The RUSecure CTF Contests are built upon the challenge-based and just-in-time learning models. Contestants/Teams attempt to solve a variety of Cybersecurity challenges supported by high impact learning materials, videos, etc. The Contest is specifically designed to address three roadblocks to expanding the participation of students in CS and Cybersecurity:
- Lack of prerequisite knowledge – educational materials, videos, slides, links etc. are provided so that students learn whatever lessons they need to solve the specific challenge at the moment that they need those lessons
- Lack of teacher preparation – In our surveys of our surrounding school districts, very few had any teachers with the necessary background to teach CS and Cybersecurity. Those that did have such expertise were generally in higher income suburban districts. It is our belief that a student’s future in Cybersecurity must not be determined by their Zip code.
- Lack of access to IT resources – hands on lessons in Cybersecurity require access to a secure and isolated sandbox where students can try things with very little risk. Most high schools cannot provide such an environment. Through the RUSecure CTF Contests, we provide access to a VMWare virtual sandbox that allows students to try things that they would not otherwise be able to access.
We have used this same approach to work with teachers both in our graduate coursework, designed specifically to increase the number of qualified teachers, and in our Gen-Cyber and other teacher camps, likewise designed to increase the pipeline by increasing the availability of qualified faculty.
The RUSecure CTF Contest has grown from its inception in 2014 with 35 students to a pre-pandemic peak of more than 2000 students in 2019.
|
Year |
Number of Teams |
Number of Students |
Number of Schools |
|
2014 |
9 |
36 |
4 |
|
2015 |
13 |
56 |
7 |
|
2016 |
18 |
81 |
9 |
|
2016-2017 |
70 |
303 |
32 |
|
2017-2018 |
130 |
546 |
58 |
|
2018-2019 |
345 |
1449 |
106 |
|
2019-2020 |
505 |
2057 |
123 |
|
2020-2021 |
249 |
1247 |
83 |
|
2021-2022 |
282 |
1340 |
67 |
|
2022-2023 |
304 |
1432 |
73 |
* note that both 2020 and 2021 Contests were greatly impacted by the pandemic
The RUSecure CTF Contest is made up of three rounds:
- Preparatory Round - open to all participants; includes hints and educational materials (motivation and education – Scare and Prepare)
- Qualifying Round – open to all participants but without the hints and educational materials (motivation and assessment – Dare)
- Final Round – is open to the top teams from the Qualifying Round (motivation and assessment – Dare and Celebrate).
In the Spring of 2019, the RUSecure CTF Final Round was live-streamed on the front page of Twitch.tv yielding more than 80,000 unique views.