This weekend was the start of picoCTF 2018.
picoCTF is an annual, jeopardy style CTF hosted by Carnegie Melon, with the main audience being highschool students who can win a cash prize and trip to CMU for the award ceremony! The current game lasts until October 12th, so there is still tons of time to play. More importantly, each game is hosted in perpetuity after the competition, so there is tons of time to play year round. Starting around 2013, this is an amazing CTF for anyone really, regardless of age or skill level, as the basics are always crucial and the review never hurts. I think what really helps it target a younger audience is the interactive game that usually accompanies the CTF (I've included a screenshot at the bottom). That said, the best part is their focus is on lowering the barrier to entry, making this CTF accessible, with a great skill curve, especially to those new to hacking! Each year's individual game is just a different leading subdomain, based on the year, but they currently only have
2017 and
2018 up (despite several years just being up a few months ago). There are also
lots of old writeups on The Internet, so it's a good source to learn techniques from as well. Finally, they
publish the code to their CTF platform, making it easy to host your own beautiful CTF, without having to develop a secure scoreboard. So get out there, check it out, and lets hack! There is lots to learn in picoCTF and it's a ton of fun! Even if it's a review, it's a great ego booster to crush quick and easy challenges :) If you're looking for a team to play with drop me a line in the comments!
