Introducing the Hacker101 CTF

Hacker101 is getting something brand new: our own Capture The Flag! For those who are unfamiliar, Capture The Flags (better known as CTFs) are games where hackers have to find bugs and solve puzzles to find "flags," bits of data that tell the system you've completed a given task.

Not Your Grandpa’s CTF

Most CTFs run for a day or two and then end; that's not quite the case here. Our CTF is running 24/7 in perpetuity—anyone who wants to learn can jump right in and find bugs in real-world simulated environments using the skills taught in our Hacker101 videos.

No matter your experience or skill sets, we are building levels to suit you; from the most basic web vulnerabilities to complex cryptography problems, and that's only what we have at launch.

We plan to tune these levels to cater to all hackers with engaging challenges that really solidify the things you learn in Hacker101 and beyond. (For those of you who want a serious challenge, I particularly recommend the Encrypted Pastebin level; it's a tough one!).

The New CTF Platform is Just the Start

We've been thinking a lot about rewards and we have some awesome things planned. A few of these include badges for your HackerOne profile, reputation points, and invitations to private programs. Have an idea? Let us know.

As we grow we plan to also include levels that teach specific skills such as game hacking, cryptography, embedded experience, and more. Our goal is to help hackers learn new skills in a practical setting that can be applied immediately to get bounties in private programs and help customers reduce their risk. Everyone wins!

We're planning on releasing one new level per month initially, but we hope to increase that over time. Either way, there will be challenges for every level of skill, from the absolute beginner to world expert. We hope you'll come play our game and learn something new today.

Now go find those flags: https://ctf.hacker101.com/!

Happy Hacking,

Cody Brocious (Daeken)

HackerOne is the #1 hacker-powered security platform, helping organizations find and fix critical vulnerabilities before they can be criminally exploited. As the contemporary alternative to traditional penetration testing, our bug bounty program solutions encompass vulnerability assessment, crowdsourced testing and responsible disclosure management. Discover more about our security testing solutions or Contact Us today.