Are you a security professional or someone interested in security who yearns for explosive knowledge growth but hates committing your entire weekend to study time? Yeah, me too. Enter CTF (Capture the Flag) competitions. They're challenging and funóaddictively soóand the key to tremendous learning in a way that captures (pun intended) the attention and interest of participants around the world. Have you looked into CTFs before but found them to be intimidating? No need. The CTF community is receptive to people just starting out and supportive of educating each other. This talk will cover how powerful a tool CTFs can be in learning about security the fun way. You will learn about how CTFs are set up, the types of challenges you will encounter, and the resources that are available for participants. I'll also talk about the CTF community, how to get involved at your own pace, and how to get the most out of just jumping in.
Matt has been working in an IT/IS and security capacity for a very long time. He avoided CTFs for years, but on a whim, decided to enter a conference competition and loved it. He was hooked and has been playing and learning ever since.