Capture-the-flag competitions are a popular educational tool for cybersecurity. We designed and implemented a beginner-friendly capture-the-flag (CTF) to encourage participation in the cybersecurity program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The competition centers around a physical claw machine, where successfully solving challenges earns you a chance to use the claw and win a prize. We designed and built this claw machine, as well as integrated it with an existing open-source CTF website. We created a set of storylines to draw engagement with our CTF competition, and applied them to a series of existing challenges. Lastly, we adapted the CTF website to better fit our needs, incorporating new colors, theming, and functionality to create an exciting competition platform for students of all experience levels.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Ames, Arthur
• Dube, Evelyn
• Murphy, Declan

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 94586
• E-project-032323-131732

Keyword

• Claw Machine
• User Experience Design
• Cybersecurity
• Capture the Flag

Advisor

• Fichera, Loris
• Walls, Robert Joseph

Year

• 2023

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 4 - Quality Education
• 10 - Reducing Inequality

Date created

• 2023-03-23

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Computer Science

Source

• E-project-032323-131732

Rights statement

• In Copyright

License

• Creative Commons BY-NC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Last modified

• 2023-04-14