Resea ch Pape
Recommended ci a ion: Scha ei el-Täh inen, T., & Laza o , W. (2025). Cap u e
he Flag as a Lea ning Tool o Imp o e Cybe secu i y Educa ion. In Kangaslampi,
R., Langie, G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53 d Annual Con e ence.
Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI), Tampe e, Finland. DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.17631277.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
CAPTURE THE FLAG AS A LEARNING TOOL TO IMPROVE
CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION
T. Scha ei el-Täh inen a,
1
, W. Laza o b
a Tampe e Uni e si y, Finland, 0000-0002-1286-8427
b B no Uni e si y o Technology, Czechia, 0000-0001-6820-8391
Con e ence Key A eas: 15. Imp o ing highe enginee ing educa ion h ough
esea ching enginee ing educa ion, 4. Digi al ools and AI in enginee ing educa ion
Keywo ds: Cap u e he Flag, cybe ange, cybe secu i y lea ning
ABSTRACT
Recen esea ch has shown p omising esul s in using gami ied Cap u e he Flag
(CTF) scena ios o cybe secu i y educa ion. This pape examines he e ec i eness
o a gami ied CTF scena io among 83 uni e si y s uden s. We analysed di e ences in
e ec i eness based on s uden s' gende and ield o s udy, including in o ma ion
secu i y, compu e science, enginee ing, and o he s udy p og ams. The esul s show
ha pa icipa ion in he CTF inc eased he knowledge ela ed o he CTF con en in all
g oups. Skills and sel -e icacy also inc eased, excep among in o ma ion secu i y
s uden s, o whom he di icul y le el o he CTF was oo low. The s uden s pe cei ed
he CTF meaning ul o lea ning and we e sa is ied wi h he expe ience. Howe e , he
indings sugges ha gami ied eaching may appeal mo e o men han women. Based
on he s udy indings, we ind ha CTF is a sui able app oach o o e ing p ac ical
cybe secu i y exe cises o s uden s. Wi h he app op ia e di icul y le el, i can be
especially impo an o s uden s in compu e science p og ams o help hem assess
hei cybe secu i y skills mo e accu a ely. Howe e , o inc ease he e ec i eness o
cybe secu i y educa ion, i is impo an o app op ia ely se he di icul y o CTF in
ela ion o lea ning objec i es and s uden s' skill le els.
1
Co esponding Au ho
T. Scha ei el-Täh inen
iina.scha ei el- ah inen@ uni. i
1 INTRODUCTION
The e is a global sho age o cybe secu i y expe s as socie ies and se ices digi alize
(ISC2, 2024). Cybe secu i y educa ion should p o ide g adua es wi h p ac ical and
heo e ical knowledge, along wi h con idence and skills o apply knowledge in e e
e ol ing secu i y h ea landscape. Impo an pa o e ec i e cybe secu i y eaching
a e p ac ical exe cises and lea ning-by-doing as hey enhance p oblem-sol ing skills.
These skills a e especially c i ical in eal-wo ld secu i y inciden s, whe e de ende s
mus coun e a acks and mi iga e damage.
Recen esea ch in secu i y educa ion has shown p omising esul s in u ilizing gami ied
eaching app oaches, such as Cap u e he Flag (CTF) scena ios (Bel an e al., 2018;
Cho hia & No ako ic, 2015; Cole, 2022; Ka agiannis & Magkos, 2021; Leune & Pe illi,
2017; Vykopal e al., 2020; Wol enden, 2019). CTFs a e hands-on exe cises, whe e
s uden s look o “ lags” o p oceed wi h he exe cise. Flags a e ”cap u ed” by
success ully comple ing a cybe secu i y ask, such as scanning a ulne able sys em
o dec yp ing a message. CTF exe cises can be u he gami ied by inco po a ing a
sco ing sys em, ewa ds, o an engaging s o yline. In addi ion, CTFs o en p o ide
s uden s wi h a space o p ac ice hei skills in a sandbox en i onmen ha ep esen s
eal-li e scena ios. Acco ding o p e ious esea ch, CTF exe cises can inc ease
s uden s’ mo i a ion (Bel an e al., 2018; Cole, 2022), con idence (Ka agiannis &
Magkos, 2021; Leune & Pe illi, 2017), as well as imp o e hei knowledge and skills
(Cho hia & No ako ic, 2015; Ka agiannis & Magkos, 2021). Ano he impo an inding
is he inc ease in engagemen and enjoymen in lea ning (Cho hia e al., 2019;
Ka agiannis & Magkos, 2021; Vykopal e al., 2020). Howe e , some s udies also
indica e ha achie ing a deep unde s anding o he opics equi es addi ional lea ning
app oaches alongside CTFs (Cho hia & No ako ic, 2015; Leune & Pe illi, 2017).
