Building the world's largest CTF competition, verified by a Guinness World Record
From building the competition to building the community around it. Every edition of the Black Hat MEA CTF, designed and operated by CTF.ae.
The Origin
In 2021, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming & Drones (SAFCSP) reached out with a brief that felt like a dare. They wanted a CTF that could fly in top international teams to Riyadh, host 1,000 players on-site, and run an online qualifier for 6,000+. The prize pool was SAR 1,000,000. Players would come from 150+ countries. The deadline was three months.
This was our first big project. The challenge categories were classic: web exploitation, binary exploitation, cryptography, forensics, and reverse engineering. But the content had to clear a global bar, not a local one. The infrastructure needed full redundancy and failover. Nothing could go wrong. The show could not stop.
That first edition ran under the name atHack CTF 2021. It was a dry run for what SAFCSP was preparing to bring to Riyadh in the years that followed: Black Hat MEA.
What followed was a strategic partnership built around a shared goal: empowering the Saudi cybersecurity community and growing national talent to compete at the highest international level. We have designed, built, and operated every edition of the Black Hat MEA CTF since.
The Journey
atHack CTF
The starting point. 3-month sprint from brief to execution. 4,825 qualifiers, 1,000 finalists flown to Riyadh. SAR 1,000,000 prize pool. Our first project at global scale.
CyberHub CTF
Between editions, SAFCSP hired us to build a university-focused CTF designed to prepare local students to compete against the international teams arriving for Black Hat.
Black Hat MEA CTF
atHack becomes Black Hat MEA. Same team, bigger stage. 6,250 qualifiers, 1,000 finalists. The conference establishes itself as the region's premier security event.
Black Hat MEA CTF
Third consecutive year. Content quality raised across all categories. The CTF becomes a fixture of the global competitive calendar.
Guinness World Record
Officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest cyber CTF competition in the world. 1,000 participants on-site. The record that validated four years of work.
Raising the Bar
Finalists cut to 500 (125 teams). AI hacking category introduced. Higher bar, tighter competition.
Concepts We Built
Every edition introduced something new. We never repeated the same experience twice.
Live Leaderboard Visualization
An interactive leaderboard with real-time animations celebrating First Blood and New Leader events. Turned a static scoreboard into a spectator experience.
Visualization Evolution
Richer animations, smoother transitions, and more event types. The visualization matured into a broadcast-quality production element.
Venue Light Integration
Connected the visualization to the venue lighting system. The venue flashes red when a team gets first blood on a hard challenge. The audience feels it before they see it on the board.
First Blood Receipt Printer
A receipt printer connected to the visualization. When a team gets a first blood, a physical receipt prints on the spot. We walk it to their table. A tangible moment in a digital competition.
The Operation
Qualification Round
24-hour online qualifier open to the world. 6,250+ players from 150+ countries. 15 challenges across all categories. The filter that separates the top 250 teams.
Finals
3-day on-site competition in Riyadh. 40 challenges. 1,000 finalists (250 teams) with travel and accommodation provided. Full redundancy infrastructure with failover plans.
Global-Grade Content
Challenge quality at the level of the world's best CTFs. Web exploitation, binary exploitation, cryptography, digital forensics, reverse engineering, and AI hacking. Written by our researchers.
Infrastructure at Scale
Platform built to handle thousands of concurrent connections. Full redundancy, real-time scoring, and failover mechanisms. Zero tolerance for downtime.
Community Recognition
"Actually BlackHat Mea is really better than the DEFCON CTF at all"
Super Guesser
Ranked #3 on CTFTime at the time. Posted after Black Hat MEA CTF 2022.
Press
Saudi Arabia sets Guinness World Record for CTF IT security competition at Black Hat MEA
Asharq Al-Awsat
SAFCSP achieves Guinness World Record for largest cyber CTF competition
Saudi Press Agency
Saudi Arabia achieves Guinness World Record for largest CTF competition
Al Yaum
@Hack: Saudi Arabia hosts region's biggest cybersecurity event
Arab News
Registration for @Hack is now open — SAFCSP
Saudi Gazette
Black Hat MEA 2022: Saudi Arabia hosts Middle East's largest cybersecurity event
Arab News
Black Hat MEA 2022 kicks off in Riyadh
Okaz
Black Hat MEA conference launches in Riyadh
Al Riyadh
Black Hat MEA 2023 returns to Riyadh
Arab News
Black Hat MEA 2023 conference opens in Riyadh
Asharq Al-Awsat
Black Hat MEA 2023 kicks off in Riyadh
Ajel
Black Hat MEA 2023 concludes in Riyadh
Saudi Press Agency
Black Hat MEA 2025 opens in Riyadh
Saudi Press Agency
Black Hat MEA 2025 launches in Riyadh
Okaz
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If you are planning a CTF at conference scale, we have done it at the highest level.
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