VulnVANGUARD is a 24-hour cybersecurity hackathon organized by GeeksforGeeks SRMIST Delhi-NCR. It challenges ethical hackers, security researchers, and cybersecurity enthusiasts with hands-on experience in vulnerability discovery, penetration testing, incident response, and security architecture.

Teams must consist of exactly 4 members. Registration includes team check-in, ID verification, and kit distribution on the event day starting at 9:30 AM. There's also an online preliminary quiz 5 days before the main event that teams must qualify through.

The preliminary round is a technical quiz conducted online 5 days before the main event. It lasts 30-45 minutes and screens participants based on technical knowledge. Only top-performing teams qualify for the offline 24-hour hackathon.

There are 3 main rounds: Round 1 (Decoder) - solving 4 progressive riddles in a Linux environment similar to OverTheWire challenges; Round 2 (Bug Fixing & Implementation) - identifying and fixing bugs in assigned projects; Round 3 (Documentation & Technical Explanation) - creating comprehensive reports and presentations of your work.

Round 1 requires Linux skills including file system navigation, permissions management, encoding/decoding, scripting, and binary analysis. You'll work through specially designed challenges that replicate fundamental information security abilities in an isolated lab environment.

There's an elimination round on Day 1 from 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM where underperforming teams will be eliminated based on preliminary evaluation checkpoints. Eliminated teams can still participate in mini games and refreshment activities.

The hackathon continues through the night with final fixing sprints from 12:00 AM - 2:00 AM, followed by mini games and refreshments from 2:00 AM - 4:00 AM. From 4:00 AM - 8:00 AM, teams work on documentation and report creation.

Round 1: Levels Solved (30%), Speed (40%), Efficiency (30%). Round 2: Correctness of Fixes (40%), Code Quality (30%), System Functionality (30%). Round 3: Clarity & Structure (30%), Depth of Understanding (20%), Presentation (40%), System Enhancement (10%).

Bring your laptop, chargers, and any personal items you'll need for 24 hours. The event provides meals (lunch, dinner, breakfast), tea breaks, and event kits during registration. The venue is at SRMIST Campus with all necessary lab facilities.

Practice Linux command line, study basic cybersecurity concepts, familiarize yourself with OverTheWire challenges, brush up on debugging and code analysis skills, and ensure your team has diverse skills in system administration, programming, and documentation.