I am currently in my college's Cyber Security Club, and we are competing in the NCL (National Cyber League) this weekend. While I consider myself very computer literate, I don’t know much about Capture the Flag (CTF) events and the various tools available for competitions like this. (Side note: I’ve added a tools page to the club site with links to all the tools I discover.)

I started practicing in the Skyline NCL Gymnasium, but even those challenges were a bit complex. After a conversation with ChatGPT, I discovered picoCTF—and I’m in love with it. The site offers a massive selection of practice challenges that start off super simple. I’ve been working my way through them, and finding the flags has been a lot of fun. It has given me a lot more confidence in my abilities for this weekend.

My recommendation for anyone looking to get into cybersecurity is to check out picoCTF first. It’s an outstanding (and free) resource run by Carnegie Mellon University that has helped me tremendously in taking my first steps into this field.

Keep it secret, keep it safe.