Getting Started with Capture the Flag

With Snyk's Fetch the Flag CTF right around the corner, now's the perfect time to dive into the world of Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions! If you're new to CTFs or looking to sharpen your skills, understanding how they work is key to success. This comprehensive guide breaks down everything you need to know about CTFs heading into 2026, from traditional hacking challenges to AI-powered security scenarios, and how these competitions help you develop critical security skills, understand real-world vulnerabilities, and improve your ability to defend systems effectively.

Whether you're a complete beginner or looking to level up your game, this guide has something for you. Put your skills to the test during our Fetch the Flag CTF competition, running from February 12 at 12 p.m. ET through February 13 at 12 p.m. ET.

Introduction: Why CTFs matter

Today, cybersecurity threats evolve at an unprecedented pace. Mastering the art of defense has become more crucial than ever. Enter Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions, virtual battlegrounds where aspiring cybersecurity enthusiasts and seasoned professionals sharpen their skills through digital warfare.

The origins of CTF can be traced back to the early 1990s, when hackers began organizing "hacking parties" where participants tried to break into each other's computers. These events evolved into organized competitions that are now held worldwide and are considered vital to the cybersecurity community.

CTFs offer an unparalleled hands-on learning experience combining theoretical knowledge with practical application. They cultivate a hacker's mindset, an essential tool for effective cybersecurity. By challenging participants to think creatively, outsmart adversaries, and exploit vulnerabilities, CTFs instill critical thinking and problem-solving skills that translate directly to real-world security work.

In 2026, CTFs will evolve beyond traditional exploitation challenges. Modern competitions now incorporate AI security scenarios, cloud infrastructure attacks, supply chain compromises, and container escape challenges, reflecting the actual threat landscape organizations face today.

What is a CTF?

CTF competitions are immersive cybersecurity challenges that mirror real-world security scenarios. In a CTF, participants solve challenges across various cybersecurity domains to find "flags", unique codes (like flag{this_is_a_flag}) that prove successful completion.

Simulating real-world security challenges

CTFs replicate scenarios from exploiting web vulnerabilities and reverse-engineering malware to deciphering cryptographic puzzles and analyzing digital forensics. They foster a deep understanding of cyber threats and defense mechanisms while developing the adversarial thinking crucial for effective cybersecurity.

What makes modern CTFs particularly valuable is their evolution to include emerging security domains. In 2026, you're as likely to encounter AI model manipulation or Kubernetes misconfiguration as traditional binary exploitation, ensuring CTF skills remain relevant to current security needs.

Traditional CTF formats

Jeopardy CTFs are the most common variety. Participants solve categorized challenges (web exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, forensics) to earn points, choosing which challenges to tackle in any order. This format is ideal for beginners; you can start with simpler challenges and build momentum while focusing on categories that align with your strengths.

Attack-Defense CTFs introduce live competition dynamics where teams alternate between attacking and defending network infrastructure in real-time. When attacking, you infiltrate vulnerable machines to steal flags. When defending, you patch vulnerabilities and protect assets from incoming attacks. These events demand strong teamwork and specialized skills, simulating the chaos and time pressure of a real incident response.

Mixed CTFs blend Jeopardy and Attack-Defense formats, creating dynamic environments where you solve standalone challenges while simultaneously defending against live attacks. As a beginner, gain experience in Jeopardy or Attack-Defense CTFs before attempting mixed events.

AI-enhanced CTFs: The evolution

AI has fundamentally changed CTFs in two ways. First, participants now use AI tools as assistants, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, to understand unfamiliar protocols, debug exploit code, or learn about new technologies. This is generally accepted practice (check specific competition rules), allowing AI to serve as your on-demand tutor for faster learning.

Second, CTFs now include challenges targeting AI systems themselves. You may encounter prompt injection attacks against language models, model manipulation challenges that require adversarial inputs, or data extraction scenarios that recover training data from ML models. These AI security challenges reflect real-world concerns as organizations deploy LLMs for customer service, code generation, and data analysis. Practicing these attacks in CTF environments builds skills directly applicable to securing production AI systems.

Types of CTF challenges expected in 2026

Modern CTFs encompass a broad spectrum of challenge categories, reflecting the diverse and evolving nature of cybersecurity threats. Understanding these categories helps you identify areas where you're strong and areas where you need to develop new skills.

Traditional challenge categories

These core categories have been staples of CTF competitions for years, but they've evolved to reflect modern technologies and attack techniques.

Binary exploitation and reverse engineering: Binary exploitation involves analyzing compiled programs to identify vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows, format string bugs, or use-after-free conditions, using tools like GDB, Ghidra, or IDA Pro. Reverse engineering challenges you to understand what binaries do, analyzing malware, finding hidden functionality, or recovering algorithms from compiled code.

