Attack-Defense CTF Basics

Introduction to Attack-Defense CTF

Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions are a popular way to learn and practice cybersecurity skills. An Attack-Defense CTF is a specific type of CTF where teams compete against each other by both attacking opponents’ systems and defending their own.

What is an Attack-Defense CTF?

In an Attack-Defense CTF, each team is given a set of vulnerable services running on a server. The goal is to exploit vulnerabilities in the opponents’ services to capture flags (usually secret tokens) while simultaneously patching vulnerabilities in your own services to prevent others from capturing your flags.

Key Concepts

1. Flags: Secret tokens hidden within the services. Capturing flags from opponents earns points.
2. Services: Applications running on servers that contain vulnerabilities. Each team must defend their own services and attack others’.
3. Patching: Fixing vulnerabilities in your own services to prevent opponents from capturing your flags.
4. Exploiting: Finding and using vulnerabilities in opponents’ services to capture their flags.

Extra info

TBD

Extra Reading

• Setup - FAUST CTF
• Attack/Defense For Beginners - FAUST CTF