rigorous curriculum emphasizing the practical application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
  • The STEM program should be a recognized organization/club within the community and high school(s).
  • STEM programs are eligible to register teams with students from different schools when the students' schools cannot form teams.
• Up to four teams per school may register for in-person events (subject to site limitations; some sites may have lower limits). Up to four teams per school are allowed at the virtual event. Important: Coaches that are attending in-person cannot attend the virtual competition. There will be activities that coaches will participate in during the competition period and no cell phones are allowed at the in-person events.
• Additional teams may be registered but may be added to a site's waitlist. Teams may be automatically placed on a waitlist when a site reaches capacity.
• Rules may vary by site depending on security and capacity limitations. Please review the Site List for site-specific details.
• Space is limited for both virtual and in-person events. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Waitlisted teams are not actively registered and may not attend the event unless and until moved off of the waitlist by the site registration lead. Teams on the waitlist may be moved off as space becomes available, subject to the limitations set above.

Code Quest^® - Coaches

• Coaches must be adults over the age of 18.
• Coaches are usually teachers from the school/program the team is associated with, but a coach may be a parent if the teacher is unable to attend.
• Coaches will serve as chaperones at the event, and will be able to participate in activities during the competition.
• Only one coach per team is allowed. A second coach may be allowed if specifically required by school policies. A coach may support multiple teams from the same school/program, but may not support teams at a different site (that is, if a school/program has teams registered at an in-person site and a virtual site, one coach must accompany the in-person teams, and another coach must support the virtual teams).

Code Quest^® - Attending In-Person Events

Information in this section does not apply to teams/coaches attending virtual events.

• Breakfast and lunch will be provided, but we regret that we may be unable to accomodate food allergies and other dietary needs. Attendees with limitations are encouraged to bring their own breakfast and lunch.
• Family members and other spectators cannot be accomodated.
• UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may ANY cell phones, smart watches, broadband network cards/adapters, recording devices, or removable storage devices be allowed inside Lockheed Martin facilities. All such devices MUST be left in vehicles. We will provide a phone number that family and friends can reach in case of emergency. If a person is found in possession of any such device, the device may be confiscated by Lockheed Martin security, their team may be subject to immediate disqualification, and/or they may be asked to leave the premises.
• Specific sites may have additional rules or restrictions; these will be communicated in status update emails sent from the website.

Code Quest^® - Technical Information

• For in-person events:
  • Each team is allowed to bring one (1) laptop computer per team member, and may also bring one mouse, one monitor, and/or one keyboard for each computer, unless otherwise specified by individual sites.
  • Teams may not use desktop computers, multiple computers, virtual machines, or streaming services such as TeamPlayer, Discord, Twitch, etc.
  • Very large monitors are discouraged due to space limitations and power consumption issues. See site-specific rules for more details.
  • Computers must be capable of connecting to an 802.11x wireless network. If using a school-issued computer, verify that it is able to connect to unrecognized networks prior to attending the event.
• For virtual events:
  • Each student may utilize their own computer.
  • Teams may not use virtual machines or streaming services such as TeamPlayer, Discord, Twitch, etc.
• Supported programming languages include:
  • Java 8
  • Python 3.7
  • C# 6.0
  • C++ 17
• For each of the supported languages listed above, only libraries provided with a basic installation are supported. Third-party libraries or non-standard extensions to languages are not installed on our judging system, and their use will result in compilation or run-time errors.
• Students may work in the IDE of their choice, including online IDEs.
• Students may not use any pre-written code. Students may bring textbooks and an unlimited number of pages of notes (either handwritten or typed and printed) that contain code snippets and algorithms; such code may then be manually re-typed during the competition. E-readers (e.g. Amazon Kindle) are not permitted.
• Internet access is available, however students are not permitted to utilize generative content services such as ChatGPT, technical help sites or forums such as Reddit or Stack Overflow, or code storage sites such as Github. Use of such sites is grounds for immediate disqualification.
• Students are encouraged to refer to official documentation for their language of choice, as well as tutorial sites such as W3Schools that do not provide user- or AI-generated answers to specific questions.