In 2026, these challenges will increasingly incorporate modern protections, such as ASLR, DEP, and stack canaries. You'll need to chain vulnerabilities or find creative bypasses. AI tools can help understand assembly patterns and suggest vulnerability classes, accelerating analysis.

Web exploitation remains popular because it mirrors real-world attack surfaces. Traditional vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, XSS, and command injection, persist; however, modern challenges focus on contemporary frameworks, specifically vulnerabilities in React/Vue.js, SSRF in microservices, and authorization flaws in REST APIs.

GraphQL has become a prominent target with unique vulnerabilities, including introspection queries that reveal entire schemas, nested queries that cause denial-of-service, and authorization bypasses through field-level access control failures. WebSocket vulnerabilities in real-time applications and Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) in modern template engines represent additional modern challenge categories.

Cryptography challenges test understanding of encryption algorithms, hash functions, and digital signatures. Classic challenges include breaking substitution ciphers and exploiting weak RSA implementations. Modern scenarios incorporate real-world contexts, such as blockchain signature malleability, JWT algorithm confusion, or TLS configuration compromises. Cryptography requires both mathematical reasoning and programming skills, writing brute-force scripts, implementing custom decryption algorithms, or analyzing large datasets for patterns.

Network security and forensics

Network security challenges involve analyzing packet captures (PCAPs), identifying malicious traffic, and exploiting network protocols using tools such as Wireshark. Digital forensics presents disk images, memory dumps, or captured evidence that requires analysis to extract flags, recover deleted files, uncover hidden steganography, analyze browser history, or examine Windows registry hives.

Modern forensics includes mobile device analysis (Android/iOS backups) and cloud forensics (analyzing AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Logs, or GCP Audit Logs for security incidents).

Modern challenge categories

Cloud security

Cloud security challenges reflect that most modern applications run in AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. Scenarios include exploiting misconfigured S3 buckets, abusing overly permissive IAM roles for privilege escalation, discovering hardcoded secrets in Lambda functions, or exploiting serverless vulnerabilities such as command injection in ephemeral environments.

Challenges include IAM misconfiguration exploitation (chaining role assumptions), metadata service abuse (SSRF to steal instance credentials), and identifying storage misconfiguration. These aren't theoretical; they're attacks happening in production daily.

Container and Kubernetes security

Container security challenges involve Docker container escapes to host systems, exploiting vulnerable images, or abusing Kubernetes orchestration. You might exploit misconfigured RBAC, abuse Kubernetes APIs from compromised pods, or perform lateral movement between namespaces.

Image vulnerability challenges require analyzing Dockerfiles for hardcoded credentials, identifying vulnerable base images, or exploiting supply chain attacks through compromised registries. This directly aligns with Snyk's mission of helping organizations identify and remediate container image vulnerabilities before they reach production.

CI/CD pipeline security

CI/CD security challenges reflect real-world supply chain attacks. GitHub Actions challenges involve exploiting workflow security issues, secret leakage in logs, code injection in pull request triggers, or stealing repository secrets. Jenkins challenges exploit script console access or misconfigured build agents. Pipeline credential theft challenges teach identifying where powerful credentials are stored and extracting them from compromised jobs.

API security

API security challenges primarily focus on vulnerabilities in REST, GraphQL, and gRPC. REST API challenges involve authentication bypass, authorization flaws, mass assignment exploitation, or rate-limiting bypasses. GraphQL challenges require exploiting introspection queries, crafting denial-of-service through deeply nested queries, or finding authorization bypasses through field-level access control issues. API authentication challenges primarily focus on broken mechanisms, including weak JWT implementations, token leakage, or session fixation.

Supply chain security

Supply chain security reflects critical modern cybersecurity challenges. Dependency confusion exploits package manager dependency resolution, causing build systems to install malicious public packages instead of private ones. Understanding npm, pip, and Maven dependency resolution is crucial.

Typosquatting challenges involve identifying packages with names similar to popular libraries. Vulnerable dependency chain challenges require tracing through nested dependencies to identify vulnerable packages deep in the tree, reflecting scenarios where vulnerabilities are hidden in transitive dependencies that developers never directly interact with.

AI and Machine Learning security

AI security represents the newest CTF frontier. Prompt injection challenges involve crafting inputs that manipulate LLMs into revealing system prompts, executing unauthorized actions, or bypassing safety controls. Model manipulation challenges require crafting adversarial inputs causing misclassification. Data extraction challenges involve recovering training data through membership inference attacks, model inversion, or prompt-based extraction.