Less is known ega ding whe he CTFs a e e ec i e in imp o ing cybe secu i y
lea ning ega dless o s uden s’ ield o s udy o gende . Ano he in e es ing ques ion
is how CTF scena io elemen s, such as ins uc ions, asks, and gami ica ion elemen s,
impac s uden s’ sa is ac ion o pe cei ed meaning ulness o lea ning, and whe he
he e exis s udy ield o gende ela ed di e ences. In his s udy, we examine he
e ec i eness o he gami ied CTF scena io among uni e si y s uden s. We analyse
di e ences in e ec i eness acco ding o he s uden s' gende and hei ield o s udy,
such as in o ma ion secu i y, compu e sciences, enginee ing, and o he s udy
p og ams. Addi ionally, we assess s uden sa is ac ion and he pe cei ed
meaning ulness o lea ning o di e en CTF scena io elemen s, such as ins uc ions,
asks, and gami ica ion elemen s.
2 METHODOLOGY
2.1 Scena io Design
Fo ou s udy, we designed a gami ied scena io i led "(Un)usual Monday Mo ning",
which is ocused on he undamen als o cybe secu i y and co e s di e se opics such
as enc yp ion, passwo d secu i y, and encoding echniques. To de elop his scena io
and p epa e an in e ac i e lea ning en i onmen , we u ilized he B no Uni e si y o
Technology Cybe A ena (BUTCA) pla o m (Laza o e al., 2023). Cybe A ena
enables he c ea ion o CTF scena ios and he deploymen o a sandbox en i onmen ,
allowing emo e hands-on cybe secu i y aining.
The CTF scena io was di ided in o se en p ac ical asks, and i s s uc u e was as
ollows: p e-su ey, p ologue (P), se en asks (T1, T2, …, T7), epilogue (E), inal es
(FT), and wo pos -su eys (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Phases o he p esen ed s udy.
The gami ied elemen is he backg ound s o y abou a s uden who wakes up wi h
sho - e m memo y loss and mus de e mine wha happened he p e ious nigh , whe e
he is, and how o ge home. Th oughou he s o y, he s uden comple es se e al
p ac ical challenges ocused on cybe secu i y opics, which a e lis ed in Table 1.
Table 1. Tasks o he CTF scena io.
Task
Di icul y
Challenge
T1
Easy
Subs i u ion ciphe dec yp ion
T2
Easy
Secu i y se ings (phone PIN)
T3
Medium
Ex ac ing and c acking SHA-256 hash
T4
Medium
Weaknesses o LM hash in Windows OS
T5
Easy
Iden i ica ion and encoding o Base64 s ing
T6
Beginne
Geoloca ion in he in e ac i e map sys em
T7
Easy
Ex ac ing a hidden message om a ile
2.2 Measu emen s
We measu ed CTF e ec i eness using p e- and pos -su eys. P e-su ey was
comple ed be o e pa icipa ing in he CTF and he pos -su eys a e wa ds.
Measu emen s a e based on he model om Scha ei el-Täh inen e al. (2024), whe e
heo e ical backg ound and desc ip ion o he a iables can be ound. We assessed
eaching, knowledge, sel -e icacy, a i ude, beha iou , and in e es - ela ed a iables.
Whene e possible, su ey scales we e adap ed om p e ious esea ch, while some
we e cons uc ed based on he asks and con en o he CTF. Ca ee , esea ch, and
u he s udy in e es we e measu ed using a sel -de eloped scale. Teaching- ela ed
a iables and changes in gene al in e es in lea ning cybe secu i y we e measu ed
only in he pos -su ey. The i s pos -su ey was conduc ed immedia ely a e he
CTF. Beha iou - ela ed a iables we e assessed in he second pos -su ey wo weeks
la e . Bu pa icipa ion in he second pos -su ey was lowe han in he i s one. All
measu emen s we e sel - epo ed and measu ed s uden s’ own expe iences.
Fo analysis, we o ganized s uden s in o he ollowing g oups: all s uden s (N=83),
emale s uden s (N=29), male s uden s (N=54), In oSec s uden s (N=13), ICT s uden s
(N=45), Enginee ing s uden s (N=12), and Mixed s uden s (N=13). In oSec s uden s
a e s uden s whose p ima y ocus o s udies is in o ma ion secu i y. ICT s uden s a e
en olled in a ious compu ing science p og ams, while Enginee ing s uden s a e in
di e en enginee ing p og ams. The Mixed s uden s g oup includes hose om ields
such as medicine, humani ies, social sciences, and educa ion.
Fu he mo e, we examined he eliabili y o he scales wi h Gu mann’s lambda 2. The
lambdas we e abo e he h eshold o 0.7 o all scales excep o las week’s beha iou
(p e: 0.553, pos : 0.519). To in es iga e di e ences be ween p e- and pos -su eys,
we i s compa ed a iables in p e- and pos -su eys among he same s uden s. Since
he da a we e no no mally dis ibu ed, we used he nonpa ame ic Wilcoxon signed-
ank es . To compa e he di e ences be ween male and emale s uden s, we used
he nonpa ame ic Mann-Whi ney U es . We examined p e-su ey alue di e ences,
pos -su ey alue di e ences, and gain, which was calcula ed by sub ac ing he p e-
su ey alue om he pos -su ey alue. To compa e di e ences be ween majo
g oups, we used he K uskal-Wallis es , and o analyse sample pai s o dominance,
we used he pai wise Mann-Whi ney es wi h Bon e oni co ec ion. All s a is ical
analyses we e conduc ed using SPSS 29.0.1.0 (171).
