Private Events let your organization host cybersecurity competitions for learners with active Learn Enterprise subscriptions. You can work with OffSec Customer Success to configure the event format, duration, labs, scoring, and other details.
Private Events can be run as individual or team competitions. This FAQ explains how to request, configure, and participate in a Private Event.
- Who can participate in a Private Event?
- How do Private Events differ from Public Events?
- Can I play The Gauntlet or another public event as a team?
- What can my organization customize?
- How does scoring work in a Private Event?
- How can my organization request a Private Event?
- How do participants register for a Private Event?
- Is there a limit on the number of participants in a Private Event?
- Can participants compete in teams?
- How do teams work in a Private Event?
- How does a participant select or change a team?
- Can participants change teams after a Private Event starts?
- Can my organization change teams before an event starts?
- Do Private Event points count toward my OSCP+ or other certification progress?
- How is a team score calculated?
- Can labs be used in multiple Private Events at the same time?
- How will participants be notified?
- Where can participants track their progress?
Who can participate in a Private Event?
Only learners in your organization with an active Learn Enterprise (LE) subscription can participate.
How do Private Events differ from Public Events?
Private Events are visible only to learners in your organization and do not appear on the public Events page. They have dedicated leaderboards and scoring.
Your organization can configure details such as the event duration, included labs, content release schedule, and scoring bonuses with OffSec Customer Success. Private Events can be run as individual or team competitions.
Public Events, such as The Gauntlet, are open to anyone who is at least 18 years old and has an active OffSec account. They are free to enter and use an individual competition format.
Can I play The Gauntlet or another public event as a team?
No. Public Events, such as The Gauntlet, are individual competitions. Team play is available only in Private Events. A Private Event can be run as an individual or team competition, and your organization sets it up with OffSec Customer Success.
To ask about a team Private Event for your organization, please contact your OffSec Customer Success representative. For details, see Can participants compete in teams?
What can my organization customize?
Your organization can work with OffSec Customer Success to configure the event name, banner, description, duration, labs, number of labs, and content release schedule. Content can be released all at once, daily, or weekly.
The event can use an individual or team format. For each lab, your organization can configure bonus points for the first, second, and third finishers. You can also configure which event details and lab information participants can see.
How does scoring work in a Private Event?
Participants earn points for each valid flag submission. Your organization can enable bonus points for the first, second, and third participants—or teams in a team event—to complete a lab.
If participants or teams have the same score, the one that reached the score first ranks higher, based on the timestamp of the last valid submission.
In a team event, each participant earns Player Points, and each team earns Team Points. A team earns the points for each flag or task once, when any team member completes it. If multiple team members complete the same item, the team earns points for it once, while each participant keeps their own Player Points.
Player and team bonuses are awarded separately. A participant earns a player bonus by submitting all the flags for a lab. A team earns a team bonus when its members have submitted all the flags for a lab. The flags can be split among team members; each member does not need to submit them all. For example, if a lab has four flags, two members can each submit one different flag, and a third member can submit the remaining two.
The bonus point values are the same for players and teams.
How can my organization request a Private Event?
Contact your OffSec Customer Success representative to request a Private Event. They will work with you to gather the event details, such as the theme, lab types and number of labs, scoring preferences, duration, and branding.
After you finalize the event details, OffSec will configure and launch the event for your organization.
How do participants register for a Private Event?
Eligible learners can find the Private Event on the Events page of the OffSec Platform. The event is visible only to your organization. Participants receive a confirmation email after registering.
To register:
- Sign in to your OffSec Platform account.
- Find the event banner on the Event Overview page.
- Click Register.
- For a team event, select a team from the list and click Select Team.
- In the confirmation window, click Join Team.
Note: If your organization set a maximum team size, a full team is marked Full and cannot be selected. Participants must register and, for team events, join a team to see the event labs. Unregistered learners cannot see the labs, even while the event is in progress.
Is there a limit on the number of participants in a Private Event?
