SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
Solve yearly holiday-themed hacking challenges in a story world
The Holiday Hack Challenge is a free cybersecurity game from SANS that comes out each year around the holidays. You explore a story world and solve hacking tasks, from short terminal puzzles to bigger objectives. The 2025 edition had about 15 small challenges of 10 to 15 minutes each, plus a few larger capstone puzzles.
Free · Browser · Beginner
About SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
Topics change each year. In 2025 they included forensics, web testing, malware reverse engineering, Linux privilege escalation and post-quantum cryptography. It is made for learners at all levels and is also used in classrooms.
You play in the browser, and a CTF-only mode lets you skip the story. The past challenges page links to earlier years with answers and winning reports, though some years are marked as not available.
On Breakpoint since 23 Oct 2026.