CTF for education

Read full text
Authors: Yi Lyu, Dotson, Luke, Nic Draves, Andy K. Zhang
Cited by: 0

Abstract

In this paper, we take a close look at how CTF can be used in cybersecurity education. We divide the CTF competitions into four different categories, which are attack-based CTFs, defense-based CTFs, jeopardy CTFs and gamified and wargames CTFs. We start our analysis by summarizing the main characteristics of different CTF types. We then compare them with each other in both learning objectives and other aspects like accessibility. We conclude that combining all four CTF formats can help participants build one's cybersecurity knowledge. By doing that, we hope that our findings will provide some useful insights for future CTF educators.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Information and Cyber Security Teaching and Learning Programming Educational Games and Gamification

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
24 January 2026
Document type
Preprint