Capture the Flag (CTF) is a form of hacking competition. Use for questions about the design and operation of such contests. Do not use for questions asking for help with winning contests.
CTF is the acronym of Capture the Flag, a type of computer security competition, usually involving teams who prove their own skills in fields including penetration testing, computer forensics, and reverse engineering. It is considered a way of training and showing significant skills in the computer security area, and it is practiced in several hacker conventions, such as Defcon.
There are two main types of capture the flag contest:
A jeopardy-style CTF provides teams with a variety of challenges in different areas, usually revolving around cryptography, steganography, reverse engineering, and forensics.
An attack and defence-style CTF involves teams who need to defend their own machine or network and, at the same time, attack the networks defended by the other teams. In this way, a wide variety of skills is practiced, including system administration, penetration testing, and digital forensics.
