Skip to main content
Question

Operation Cymbal: Cold Room – Questions About Challenges, Scoring, and Certification

  • Oct 29, 2026 8:56 PM UTC
  • 2 replies
  • 30 views

putbullet

Hello Google Cloud Security team,

I'm participating in Operation Cymbal: Cold Room, organized through Hack The Box, and I have a few questions regarding the event.

The challenge started around 16:00 today, and it's now approximately 21:00. I've already completed several challenges, but I've noticed that my score continues to decrease. Additionally, the scoreboard is currently inaccessible, and I understand that the event is expected to run for approximately 72 hours.

Could you please clarify a few points?

  1. Daily challenges: Will three new challenges be released each day throughout the 72-hour event, or are the challenges announced at the beginning the complete set for the entire event?

  2. Scoring and scoreboard: Is the decreasing score expected behavior, and when will the scoreboard become accessible again?

  3. Event completion: If participants complete all available challenges early, will there be additional activities or challenges to work on during the remaining time?

  4. Certification and rewards: Will participants receive a certificate of participation, a completion certificate, or any other recognition for taking part in the event?

I'd appreciate some clarification so participants can better understand the event structure and what to expect over the next three days.

Thank you for organizing this event and for your time!

2 replies

ErikaB
Community Manager
Forum|alt.badge.img+13
  • Community Manager
  • Oct 29, 2026 9:51 PM UTC

Hi ​@putbullet 

Thank you for reaching out and for participating in Operation Cymbal: Cold Room!  Here are quick answers to your questions

  1. There are no scheduled daily releases of new challenges, so the full set available now represents the complete challenge set for this event. 

  2. The scoring system is dynamic as more users solve. The leaderboard was removed due to early flag captures prior to the event start, ensuring fairness for participants who followed the instructions.

  3. Once you complete the event, it is done. Final rankings depend on points and submission speed, finishing early puts you in a strong position for the top leaderboard spots.

  4. No certificate will be provided. Participants who attended the live kickoff workshop and compete in the CTF earn CPE credits. The first 100 participants to submit the feedback survey will receive a swag voucher for an official event tee.  Once the 72-hour arena closes on November 1st at 8:00 AM PDT (16:00 UTC), all winners will be verified and contacted directly via the email associated with their Hack The Box profile.

Hopefully that answered your questions.  Happy Flag hunting! 


CyberZal
Forum|alt.badge.img
  • New Member
  • Oct 29, 2026 10:08 PM UTC

Hi ​@ErikaB Erika, I was approved for the event and registered on HTB under team Kudrat_1989, but I haven't received the second email with the Google SecOps tenant login link. Could you help check my access?