Real-world implications include chatbots tricked into administrative commands, AI assistants leaking confidential information, or code generation tools producing malicious code when manipulated.

Challenge difficulty progression

Challenges are categorized as beginner (100-200 points), intermediate (300-500 points), and advanced (600+ points). Beginner challenges involve straightforward vulnerability identification. Intermediate challenges require chaining multiple steps or understanding complex systems. Advanced challenges involve novel techniques, complex exploitation chains, or minimal hints, separating veterans from newcomers.

CTF vs other Cybersecurity disciplines

Understanding how CTF competitions relate to other cybersecurity practices helps you contextualize the skills you're developing and see how they transfer to different career paths.

• Penetration testing focuses on identifying vulnerabilities and providing actionable recommendations within defined scopes and time constraints. CTFs focus on capturing flags as proof of mastery in exploitation. Technical skills overlap significantly; SQL injection, privilege escalation, and network reconnaissance work identically, whether capturing flags or writing client findings. Many penetration testers start by excelling in CTFs.

• Vulnerability assessment systematically identifies and classifies vulnerabilities without exploiting them, creating prioritized inventories for remediation. CTFs prove vulnerabilities are exploitable and demonstrate impact. CTF experience teaches the distinction between theoretical risks and practically exploitable vulnerabilities, helping to validate findings and communicate risk effectively.

• Bug bounty programs test live production systems within defined scopes, rewarding vulnerability discovery while requiring responsible disclosure of the findings. CTF skills transfer well to creative problem-solving and technical exploitation techniques, but bug bounties require additional skills, including understanding valid security issues, professional communication, and navigating program rules.

• Red team exercises are sophisticated adversarial simulations testing detection and response capabilities while evading defenders. CTF Attack-Defense competitions provide simplified red team simulations; however, real engagements require an understanding of defensive technologies, developing custom evasion tooling, and maintaining persistent access without triggering alerts.

• DevSecOps integration benefits from CTF supply chain attack experience, directly informing secure dependency management practices. When you've exploited dependency confusion in CTFs, you understand why dependency pinning, private registries, and tools like Snyk are essential. Container security, API security, and cloud security CTF skills directly translate to securing production deployments.

Choosing your first CTF

Start with Jeopardy-style CTFs. Self-paced formats allow you to choose challenges that match your current skills, work at your own pace, and take breaks without disadvantaging your team. Save Attack-Defense and Mixed formats for after completing several Jeopardy CTFs.

Recommended beginner-friendly platforms

PicoCTF is designed for students but welcomes participants of all ages, offering extremely accessible challenges that gradually increase in difficulty, accompanied by helpful hints. OverTheWire offers "wargames", progressive CTF-style challenges where Bandit teaches Linux basics through security challenges. Hack The Box Academy provides guided learning paths with "Starting Point" tracks for newcomers. TryHackMe excels at guided "rooms" with step-by-step instructions and in-browser access to vulnerable systems. CTFtime.org aggregates worldwide competitions, team rankings, and write-ups.

Evaluating readiness

You're ready when you can navigate Linux confidently, have solved 10-20 practice challenges, understand basic networking, can read and modify simple scripts, and are comfortable with not knowing everything upfront. Don't wait to feel like an expert, jump in, expect to struggle, and learn.

Tips for your first competition

Join or form teams; members bring different strengths, and learning accelerates through observation and discussion. Start with low-point challenges to build confidence. Read other teams' write-ups after competitions end to discover tools, techniques, and approaches. Take notes during competition, even when not solving challenges. Expect to feel overwhelmed; every expert started exactly where you are.

Preparing for CTF challenges

Technical setup

Most CTF challenges require Linux. Options include dual booting (for full performance, but requiring repartitioning), virtual machines using VirtualBox/VMware/Hyper-V (the safest and most popular option, with Kali Linux available as a pre-configured VM), Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2 for Windows 10/11), or cloud-based Linux instances.

Linux proficiency

Develop fluency with file system navigation (cd, ls, pwd, find), file manipulation (cat, grep, sed, awk), permissions and ownership (chmod, chown), process management (ps, top, kill), package management (apt, dnf, pacman), and networking commands (netstat, nc, curl, wget). Keep reference sheets handy; the goal is to build intuition about what's possible and know where to look for syntax.

Essential tools

• Network reconnaissance: nmap for scanning and service enumeration, masscan for fast, large-network scanning, RustScan, which combines speed with nmap integration, and cloud-focused tools like ScoutSuite or Prowler.

• Web application testing: Burp Suite (industry-standard proxy), OWASP ZAP (open-source alternative), browser developer tools (Network, Console, Storage, Sources tabs), and curl and wget for scripting.

