From Dark Tangent on defcon.org:
To help make this year even more memorable I have been working with DDTEK and other CTF organizers to continue to grow the contest on a number of levels.
Thinking of competing in the pre-qualifiers? Planning to seriously compete this year? This announcement is to get you up to speed on what we have been thinking.
First - Grow the CTF.
This year there will be more teams battling it out. 20 teams for DEF CON 20! This is up from last year's 12. There will be more teams that pre-qual, as well as more teams that get seated automatically by winning other well-known and respected CTF contests around the world.
Here is the breakdown:
11 teams pre-qualify online - The announcement will be April 1st, 2012 at DDTEK
http://www.ddtek.biz/
7 winning teams from other CTF events - See below
1 The returning champions from DEF CON 19 CTF - The European Nopsled Team
What other CTF contests you ask?
1. UCSB iCTF 2011 winner - We_0wn_You -
http://ictf.cs.ucsb.edu/
2. CodeGate 2012 Winner - Feb 24-26 2012 Online quals -
http://www.codegate.org/Eng/
3. NCCDC winner - April 20 - 22, 2012 -
http://www.nationalccdc.org/
4. Hack In The Box 2012 Amsterdam - May 21-25, 2012 Amsterdam -
http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecco...-bank0verflow/
5. Positive Hack Days 2012 - Plaid Parliament of Pwning -
http://phdays.com/ctf_general.asp
6. nuit du hack 2012 - March 24-25, 2012 CTF prequals -
http://wargame.nuitduhack.com/
7. We have one other in mind and are waiting to see if/when they announce for this year.
You can always compete in multiple CTF events as well as try to qualify on-line. Your journey to DEF CON 20 CTF glory may be long, but there are many paths to get there.
Second - Help out the teams
DEF CON has been running a Capture the Flag contest as an official event since DEF CON 4, but it really started informally at DEF CON 3 (Some say 2).
Teams always battled it out because they wanted to, not because there was any prize money or sponsorships from soda companies or manufacturers.
I want to help that original spirit of competition continue to grow! DEF CON will do something it has never done before. All teams will get two hotel rooms for four nights, Thursday through Sunday, for free. No, the mini bar is not included! This should help remove some of the financial burden off teams, and allow them to focus on the contest. By staying over Sunday you can enjoy some of the after parties Sunday night too!
Good luck with your quest! I hope to see you at DEF CON 20!
The Dark Tangent
AP - A developing Senate plan that would bolster the government's ability to regulate the computer security of companies that run critical industries is drawing strong opposition from businesses that say it goes too far and security experts who believe it should have even more teeth.
Music to c0d3 too: