Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity refers to the safety and security of our digital footprint.
The world is turned on 24/7 and the need for cybersecurity specialists is rising exponentially every year. MAGIC provides several entry-level programs that introduce students to the world of cyber, encouraging the next generation of professionals to take on the challenges we face today.
Capture the Flag Competition
This introductory Capture the Flag competition allows participants, ages 15 and up, to get a feel for the cyber process in an environment designed to help competitors “learn” logical thinking skills and teamwork.
MAGIC’s Capture the Flag competitions are a reliable source of information and support for learning the basic building blocks used in cybersecurity. We provide the “white” hat approach and apply the principles of ethical hacking during our competitions. Our staff of volunteer industry professionals help coach and support the process.
Do you like puzzles? Are you passionate about solving a mystery? Are you interested in pursuing a career in Cybersecurity? Want to be a super hero in the hacking world? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then a Capture the Flag Ethical Hacking Cybersecurity competition may be the answer.
Our flagship bi-annual hosted event brings together participants and industry professionals on a given Saturday in April and October. These on-site events are hosted in various locations worldwide. This means a student in Maryland could be competing against a student in Estonia, Ecuador, or Ireland. Our main arena in Westminster, MD is the epicenter of the focused competition.
Participating in a Competition
There is no prerequisites to attend a Capture the Flag competition. This beginner level team competition levels its challenges to allow for beginners and intermediate students the opportunity to participate in the competition without extensive knowledge. This competition is for students in high school, college, or young adults looking to change careers.
The platform content consists of sets of puzzles that require using various hacking tools, coding skills, and just plain puzzle solving to find the answers, which are short strings of code called “flags”. Once located, the flags are entered into a scoreboard, which keeps a tally for all teams. The team with the most points at the end of the timed competition wins along with bragging rights.
Our challenges are broken down into difficulty levels. Level 0 challenges are basic introduction puzzles that allow the participant to “get into” the competition. Level 1,2, and 3 puzzles become progressively more difficult and will require additional time. We also have two challenge levels specific to an operating system.
A Linux level with challenges specific to the Linux operating system. You will need an installation of Kali Linux to solve these puzzles.
The second is a Windows level. These puzzles are specific to a windows operating system and you will need an installation of Windows to solve this level. These 2 levels are more complex, but will gain you more points when solved.
We also have a high level set of challenges called Investigation. These forensic style puzzles require a knowledgeable foundation to complete.
This is a free event for students to participate at our home location in Westminster. However, remote teams wanting to participate pays a small location participation fee. To become a participation location, please refer to our Remote Participating Location section for more information.
Remote Participating Location
MAGIC provides CTF events twice a year (April and October). These event are well attended both in person and virtually. Because this platform is browser based, it is easy to connect multiple locations worldwide for a competition. Recent events featured participants in host locations around the world~ in Maryland, North Carolina, Idaho, Ecuador, and Estonia, with live streaming on Twitch from our home location in Westminster, MD during the competition.
Your organization or cyber team can be a part of the bigger picture in forwarding cybersecurity content. Remote participation locations pay a one-time licensing fee per event and location, depending on number of teams, to participate in the event.
By hosting a remote CTF location, an organization or institution can sponsor teams of students to participate in the competition. The participating location takes on the cost of participating, allowing students to compete for free during our bi-annual events. The location fees in conjunction with community sponsors, covers the cost of producing the event.
A remote participating location can be a physical location or a sponsoring organization that hosts teams from other locations around the world. Examples of a sponsoring organization would be a college, school system, library, or homeschool groups that sponsors teams by paying the license fees for the teams to participate. This could be your own teams from your organization(cyber clubs, cybersecurity program teams, etc) or local community partners.
A physical participating location example would be a public organization, college or school system that hosts a physical location( school gym, computer lab, local library, community center, etc) and invites community participation for local teams to come together to compete.
Participating location availability is limited to our April and October preplanned events. You can register to become a Participating Location, by registering HERE. If you would like to host your own CTF using our platform, refer to Hosting a Competition for more information.
Participating Location Fees
All pricing is per location or organization and number of teams. Each team is limited to 4 people. Chose the option that is right for you.
Registration to become a participating location must be received at least a month before the schedule event.
Hosting a Competition
Want to host your own private Capture the Flag competition?
Your organization can license MAGIC’s CTF platform to host your own private competition. By licensing our platform for a competition, you and your organization determine the specific date of the competition, who is invited to compete, and the length of the event.
The licensing fee to utilize the CTF platform is $2,000 per competition . The fee includes:
- Use of the platform for up to a 4 hour competition ( a standard competition duration is usually 3-4 hours).
- Unlimited teams (4 individuals max per team).
- Branded main page with your organizations logo
- 150 puzzle challenges included. You determine the difficulty level for challenges.
- Administrative support for backend service and setups.
- Statistical export of competition data (includes team data and overall competition stats).
- Up to 2 tech coaches available on our chat support during competition.
For more information please fill out our Hosted CTF Interest Form.
Cyber Resources
Just getting started? Everything is learned through practice and hard work. In the hacker world there are a variety of tools, languages, OS’s, and programs out there that can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. Check out some resources we put together for you to get started.
Kali Linux Resources
Kali Linux is a forensic and security-focused distribution based on Debian’s Testing branch. Kali Linux is designed with penetration testing, data recovery and threat detection in mind. This is the environment of choice for cybersecurity.
Python Resources
Python is an easy to learn programming language that is perfect for a beginner to any language. It’s ease of use makes it perfect for creating simple scripts and working your way up to full programs.