Cybersecurity CTF (Capture the Flag)
Badge awarded to
August (Yu) Lam
Issued on 20 Jul 2026 by
Langara College
A Capture the Flag (CTF) in cybersecurity is a hands‑on competition where participants solve real‑world security challenges to uncover hidden “flags.” These challenges simulate scenarios encountered by security professionals, ranging from cracking encryption and analyzing malware to exploiting vulnerable web applications and investigating digital forensics artifacts.
CTFs facilitate learning by providing a safe, controlled environment for experimentation and discovery. Instead of passively reading about security concepts, participants actively apply techniques, troubleshoot issues, and develop problem‑solving skills.
The online CTF community is a global network of cybersecurity learners, hobbyists, professionals, and educators who come together to solve security challenges, share knowledge, and help each other grow. Community members participate in hosted competitions, build their own challenges, maintain write‑ups for others to learn from, and contribute to open‑source tools that support training and research.
Issuer
Langara College
edtech@langara.ca
Langara is one of BC's leading post-secondary institutions providing University Studies, Career Studies, and Continuing Studies programs and courses to more than 19,000 students annually.
Criteria
Learning Outcomes and competencies
Upon successful completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
Demonstrate their engagement with the cybersecurity CTF community in one of three ways.
- Participate in a recognized regional or national‑level CTF competition, showing their ability to apply hands‑on security skills in a competitive environment.
- Learners may achieve the badge by organizing CTF events, contributing to the community by planning, hosting, or managing challenges that create learning opportunities for others.
- Participants may earn the badge by producing detailed, high‑quality write‑ups for CTF challenges, documenting their methods, reasoning, and solutions to support shared learning within the wider cybersecurity community.
Completing any of these paths demonstrates meaningful involvement in CTF culture and a commitment to collaborative skill development.
