SUCSS

The Netcoin Challenge

Date: 2025-10-15

Difficulty: Beginner

Delivered By: Netcraft

Overview

We're excited to announce an upcoming SUCSS workshop delivered by cybercrime disruption specialists Netcraft! This session will take place in B60 West (Gower Labs) and is beginner friendly - come along and try something new even if you haven't taken part in anything similar before.

This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from industry experts, get hands-on experience attacking criminal website in a simulated environment and hear about Netcraft's exciting internship & graduate opportunities... and there's free pizza. Please make sure you sign up here so that we order enough food for everyone and know who is coming.

Prerequisites

Please sign up at this link to register your attendance: Sign up form

Please bring your laptop with you to the workshop and install the following software in advance:

About the Workshop

The Netcoin Challenge is a hands-on cybersecurity workshop that demonstrates real-world blockchain vulnerabilities and adversarial strategies. Participants will work with Netcoin, a purposefully vulnerable cryptocurrency system designed to showcase common security flaws in blockchain implementations. The workshop provides practical experience in both offensive and defensive security techniques within a blockchain context. Participants will gain hands-on exposure to:

  • Blockchain architecture fundamentals
  • Consensus mechanism operations
  • Security implications in decentralized systems
  • Exploit development and mitigation
  • Performance optimization techniques
  • Strategic security decision-making

The challenge structure allows teams to pursue different technical approaches, with success measured by final coin balance accumulation. This format creates a competitive environment that emphasizes both technical skills and strategic thinking in cybersecurity scenarios.

Technical Requirements

Please bring your laptop with the following software installed:

Useful resources

Netcraft is the leading cybercrime disruption company, with offices in London, Bath, and Manchester. They offer summer internships (for both first and second years), industrial placements, and graduate opportunities. More information about Netcraft can be found at: https://www.netcraft.com/company/student-careers/.