Using CTFs for an Undergraduate Cyber Education

Authors: 

Martin Carlisle, Michael Chiaramonte, and David Caswell, United States Air Force Academy

Abstract: 

Over the last five years, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has participated in numerous Capture the Flag (CTF) and other cyber competitions. At first, this was simply an extracurricular club activity; however, as we have seen the impact on student motivation and learning, we have greatly increased student and faculty participation. Additionally, we have started to base entire for-credit courses on a CTF framework. In this paper we discuss our rationale for utilizing CTFs as part of our formal curriculum, as well as key lessons learned relating to student engagement and avoiding cribbing. 

Open Access Media

USENIX is committed to Open Access to the research presented at our events. Papers and proceedings are freely available to everyone once the event begins. Any video, audio, and/or slides that are posted after the event are also free and open to everyone. Support USENIX and our commitment to Open Access.

BibTeX
@inproceedings {191759,
author = {Martin Carlisle and Michael Chiaramonte and David Caswell},
title = {Using CTFs for an Undergraduate Cyber Education},
booktitle = {2015 {USENIX} Summit on Gaming, Games, and Gamification in Security Education (3GSE 15)},
year = {2015},
address = {Washington, D.C.},
url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/3gse15/summit-program/presentation/carlisle},
publisher = {{USENIX} Association},
month = aug,
}
Download
Carlisle PDF