The Cipher Chase - BSides Edmonton Edition

How To Play

Read each challenge. Produce the one-word or coded token described for each task. Submit your token in the Google Form as shown below. Do not share tokens publicly until after Sept 30.

Purpose

September 1 was International Women in Cyber Day and throughout the month, the Women CyberSecuirty Society (WCS2) is hosting a free online scavenger hunt consisting of 10‑challenges that grow in difficulty. Each task is designed to educate, connect, and spotlight women in cybersecurity as it invites the broader security community to participate and sponsor this free and fun event.

Format

Ten (10) challenges released daily on social (Sept 1–10). All 10 also appear in the Sept 10 IWCD newsletter. Participants submit a single answer token for each challenge via one Google Form. Top 10 scorers win scholarship spots, recognition on the IWCD website, and WCS2 swag. All participants are invited to a wrap‑up networking session.

Partners

Our initial partners include Grow With Google, BSides Edmonton, DataCamp, and sponsors. If you'd like to partner with us or donate swag from your organizaiton as part of the prize packages, please email us official@womenincyberday.org. Awards will distributed and shipped during the month of October 2025.

Challenge #1

Sisters of the Shift (Sept 1) - 10 Points

Decode the Caesar-shifted text LZFG-FOB-2025 (it was shifted +7). Reverse it to get the token.

Hint: Reverse it to reveal the secret. i.e. If the letter was P, you would subtract (reverse) by 7 to get the letter I.

Scholarship, Prizes and Recognition

Your Personal Invitation

WCS2 warmly invites women from across the global cybersecurity community to join the Cipher Sisters 2025 scavenger hunt and celebrate International Women in Cyber Day with us. It’s a unique opportunity to have fun, test your skills, and take on a series of puzzles designed to inspire and connect participants worldwide.

All ten challenges are beginner-friendly, making them accessible to anyone curious about cybersecurity, but each one builds in complexity as you progress from Challenge 1 through Challenge 10. Whether you’re new to the field or looking for a playful way to sharpen your eye for detail, we encourage you to join in, enjoy the experience, and see how far you can go.

20 Google Cybersecurity Career Certificates Scholarship Awards

The top 20 correct submissions will receive a Google CyberSecurity Career Certificate Scholarship from the Women CyberSecurity Society (WCS2) which is hosted on Coursera and prepares scholars to sit for CompTIA's Security+ industry certification and receive 30% the exam voucher from WCS2.

10 WCS2 Swag Awards

Prizes will be awarded to the top 30 participants with the highest scores in the Cipher Sisters 2025 scavenger hunt. Along with 20 scholarships, ten winners will receive an exclusive IWCD WCS2 Swag Award Package, which includes various branded such as t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, wireless chargers, pens, and stickers. All prizes will be awarded and shipped during October 2025—Cybersecurity Awareness Month—to celebrate your achievement and keep the IWCD spirit alive and well.

Challenge #2

Voices in the Code (Sept 2) - 10 Points

Find an accessibility alt text token on the IWCD site.

Task: Visit the IWCD About Us page and review our founders image. Inspect the image alt text (screen readers read this out). The alt text ends with a token of the form IWCD-ALT-XXXX.

Hint: Right-click → “Inspect,” or use a screen reader. Enter answer in Google Form.

Submit Your Response

Challenge #3

Phish or Truth? (Sept 3) - 10 Points

Player brief:

1) Read the sample phishing email shown to your left

2) Count the distinct red flags

3) Submit your answer using this format in the Googel Form below, FLAG-<number>.(i.e. FLAG-1)

Did you catch all the red flags?

Submit Your Answer

Challenge #4

Challenge # 4 - Trailblazer Acrostic (Sept 4) - 10 Points

Cybersecurity trailblazers inspire us with their strength, creativity, and persistence. For this challenge, visit the Celebrate and Share page. Carefully, read the acrostic poem in the second section from the top. The first letter of each line spells out the token. Submit your answer in ALL CAPS.

Submit Your Response

Challenge #5 - Hidden in the Source (Sept 5) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Websites sometimes hold hidden clues not visible on the page itself. For this challenge, you’ll need to look “under the hood.” Visit the IWCD Scavenger Hunt page, right-click anywhere, and select “View Page Source”. Search the code carefully — a hidden token is waiting in the comments.

Instructions for Participants

Open the page source of the IWCD Scavenger Hunt page.
Find the line with a hidden comment (it will look like this: ).
Submit the token in ALL CAPS as your answer.

Share Now

Challenge #6

Sisters Who Hash (Sept 6) - 10 Points

Player Brief:
Identify the algorithm used to produce this hash value:

e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

Task: Enter the name of the hashing algorithm as your token in the Google Form.

Hint: This famous hash is often used by developers and security researchers as a standard test case.

Submit Your Response

Challenge #7 - The Pastebin Trail (Sept 7) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Sometimes sensitive information leaks onto paste sites.

Pastebin is a free online service often used in the cybersecurity community to store and share plain text, code snippets, or configuration files online.

Instructions for Participants

Your task: Find the token hidden in a Pastebin entry connected to the Cipher Sisters challenge.

Hint: Use search engines and creativity to locate it.

Play Now

Women in cybersecurity operations center.

Challenge #8 - Steganography

Hidden in the Pixels (Sept 8) - 10 Points

Player Brief: Not all secrets are visible to the naked eye

Task: Download the image shown left from the Google form & dig deeper — a token is hidden inside the picture itself. The password is IWCD2025.

