CYBERIUM ARENA · CAPTURE THE FLAG
Capture the Flag (CTF):
a file to open, not a question to answer
Every challenge hands the student something real to work on: a configuration file, a packet capture, a log. They download it, open it with their own tools, and are graded on what they get out of it. Nothing is multiple choice. It runs beside the programs you teach, timed and scored, on the days the trainer is not in the room.
THE FORMAT
What is a CTF in cybersecurity?
A Capture the Flag is a cybersecurity challenge format: somewhere inside a file, a system or a network trace sits a hidden value, the flag. Find it and you score. It has been a tradition of the field for decades, from university clubs to national competitions. In Cyberium Arena it becomes a daily practice tool for your students.
WHAT A CHALLENGE IS
Evidence, then an answer the student had to find
-
Something real to open: a configuration file, a packet capture, an encoded string or a log, worked with the student's own tools.
-
Graded on what they extract: a port, a version, a hash, a hidden value. No guessing.
-
Timed and scored: a run with no hints scores harder.
-
Difficulty stated: from foundations to advanced, matched to the program, checked by an automatic solver before release.
-
Real rank: inside the class and across the academy.
-
Visible progress: flags captured, hours practised and modules cleared, for the trainer to see.
THREE GROUNDS
Foundations, defence, offence
The challenge tracks follow the program catalog, so what a student practises in their own time is the material they are taught, not a separate puzzle collection.
​
-
XE · Foundations: number systems, IP addressing, network services, the command line, OSINT.
-
NX · Defence: Network Research, Windows Forensics, Linux Forensics, SOC analysis, Malware Analysis.
-
ZX · Offence: Penetration Testing, offensive scripting, web application security, exploit development.
PRACTICE, NOT THE EXAM
The CTF is practice.
The scenario is the final exam.
Capture the Flag keeps students working between classes; it does not certify anything. Every program ends with its scenario: a timed, hands-on final exam on real infrastructure, which the trainer opens once every module is done.
IF YOU RUN THE ACADEMY
Something to sell that does not cost you hours
Every hour of teaching a training center sells has a trainer standing in a room behind it. Capture the Flag does not. It runs on its own, keeps students engaged between the sessions you are paid for, and gives you something to show a corporate client that a slide deck cannot: their own people, ranked, with a record of what they actually did.
Included in the base plan. Not an upsell, not an add-on: Capture the Flag comes with the labs, the scenarios and the certification route. No higher plan unlocks it, and there is no per-student charge per challenge.
Academies can also meet head to head: on 29 September 2026, 33 players from 13 academies played the Grand CTF on one board, against one clock.