On Saturday, November 4th, 2017 from 11am-4pm MAGIC will host its 4th Capture the Flag (CTF 004) competition. MAGIC’s CTF 004 is a cybersecurity, ethical hacking competition for entry-level participants. The entire event will be live streamed from the main arena located at the Community Media Center of Carroll County in Westminster, MD. This event is bigger than previous events as multiple satellite locations will also be competing- such as the Imagination Station in Wilson, NC, the C. Burr Artz Library in Frederick, MD, and the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, MD.
MAGIC provides hands-on technology and entrepreneurial education experiences for entry-level participants to enrich their understanding and interest in technology. MAGIC’s CTF 004 is a beginner-level hacking experience for high school and college aged students. Teams of 2-4 students will be challenged to work their way through a series of cybersecurity puzzles set up in a “jeopardy” style format to find hidden flags. Each flag a team captures will earn them points based on the difficulty of the puzzle. The team with the most points at the end of the event wins! Students will use the tools available in Kali Linux to complete the exercises. Since this is an entry level competition, coaches will be available to encourage students as they work through the problems.
MAGIC’s CTF events are focused on workforce development- skill acquisition, skill development, and job placement. As cyber attacks increase in frequency, the demand for trained professionals to defend against such attacks is expected to grow much faster than other occupations. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the employment of information security analyst to grow by 18 percent from 2014-2024. Due to this need, MAGIC has specifically focused its CTF events for entry level participants in an effort to bring new and young individuals into the technology and cybersecurity pipeline.
MAGIC’s CTF events are designed to broaden the base of youth talent in technology and cybersecurity. The events are also designed to connect students as efficiently as possible to internships, part-time, and full-time employment with technology companies affiliated with the competition. Throughout the competition, students gain hands-on experience in an unstructured learning environment that sparks their interest to learn more in the field of cybersecurity. At the same time, employers that participated will be able to connect with entry-level talent.
Registration is free for students. If your library, school, or organization is interested in hosting a satelite location, please contact Amy Rupp at arupp@magicinc.org.
Contact Amy Rupp at arupp@magicinc.org for sponsorship opportunities.
If you can’t make MAGIC’s CTF 004, be sure to mark your calendars for MAGIC’s CFT 005 on Saturday, April 21, 2018.
