EP18 10,000 DLLs and Too Much Math - Wrapping Up FLARE-On 12 with the FLARE Team

In this episode, we sit down with Nick Harbour, Blas Kojusner, Moritz Raabe, and Sam Kim — members of the FLARE Team and some of this year’s challenge authors — for a deep dive into the design and execution of FLARE-On 12. The team discusses the complexity and intent behind this year's challenges, including how Sam created his grueling final challenge, "10,000," which featured 10,000 individual DLLs to force competitors toward automation. Sam reveals that solving the final puzzle required deep knowledge of both reverse engineering and group theory concepts like topological sorting and modular exponentiation of a matrix. Blas Kojusner explains his approach to challenge design, detailing how he blended modern Web3 concepts into a classic reverse engineering scenario with his ransomware chat client challenge, while Moritz shares that his Challenge 7 used obfuscation based on an actual malware sample he analyzed earlier in the year.The conversation then turns to the competition's impact and future. The authors confirm the community's primary feedback was a clear call for more malware-focused challenges. The strong participation and the constant flow of feedback directly influences the next iteration of the event, giving the team the motivation and data needed to improve. The FLARE Team confirms they are planning for FLARE-On 13 in 2026, driven by the community's enthusiasm to tackle new technical hurdles like Rust binaries. Tune in to hear the creators discuss the effort that goes into writing puzzles that truly test the world's best reverse engineers.Get the latest from FLARE's community efforts. Email [email protected] to join our mailing list for important announcements. Your information will not be shared and is used only for this purpose.Join the CommunityResearch Hub: Threat research, training events and news:https://cloud.google.com/security/flareThe FLARE Insider: Get community updates and announcements. To subscribe, email [email protected] THE SHOW:Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube