“Attackers solely must be proper as soon as. You, as a defender, must be proper one hundred percent of the time.”
—Cybersecurity Skilled Jim Risler
It’s a well known fashionable trope in films and TV exhibits. A lone determine, head coated, hunches over a keyboard within the darkness. Instantly you recognize you’re a hacker doing nefarious issues.
However hacking isn’t at all times fictional. Information breaches are on the rise, costing companies thousands and thousands. From 2021 to 2023, there was a 72% enhance in knowledge breaches, with e mail being the most typical vector for malware. A knowledge breach is projected to value a median of $4.88 million in 2024. It’s extra vital than ever for corporations to upskill their networking groups—and it’s an open job marketplace for these trying to be taught cybersecurity.
I spoke with the content material creators of the brand new Seize the Flag challenges inside Cisco U.—Jim Risler, Cisco Studying Product Supervisor, overseeing safety course growth, and Paul Ostrowski, Cisco Technical Training Content material Developer—to get perception into the competitors and why it’s so vital for anybody all in favour of a cybersecurity profession.
What’s a Seize the Flag cybersecurity problem?
First, what does Seize the Flag (CTF) imply? Principally, it’s a recreation by which there’s a defensive and an offensive group competing to win a flag or flags. It could possibly be a sporting occasion, for youngsters or adults. On this context, Seize the Flag is a cybersecurity problem.
Seize the Flag has lengthy been used within the tech neighborhood for individuals to apply their cybersecurity abilities. The world’s largest occasion is Def Con CTF, going down in Las Vegas yearly. Seize the Flag challenges are additionally utilized by huge firms and universities to coach individuals in cybersecurity.
It’s normally a contest between groups: the offense (crimson group) and the protection (blue group); or, if each side are labored concurrently, a purple group. It could possibly be in particular person, on-line, on a multi-person group, or with particular person opponents.
How can I take part in a Cisco U. Seize the Flag problem?
You may be anyplace on the planet to take part within the Cisco U. Seize the Flag on-line challenges. Participation is particular person. Right here’s methods to get began.
Passing one CTF problem plus the Cisco Networking Academy course will earn you the Cisco Certificates in Moral Hacking.
How does a Cisco U. Seize the Flag problem work?
Each problem will work a little bit otherwise. The primary challenges (operating by way of 2/11/2025) don’t separate you into blue or crimson groups. “In Cisco U. the 2 CTFs now we have now are extra blue group since you’re doing investigation response, and testing your skills to detect assaults,” notes Ostrowski. “You’re functioning as an investigator in each missions.”
Now that Cisco U. has a Challenges function contained in the platform, there will likely be new Seize the Flag on-line cybersecurity challenges each quarter. Anticipate quite a lot of CTFs, together with crimson team-focused ones, the place you infiltrate a community and expose its vulnerabilities.
Every problem consists of plenty of steps- presently 11 steps– you have to full one after the other to move. Step one guides you thru organising your lab surroundings, which you’ll want for the rest of the problem.
What rating do you’ll want to move a Cisco U. CTF problem?
Is there a minimal rating you’ll want to move? Under no circumstances.
“The unique concept was to make this rating out of 100, however now it’s simply move or fail,” notes Ostrowski. “So when you get to Step 11 and accurately reply it, you’ve handed.”
Hints can be found all through. You’ll get factors taken away when you use a touch, nevertheless it’s structured so that you’ll move no matter whether or not you reply all the things accurately.
“There’s an outdated know-how factor geeks like myself say,” says Risler. “RTFM. Learn the Pleasant handbook. It’s all in there for you.” His hints will inform you the place to look when you missed a clue.
Do you want further coaching previous to taking the Cisco Networking Academy course?
“Technically you don’t want further coaching, however it’s best to perceive networking,” Risler advises. “Cisco Networking Academy has some fundamentals of networking programs to provide you a great basis.”
Constructing a robust basis in networking is a crucialHe notes that as an teacher at a college, he sees faculty college students who lack this basis leaping into extra advanced cybersecurity coaching anyway after which struggling to catch up. “Their professors aren’t geeks like me, they…simply inform the youngsters to review stuff of their e-book and the following factor you recognize…the college students are like, ‘Why is IP addressing vital?’ If you don’t perceive that, you don’t perceive networking.” And you received’t achieve success in cybersecurity.
Who ought to do Cisco U. Seize the Flag on-line?
Anybody all in favour of cybersecurity ought to hop onto the CTF problem to each be taught and check abilities. “The target of CTF is to bridge the hole between entry-level and professionals in cybersecurity, offering hands-on studying with real-world data, abilities, and skills,” says Risler. “Numerous corporations say they’ve this hole. They may have booked cybersecurity training, however the packages don’t do labs or hands-on, or it’s all on a Home windows machine. In our CTF, they undergo the moral hacker course, they usually’re taught on a DNS (area identify system)/lab surroundings, after which that data and abilities are utilized in a close to real-world setting.”
What Cisco U. coaching ought to I take after Seize the Flag?
So that you’ve achieved each CTF challenges in Cisco U. Congratulations! What do you do subsequent, apart from look forward to our subsequent problem to do extra?
There are solely two paths to pursue in safety, in response to Risler. “I actually suppose we overcomplicate it,” he says. “There’s an engineering mindset: constructing the structure and securing the community. Or there’s defending the community, which is any person who seems to be for threats on the community.”
Should you’re into defending the community, the following areas you’ll be able to research are:
Between Cisco U. and Cisco Networking Academy, you may get all of the training you want for any security-related profession. Cisco is a cybersecurity chief, with protecting merchandise like Cisco Umbrella and the intelligence heart, Talos, which analyzes 4 TB of risk knowledge daily. “At Cisco we’re educating you ways cyberattacks are profitable,” says Risler. “You’re studying how they’re in a position to get a foothold in someplace after which why did the goal assault work? Why did the malware assault on the British healthcare system work? How may you defend towards that?” Cisco is uniquely positioned to have a look at cyberattacks from a purple perspective, seeing what’s coming subsequent and stopping what’s coming now—and move all that data onto learners.
Risler recommends:
The Sandworm by Andy Greenberg. The true story of probably the most devastating act of cyberwarfare in historical past and the determined hunt to determine and observe the elite Russian brokers behind it. It’s an ideal learn for anybody all in favour of cybersecurity and in addition a unbelievable e-book membership alternative.
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