Your organization can request a participant limit for a Private Event from OffSec Customer Success. If no limit is set, any number of participants can register.
For team events, your organization can also request a maximum team size. If no maximum is set, teams have no size limit.
Contact OffSec Customer Success to change either limit at any time before the event ends.
Can participants compete in teams?
Yes. Private Events can use an individual or team format. Let your OffSec Customer Success representative know if you want a team event.
Your organization provides the team names and can provide a list of participants for each team. OffSec creates the teams before the event opens and can assign participants to them. If your organization does not provide participant lists, participants select a team when they register.
Participants can change teams before the event starts if the team they want to join has an open spot. For details, see How do teams work in a Private Event?
How do teams work in a Private Event?
In a team event, learners compete in teams, and each team appears on a team leaderboard. Your organization provides the team names, and OffSec creates the teams before the event opens. Your organization can also request a maximum team size.
Each participant earns Player Points, which appear on the player leaderboard. Participants cannot create, rename, or delete teams.
How does a participant select or change a team?
To select a team:
- Open the event page and click Register.
- Open the Select Team list. If teams have a size limit, the list shows how many spots are taken—for example, 1/2. You can search for a team by name.
- Select a team that is not full.
- Click Select Team.
- In the confirmation window, click Join Team.
To view a team’s members, select the team and click View Members. You cannot view the members of a full team that you have not joined.
To change teams before the event starts:
- On the event page, click Change Team.
- Select a different team that is not full.
- Click Change Team.
- In the confirmation window, click Change Team.
Your spot on your previous team is released as soon as you change teams.
Note: If two participants try to take the last spot on a team at the same time, only one can join. The other participant sees the message “Team is full” and can select another team.
Can participants change teams after a Private Event starts?
No. Participants who have joined a team cannot leave or switch teams after the event starts, and the organizer cannot move them. Participants who have not joined a team can still join a team with an open spot.
Can my organization change teams before an event starts?
Yes. Before the event starts, your organization can ask OffSec to create, rename, or delete teams, or move a participant to another team. Contact your OffSec Customer Success representative with the request. Organizers cannot manage teams directly on the platform.
Your organization can also ask OffSec Customer Success to change the maximum team size or participant limit before the event ends.
Do Private Event points count toward my OSCP+ or other certification progress?
No. Player Points and Team Points are scores for the Private Event only. They appear only on the event leaderboards. They do not count toward progress for OSCP+ or any other OffSec certification.
Completing a lab during an event works the same way as completing it outside the event. If it is your first time completing the lab, you earn the usual XP and CPE credits. If you completed it before the event, you do not earn XP again, but you still earn points on the event leaderboard.
How is a team score calculated?
An item is one flag or task submitted by a participant. A lab with three flags has three items. A team earns points for each item once, even if more than one team member submits it.
Example: Team Falcon has three members. Ana and Ben both complete Lab A, flag 1, worth 100 points. Ana completes Lab A, flag 2, worth 150 points. Chen completes Lab B, flag 1, worth 100 points. The team earns 350 Team Points for these items. Ana and Ben each earn 100 Player Points for Lab A, flag 1.
Note: Player Points do not add up to Team Points. A participant can earn Player Points for a duplicate solve, while the team earns points for that item only once. Player and team bonuses are also awarded separately: a player bonus goes to the participant, and a team bonus goes to the team when its members complete the lab together.
Can labs be used in multiple Private Events at the same time?
No. Each Private Event running at the same time within your organization must use a unique set of labs. Labs cannot be shared across simultaneous events.
How will participants be notified?
Participants receive an email confirming their registration, as well as notifications when the event starts and ends.
Where can participants track their progress?
After registering, participants can track their progress, check lab status, and view live leaderboards in the Events section of the OffSec Platform.
Team events have two leaderboards. The player leaderboard shows each participant’s team and can be filtered by team. The team leaderboard ranks teams by Team Points. You can expand a team on the leaderboard to see its members ranked by their Player Points.
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