They won in 3.6 secs, but second place took 3.73 (or 3.74 if being consistent with the winning time). So, did second place also optimize the PoW or were they presumably on an FPGA as well?
The previous submission the author describes as being some expensive FPGA one was 4+ seconds. You'd think he'd mention something about how second place on his week was potentially the second fastest submission of all time, no?
From the article: "Only the first team who is able to connect to and exploit the server, and submit the flag to a Google Form, receives a payout; any subsequent submissions are marked as duplicates."
The previous submission the author describes as being some expensive FPGA one was 4+ seconds. You'd think he'd mention something about how second place on his week was potentially the second fastest submission of all time, no?