Changing the Game: Adapting Capture the Flag To Underrepresented Groups

Capture the Flag (CTF) contests have become popular in the cybersecurity community to display and cultivate skills related to cybersecurity. Professionals within the cybersecurity community participate in them to claim “bragging” rights, conferences use them as a hands-on workshop activity, and universities sponsor them to build interest in cybersecurity. Skill in navigating a CTF contest is a source of prestige, and infers cybersecurity skills. The traditional cybersecurity CTF game uses a competitive context rather than cooperative. Competitors is may work alone or form teams. Games and other technology design are noted for reflecting the creators. Since the majority of cybersecurity professionals and academics are non-diverse, the games they create reflect their cultural bias. One of the ways to reach underrepresented groups, such as women and minorities, is provide learning options that reduce cultural bias. If the major learning option in cybersecurity is CTF games that reflect a traditional cultural bias, underrepresented groups are at a disadvantage. With this in mind, this research developed a game framework designed for the participants to build an original Capture the Flag. The game framework removes the need for designers to build game functionality, while still retaining full control over the content. Consequently, the Capture the Flag challenges can reflect the interests and cultural background of any group of designers. In addition to the game play and the opportunity to tailor content, the framework also tracks how effective the challenges from the various design teams are based on the interaction of the participants with those challenges.