Code Quest^® - Competition Rules / Guidelines

• The judges' rulings are final.
• All solutions must programatically determine the correct output. Your solution may not print out a hard-coded response that was determined by hand; any such solution will fail. All solutions are judged using the provided sample input/output set, as well as a much larger official I/O set that covers a much broader range of test cases.
• File naming conventions for solutions must be followed. Uploaded solutions must have a valid file extension for a source code file in the desired language (.java, .py, .cpp, .cs, etc.). Java files including public classes must share their name with the public class (e.g. a file with 'public class Prob01' must be named 'Prob01.java').
• Your team will have a number of programming tasks from which to choose. You likely will not be able to solve all of them, so are advised to study them and choose your problems wisely.
• There is no limit to the number of attempts you may make for each problem, however the number of incorrect responses is one of our tiebreaking methods.
• Verify that your problem works against the sample input/output before submitting.
• It is recommended that 'Novice' teams consist of students who each have less than one year of programming experience. If a student on a team has more than one year's experience in programming, the team should be registered as Advanced.
• Both Novice and Advanced teams are provided with the same problem set and are judged equally, however have separate leaderboards.
• Teams have the ability to solve problems using either Java, Python, C#, or C++. Language selection is done per problem submission, meaning that teams can switch freely between the languages during the competition. Teams do not have to pick one language and stick with it for the whole competition, or even for a particular problem.

Code Quest^® - Scoring

• Points are awarded to teams for correctly solving problems. A solution is judged to be correct when its output matches the expected output exactly. Whitespace, punctuation, rounding accuracy/precision, and other formatting are all significant and are all common grounds for judging a solution as incorrect.
• Problems are worth a number of points based on the difficulty of the problem.
• Final placement in each division (Novice and Advanced) is based on the number of points earned during the course of the competition.
• In the event of a tie between one or more teams, ties are broken in the following order:
  1. Number of problems solved (fewest wins)
  2. Number of incorrect solutions across all problems (fewest wins)
  3. Timestamp of last correct solution (earliest wins)
• If, after breaking ties, a team in the Novice division would have ranked in third place or higher in the Advanced division, that team shall be automatically promoted to the Advanced division at the conclusion of the competition, then all ranks in both divisions recalculated accordingly.
  • For example: The top three Advanced teams score 100, 90, and 80 points respectively. The top four Novice teams scored 85, 75, 65, and 55 points respectively. The Novice team earning 85 points would be promoted to the Advanced division, earning third place in that division. The Advanced team earning 80 points would be demoted to fourth place. The remaining top Novice teams (scoring 75, 65, and 55 points) would earn first, second, and third in the Novice division.
• Trophies will be awarded to the top three (3) teams in each division. For in-person events, students on these teams will also receive individual medals.

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Overview

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® is Lockheed Martin's annual high school cyber competition held across numerous sites. The goal of the competition is to encourage high school students to pursue careers in cybersecurity.

During the 3-hour competition, teams of students work together to solve cybersecurity challenges. Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® is a cloud-based competition that includes problems created by Lockheed Martin cybersecurity engineers. The Capture the Flag (CTF) format includes multi-step intrusion scenario, steganography, reverse engineering, full OS hacks, packet capture, web exploits, social engineering, and cybersecurity awareness.

Please note that all rules are subject to change at any time without notice. Please refer to this page frequently for the latest updates.

We look forward to your participation this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by email using the contact form below.

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Teams

• Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® is open to students of high school age (in the United States, grades 9-12, or international/home-schooled equivalents). Specifically:
  • Students ages 12 and under may not participate.
  • Students ages 19 and older are unlikely to be allowed to participate but may be permitted on a case-by-case basis.
• Each team consists of 3-5 students plus one coach.
• Coaches exclusively hold the responsibility for creating registration profiles and registering teams; students are not permitted to perform these tasks. This ensures coach awareness and an accurate registration process, contributing to a streamlined competition experience.
• Registration will remain open at each contest site until that contest site reaches capacity or the scheduled registration end date is reached.
• Students on the same team must be from the same school or STEM program. Exemptions for home schools are granted on a case-by-case basis.
• Teams should be affiliated with and represent the high school under which they are registering.
• STEM programs are eligible to register teams, as follows:
  • A STEM program offers an interdisciplinary, rigorous curriculum emphasizing the practical application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
  • The STEM program should be a recognized organization/club within the community and high school(s).
  • STEM programs are eligible to register teams with students from different schools when the students' schools cannot form teams.
• Rules may vary by site depending on security and capacity limitations. Please review the Site List for site-specific details.
• Space is limited for both virtual and in-person events. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Waitlisted teams are not actively registered and may not attend the event unless and until moved off of the waitlist by the site registration lead. Teams on the waitlist may be moved off as space becomes available, subject to the limitations set above.

