In the winter semester of 2024/25, a new master's course called CTF - Capture the Flag, focused on cybersecurity competitions of the Capture the Flag (CTF) type, was launched at the Faculty of Information Technology at the Czech Technical University (FIT CTU). The goal is to prepare students for participation in CTF competitions and provide them with practical experience in the field of cybersecurity. Already during the first semester, students are celebrating great success in several competitions. The course was created as part of the Ethical Hacking Laboratory (HackingLab) at the Department of Information Security.
The course aims to familiarize students with CTF competitions and give them hands-on experience in the field of cybersecurity. An official CTF team of the faculty was formed within the course, and it participated in several competitions during its pilot phase. The team’s greatest success came in mid-December 2024 when it placed an outstanding 11th out of approximately 1,200 university teams in the Hack the Box University CTF 2024: Binary Badlands competition.
The three-day competition included various challenges in the areas of web security, cryptography, reverse engineering, forensic analysis, and other disciplines. It was open to university teams from around the world, with total prize money for the winning teams and individuals exceeding $90,000.
Another notable achievement was made by student Bc. Ondřej Cach, who placed in the top 30 in the The Catch competition, organized by CESNET. This competition takes place annually in October, which is the so-called Cybersecurity Month. Participants solve various challenges, including those based on modern IPv6 networks within the CTF platform, and the best contestants receive valuable prizes and the opportunity to start a professional career in information security.
“Interesting CTF competitions are usually solved by students non-stop over an entire weekend. In their most recent success, they were helped not only by knowledge gained during their studies but also by team spirit and cooperation on tasks. Some tasks even involved AI models and blockchain. This shows that staying up-to-date with modern technologies is absolutely necessary in our field,” says Ing. Jiří Dostál, Ph.D., head of the CTF course and Ethical Hacking Laboratory.
Each year, the best students of the course will have the opportunity to join the faculty’s CTF team and represent FIT CTU in official CTF competitions.
