What is CTF?
Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are traditional cybersecurity challenges where participants solve independent security tasks to earn points. This format, also known as Jeopardy-style CTF, is the most popular type of cybersecurity competition worldwide.
How CTF Works
Teams tackle challenge-based tasks across multiple security categories. Each challenge has a point value based on difficulty—more complex challenges award higher points. Some competitions feature chained challenges where solving one unlocks the next. The team with the highest score when time expires wins.
Famous examples include DEF CON CTF qualifiers, Google CTF, and PicoCTF.
CTF Challenge Categories
Traditional CTF competitions test knowledge across numerous information security domains:
- Web Exploitation - SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and web application vulnerabilities
- Cryptography - Breaking encryption, cipher analysis, and cryptographic systems
- Binary Exploitation - Buffer overflows, format strings, and memory corruption
- Reverse Engineering - Understanding and analyzing compiled code
- Digital Forensics - Investigating evidence, file recovery, and network analysis
- Steganography - Finding hidden data in images, audio, and files
- Mobile Security - iOS and Android application exploitation
- OSINT - Open-source intelligence gathering and reconnaissance
Successful CTF competitors possess comprehensive skills across all security domains, combining technical expertise with creative problem-solving to excel in competitions.