• Exploitation frameworks: Metasploit (a comprehensive exploitation framework), pwntools (Python library for CTF exploit development).

• Cryptography: CyberChef (web-based encoding/decoding/encryption), hashcat, and John the Ripper (password cracking).

• Binary analysis: Ghidra (free NSA reverse engineering tool), IDA Pro (commercial standard), GDB with pwndbg/GEF extensions, radare2 (powerful open-source framework).

• Forensics: steghide/stegsolve (steganography), binwalk (embedded file identification), foremost/scalpel (file carving), volatility (memory dump analysis).

• AI-powered tools: Snyk utilizes AI to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in dependencies, containers, and infrastructure-as-code. The Snyk MCP scans projects locally to identify vulnerable dependencies, directly applicable to dependency-focused CTF challenges. For more information, check out this article.

AI as your learning accelerator

Large language models dramatically accelerate skill development when used responsibly. Use AI to understand unfamiliar concepts ("explain SAML authentication for CTF challenges"), debug exploit code, learn tool usage ("how do I use nmap to scan specific ports?"), understand code in challenges, and generate boilerplate starter code.

Ethical boundaries are generally acceptable, explaining concepts, debugging your code, learning tools, and understanding errors. Gray areas require rule checks, analyzing challenge descriptions, and generating complete exploits. Generally not acceptable, pasting entire challenges for solutions, using AI without understanding, and sharing challenge content publicly.

The key principle is that AI should accelerate learning, not replace it. If you can't explain your solution, you haven't learned anything.

Programming and scripting skills

Python has the most valuable and extensive libraries for networking, cryptography, and binary manipulation, as well as the pwntools library for CTF exploitation. Bash scripting automates command-line tasks. JavaScript knowledge helps with web challenges. C understanding aids binary exploitation and reverse engineering. Focus on practical skills: reading and writing files, making network requests, processing binary data, and working with JSON.

Approaching CTF challenges

Understanding rules and objectives

Read challenge descriptions carefully; they contain critical information about target systems, restrictions, hints, and expected flag formats. Pay attention to subtle language suggesting approaches. Understand scoring systems, check for time limits and resets, identify permissible tools, and note provided resources.

Research and reconnaissance

Gather basic information through simple observations, visit URLs, view source code, run file and strings on binaries. Use reconnaissance tools systematically, nmap for network challenges, and directory enumeration for web applications. Modern AI can accelerate this phase by analyzing tool output and suggesting priorities for investigation. Analyze network traffic using Burp Suite or browser DevTools. Document everything to avoid repeating failed approaches.

Identifying potential vulnerabilities

Match observations to known vulnerability classes (reflected input \= XSS, SQL errors \= SQL injection). Consider challenge categories as hints toward relevant vulnerability classes. Look for misconfigurations before assuming complex exploitation. Analyze dependencies and third-party code; this is where Snyk skills apply, identifying outdated dependencies and known CVEs. Consider supply chain angles in build/deploy challenges. Prioritize based on likelihood and impact relative to challenge point values.

Exploitation Strategies

Begin with a proof of concept and verify that vulnerabilities exist using simple tests before attempting sophisticated exploitation methods. Utilize AI for understanding and iteration when you are unfamiliar with exploitation techniques. Iterate and adapt payloads based on the feedback received. Look for alternative approaches when stuck. Chain multiple vulnerabilities for advanced challenges. Document successful exploitation paths for future reference and write-ups.

Write-ups and documentation

Read other teams' write-ups after competitions, which showcase educational gold, including multiple approaches, new tools, and expert thinking. Create your own write-ups even for unsolved challenges; reflection solidifies learning and makes knowledge gaps explicit. Good write-ups explain not just what you did but why, providing contextual explanations of thought processes. Share knowledge responsibly, wait until competitions officially end before publishing.

Engaging with the CTF community

CTFs are more enjoyable and educational when they incorporate community engagement. The cybersecurity community is generally welcoming and eager to help newcomers.

Online communities and forums

Reddit's r/securityCTF is a community dedicated to discussing CTFs, providing help, and sharing write-ups. Discord servers (such as Hack The Box, TryHackMe, and CTFtime) offer quick answers, team formation opportunities, and live competition discussions. Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and Mastodon host security professionals who share insights and announcements. CTF blogs and personal websites offer detailed write-ups and tutorials from top teams.

Participating in events and meetups

Local security meetups (OWASP chapters, BSides organizations) host CTF practice sessions, talks, and workshops. Security conferences (DEF CON, Black Hat, RSA, regional BSides) feature CTF competitions with talks, workshops, and networking. Virtual CTF events, which began in 2020, have made high-quality CTFs globally accessible, often featuring Discord support and post-event debriefings.