Hint: Players will need steganography software to extract the token. We recommend OpenStego.

Submit Entry

Challenge #9 – Code in Disguise (Sept 9) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Attackers often disguise information by encoding it.

Decode the string below and submit the token in ALL CAPS. The string (monospace block): UkVQT1JULURPTlQtQ0xJQ0s=

Reminder: Do not post answers publicly. Submit via the official form only.

Instructions for Participants

Task: Decode the string shown above using one of the methods below. Submit the token in the Google form. Keep your streak going! Hit the Play Now button to get started.

Hint: Need help decoding the string? Here are a few tools you can try:

CyberChef (Web, Beginner-Friendly): https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/
Base64 Decode (Web, Fast & Simple): https://www.base64decode.org/
PowerShell (Built into Windows)

Play Now

Challenge #10 - Steganography

Log Correlation Puzzle (SOC Skill) - Sept 10 - 10 Points

Player Brief: You are investigating suspicious login activity on a Windows server. Below are three event IDs:

4624 – Successful logon
4625 – Failed logon
4634 – Logoff

Task: Determine the sequence of events that would indicate a brute-force attack. Submit the token in the format: EVENTID-####-####-####

Submit Entry

Support Women in Cyber Day Today

Goals

Eligibility

The Cipher Sisters 2025 scavenger hunt is designed to inspire women to take part in technical challenges, raise awareness of their vital contributions to cybersecurity, and educate the community through fun, practical puzzles. By blending skill-building with recognition, we aim to award scholarships, open doors to new opportunities, and celebrate International Women in Cyber Day together with our partners on a global scale.

Eligibility

The scavenger hunt is open to women in cybersecurity and allies worldwide who are 18 years of age or older. Participation is free, with one entry per person, and all submissions must be made individually through the official IWCD form. Partners, volunteers, and organizers may take part for fun but are not eligible for prizes.

Rules

Eligibility

Code of Conduct

By participating in the inaugural IWCD online challenges, entrants agree to follow the IWCD/WCS2 Code of Conduct, play fairly without sharing answers, and submit only one entry per person. Scholarship winners must complete their awarded training within six months and provide a valid mailing address to receive WCS2 swag or prizes. By entering, participants also consent to having their names and photos published for recognition on our websites, newsletters, and social media. Organizers reserve the right to disqualify entries that violate these rules.

🎯 You may edit your submission until the final deadline on September 15, 2025. However, only your last saved answers will count. 1 response per participant.

Code of Conduct

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Code of Conduct

The new IWCD scavenger hunt is a positive, inclusive event celebrating women in cybersecurity. Participants agree to play fairly, respect others, and avoid sharing answers or attempting to disrupt the game. Only official IWCD/WCS2 materials should be used, and winners must complete any awarded scholarships within six months, provide a mailing address for prizes, and consent to recognition on our websites and social media. Failure to follow these rules may result in disqualification.

Timelines

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

The hunt will run from September 1 to 10, with one new challenge released each day across our social channels and websites. All ten challenges will also be shared in our September 10 newsletter for those who wish to complete them all at once. Participants must submit their answers through the official IWCD Google Form by the final deadline of September 15 at 11:59 PM PT. Winners and finalists will be announced on September 20 on the IWCD and WCS2 websites and social media, followed by a community wrap-up session on September 30 to celebrate together.

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

We invite you to take part in the Cipher Sisters 2025 scavenger hunt and celebrate International Women in Cyber Day with us! This is your chance to have fun, test your skills, and enjoy a series of puzzles designed to inspire and connect our global community. All ten challenges are beginner-friendly, making them accessible to anyone curious about cybersecurity, but each one builds in complexity as you progress from Challenge 1 through Challenge 10. Whether you’re new to the field or looking for a playful way to sharpen your eye for detail, we encourage you to join in, enjoy the experience, and see how far you can go.

The Cipher Chase - BSides Edmonton Edition

How To Play

Purpose

Format

Partners

Challenge #1

Sisters of the Shift (Sept 1) - 10 Points

Scholarship, Prizes and Recognition

Your Personal Invitation

20 Google Cybersecurity Career Certificates Scholarship Awards

10 WCS2 Swag Awards

Challenge #2

Voices in the Code (Sept 2) - 10 Points

Challenge #3

Phish or Truth? (Sept 3) - 10 Points

Challenge #4

Challenge # 4 - Trailblazer Acrostic (Sept 4) - 10 Points

Challenge #5 - Hidden in the Source (Sept 5) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Instructions for Participants

Challenge #6

Sisters Who Hash (Sept 6) - 10 Points

Challenge #7 - The Pastebin Trail (Sept 7) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Instructions for Participants

Challenge #8 - Steganography

Hidden in the Pixels (Sept 8) - 10 Points

Challenge #9 – Code in Disguise (Sept 9) - 10 Points

Player's Brief

Instructions for Participants

Challenge #10 - Steganography

Log Correlation Puzzle (SOC Skill) - Sept 10 - 10 Points

Support Women in Cyber Day Today

Goals

Eligibility

Eligibility

Eligibility

Eligibility

Eligibility

Rules

Eligibility

Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Code of Conduct

Timelines

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

Join the Cipher Sisters Hunt

IWCD Scavenger Hunt Registration Form

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