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Coaches

• Coaches must be adults over the age of 18.
• Coaches are usually teachers from the school/program the team is associated with, but a coach may be a parent if the teacher is unable to attend.
• Coaches will serve as chaperones at the event, and will be able to participate in activities during the competition.
• Only one coach per team is allowed. A coach may support multiple teams from the same school/program, but may not support teams at a different site (that is, if a school/program has teams registered at an in-person site and a virtual site, one coach must accompany the in-person teams, and another coach must support the virtual teams).

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Attending In-Person Events

Information in this section does not apply to teams/coaches attending virtual events.

• Breakfast and lunch will be provided, but we regret that we may be unable to accomodate food allergies and other dietary needs. Attendees with limitations are encouraged to bring their own breakfast and lunch.
• Family members and other spectators cannot be accomodated.
• UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may ANY cell phones, smart watches, broadband network cards/adapters, recording devices, or removable storage devices be allowed inside Lockheed Martin facilities. All such devices MUST be left in vehicles. We will provide a phone number that family and friends can reach in case of emergency. If a person is found in possession of any such device, the device may be confiscated by Lockheed Martin security, their team may be subject to immediate disqualification, and/or they may be asked to leave the premises.
• Specific sites may have additional rules or restrictions; these will be communicated in status update emails sent from the website.

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Technical Information

• For in-person events:
  • Each team is allowed to bring up to three (3) laptop computers, and may also bring one mouse, one monitor, and/or one keyboard for each computer, unless otherwise specified by individual sites.
  • Teams may not use desktop computers, printers, virtual machines not provided by Lockheed Martin, removable storage devices, or streaming services such as TeamPlayer, Discord, Twitch, etc.
  • Very large monitors are discouraged due to space limitations and power consumption issues. See site-specific rules for more details.
  • Computers must be capable of connecting to an 802.11x wireless network. If using a school-issued computer, verify that it is able to connect to unrecognized networks prior to attending the event.
• For virtual events:
  • Each student may utilize their own computer.
  • Teams may not use virtual machines not provided by Lockheed Martin or streaming services such as TeamPlayer, Discord, Twitch, etc.
• Tools and software required to complet the competition will be provided on the systems within the challenge environment.
• ChatGPT is not prohibited from use during the competition. However, students and teams are prohibited from entering Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® challenge questions from the competition into any AI platform, including ChatGPT, and doing so may lead to disqualification.

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - Hardware/Software Requirements

Computers used for the competition must meet the following requirements to ensure that students are able to fully complete all challenges.

• If using Microsoft Windows:
  • 64-bit Windows 10 or higher
  • x64 processor
  • .NET Framework 4.7.2 or higher
  • Access to Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection
  • SSH Client (PuTTY is recommended, but any ssh client should work)
• If using macOS:
  • 64-bit macOS Mojave (10.14), Catalina (10.15), or Big Sur (11.0)
  • Access to Microsoft Remote Desktop
  • Access to terminal and built-in ssh client
• If using Linux:
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (AMD64 only)
  • rdesktop (Remote Desktop Protocol client)
  • Access to terminal with an installed ssh client (e.g. openssh-client)
• Must have an up-to-date version (updated within 1 month of the competition) of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox
• Must be able to install and run a VPN client to connect to the competition environment

Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST^® - What to Expect

Click here to download the Challenges & Skills Overview.

Challenges may include:

• Web-based attacks - Common vulnerabilities found within websites across the internet
• Windows & Linux privilege escalation - Find vulnerabilities to move from a user to an administrator
• Packet capture & log analysis - Analyze network traffic captures or application/server logs to trace an adversary's steps
• Steganography - Discover hidden messages and data within seemingly innocent files, images, or videos
• Cryptography - Break encrypted messages to discover the information hidden inside
• Reverse Engineering - Extract knowledge from systems to design reproductions
• Social Engineering - Phishing attempt identification
• Cybersecurity Awareness - Cyber vigilance and awareness
• Security Engineering and Architecture - Threat driven methodology, network diagram analysis, public key infrastructure, certificate analysis

You might want to be familiar with the following concepts or tools:

• Linux operating systems, bash scripting, and common CLI tools
• Common inter-computer communications
• Kali Linux
• Metasploit
• Network/host reconnaisance (Nmap/Wireshark)
• Proxy interception (Burp Suite)
• Python scripting
• OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities
• SSH tools
• Read & write basic HTML and JavaScript
• OllyDbg
• x64dbg
• Notepad++
• GIMP
• Inkscape
• md5 & other hashing tools