Finding and Joining Teams

Teams provide diverse skill sets, motivation, social connection, and learning opportunities. Look for recruitment posts on Discord, Reddit, or CTFtime. Participate solo initially and connect with players of similar skill levels during competitions. University students can join through computer science departments or security clubs. Consider forming your own team, recruiting friends, posting on forums, establishing regular practice sessions, and communication channels.

Learning from failure

Extracting value from frequent failures separates those who improve from those who quit.

Failure as an essential learning tool

Every successful security professional has failed hundreds of times. CTF challenges are designed to expose vulnerabilities and knowledge gaps; each unsuccessful attempt is a valuable lesson. If you're not failing regularly, you're not attempting challenging enough tasks.

Adopting a growth mindset

Embrace curiosity over frustration, transform discouragement into a quest for investigation. Analyze failures systematically through post-mortems with teammates. Celebrate incremental progress, even without visible milestones, by identifying vulnerabilities, learning new tools, and recognizing that 80% represents genuine progress. Persist without rigidity, consider alternative approaches when stuck. Seek help appropriately, asking for hints after making a significant effort, as this is an efficient learning approach, not a sign of failure.

Learning from others' successes

Read and write up actively, research unfamiliar techniques, and experiment with unknown tools. Compare multiple approaches to the same challenge, revealing valid solution diversity. Ask write-up authors questions; engagement demonstrates learning interest and provides deeper insights.

Building resilience

Remember, everyone started as beginners; current position doesn't determine potential. Focus on personal progress rather than comparing to top teams. Balance challenge and skill to maintain "flow state", adjust difficulty to keep learning enjoyable. Take breaks when frustrated; a fresh perspective helps see previously invisible solutions.

Advanced CTF progression

Intermediate and advanced challenges

Virtual Machine CTFs (VulnHub, HackTheBox) provide complete, vulnerable machines that require multistep exploitation chains, simulating real penetration testing. Specialized skill development through platforms like Exploit Education and PentesterLab builds deep expertise in particular domains. Time-limited competitions on CTFtime create pressure for efficient challenge solving and strategic decision-making. Competitive teams provide access to experienced mentors and advanced techniques.

Professional certifications and career development

OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) requires exploiting vulnerable machines in 24-hour exams, essentially professional CTFs. eLearnSecurity certifications (eCPPT, eWPT, eMAPT) involve CTF-style challenges with different focus areas. GIAC certifications (GPEN, GWAPT) align with CTF skills. Industry recognition values CTF participation on resumes, demonstrating practical skills and continuous learning

Giving back to the community

Create challenges to solidify knowledge, mentor newcomers in forums or teams, host local events or study groups, write tutorials from recently-learned perspectives, and support CTF platforms financially or through volunteering.

Expanding beyond competition

Transition to bug bounty hunting on platforms like HackerOne or Bugcrowd. Pursue security research, discovering new vulnerability classes or developing tools. Submit conference talks sharing expertise. Create educational content through blogs, videos, or courses. Apply skills to careers in penetration testing, security consulting, incident response, security engineering, or DevSecOps.

Conclusion

CTF challenges provide exciting and effective platforms for developing cybersecurity skills. Modern CTFs in 2025 reflect the current threat landscape, incorporating AI security challenges, cloud exploitation scenarios, supply chain attacks, and container security alongside traditional categories. Skills developed through CTF participation directly transfer to securing real systems.

Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced player, CTFs offer continuous learning opportunities. The journey from solving initial challenges to chaining complex exploitation chains builds capabilities that serve you throughout your career.

Adhere to ethical guidelines and responsible disclosure practices, respect privacy and security, only target systems with explicit permission, and report vulnerabilities promptly. CTF challenges simulate real-world scenarios and should never exploit or harm others.

The CTF community is welcoming, supportive, and eager to help newcomers succeed. Engage with online communities, participate in meetups, contribute knowledge as you gain experience, and remember every expert started exactly where you are now.

Ready to put your skills to the test? Join us for Snyk’s Fetch the Flag CTF competition, running from February 12 at 12 p.m. ET through February 13 at 12 p.m. ET. Whether you're tackling your first CTF or sharpening advanced skills, Fetch the Flag features challenges across web security, cryptography, supply chain security, and more, including cutting-edge AI security scenarios. Show the community what you’ve learned and compete for prizes while building skills that will serve you throughout your security career.

So what are you waiting for? Get started with CTF today and join the ranks of cybersecurity professionals dedicated to protecting our digital world. Your journey begins with a single challenge, and there's never been a better time to start.