2.3 Pa icipan s
A o al o 83 s uden s, 29% o whom we e women, pa icipa ed in he s udy by playing
he CTF scena io. De ails o he s udy pa icipan s a e lis ed in Table 2.
Table 2. O e iew o esea ch pa icipan s.
All
In oSec
ICT
Eng.
O he
To al
83
13
45
12
13
Men
59
11
34
7
7
Women
24
2
11
5
6
Age unde 20
1
1
20-29
60
10
36
9
5
30-39
15
2
4
2
7
40-49
6
1
4
0
1
50-59
1
0
0
1
0
P e . educa ion P ima y school (9 yea s)
1
0
1
0
0
Uppe seconda y school
45
5
27
8
5
Voca ional educa ion
2
0
2
0
0
Bachelo 's deg ee
23
4
13
2
4
Mas e 's deg ee
11
4
1
2
4
PhD
1
0
1
0
0
3 RESULTS
3.1 E ec i eness
In e ms o e ec i eness, s uden s epo ed s a is ically signi ican highe pos - han
p e- alues in CTF con en knowledge, CTF ask skills, CTF ask sel -e icacy, CTF
con en in e es , u he s udy in e es , and a i ude (see Table 3). Pos alues we e
also highe o all o he a iables excep gene al sel -e icacy, which emained s able.
Howe e , hese di e ences we e non-signi ican . Fu he mo e, emale s uden s
epo ed signi ican ly highe pos - han p e- alues in CTF con en knowledge, CTF
ask skills, CTF ask sel -e icacy, and CTF con en in e es . Male s uden s epo ed
signi ican ly highe pos - han p e- alues in CTF con en knowledge, CTF ask skills,
CTF ask sel -e icacy, CTF con en in e es , u he s udy in e es , and a i ude.
Table 3. Compa ison o pos and p e alues (s a is ically signi ican di e ences highligh ed).
All s uden s N=83
Men N=59
Women N=24
z
p
e .
size
z
p
e .
size
z
p
e .
size
CTF con en
knowledge
-7.44
<.001
0.82
-6.33
<.001
0.82
-4.05
<.001
0.83
CTF ask skills
-6.54
<.001
0.72
-5.34
<.001
0.70
-3.79
<.001
0.77
Gene al sel -
e icacy
-0.23
0.819
0.03
-0.50
0.619
0.06
-0.57
0.567
0.12
Cybe secu i y
sel -e icacy
-1.46
0.145
0.16
-1.05
0.295
0.14
-0.98
0.325
0.20
CTF ask sel -
e icacy
-4.92
<.001
0.54
-3.61
<.001
0.47
-3.38
<.001
0.69
CTF con en
in e es
-3.31
<.001
0.36
-2.33
0.020
0.30
-2.51
0.012
0.51
Fu he s udy
in e es
-2.75
0.006
0.30
-2.73
0.006
0.35
-0.81
0.416
0.17
Ca ee in e es
-1.20
0.229
0.13
-0.94
0.346
0.12
-0.74
0.458
0.15
Resea ch
in e es
-1.64
0.101
0.18
-1.61
0.107
0.21
-0.54
0.589
0.11
A i ude
-2.42
0.015
0.27
-2.22
0.027
0.29
-0.99
0.323
0.20
Pos -su ey 2
N=50
N=36
N=14
Secu i y
beha iou
in en ions
-0.92
0.36
0.13
-0.15
0.88
0.02
-1.72
0.09
0.46
Las week's
beha iou
-0.20
0.84
0.03
-0.65
0.52
0.11
-0.97
0.33
0.26
The In oSec s uden s epo ed signi ican ly highe pos - han p e- alues in CTF
con en knowledge (see Tables 4 and 5). ICT s uden s epo ed signi ican ly highe
pos - han p e- alues in CTF con en knowledge, CTF ask skills, CTF ask sel -
e icacy, CTF con en in e es , and u he s udy in e es . They also epo ed he only
s a is ically signi ican lowe pos - han p e- alue in cybe secu i y sel -e icacy.
Enginee ing and Mixed s uden s epo ed signi ican ly highe pos - han p e- alues in
CTF con en knowledge, CTF ask skills, and CTF ask sel -e icacy.
3.2 Di e ences be ween g oups
In he p e-su ey, male s uden s had s a is ically signi ican ly highe alues in secu i y
beha iou in en ions and las week's beha iou han emale s uden s. In he pos -
su ey, male s uden s had signi ican ly highe alues in a i ude han emale s uden s.
Rega ding gain, no signi ican di e ences we e ound be ween male and emale
s uden s.
Table 4. Compa ison o pos and p e alues (s a is ically signi ican inc eases a e highligh ed
wi h g een and dec eases wi h o ange colou ).
In oSec N=13
ICT N=45
z
p
e . size
z
p
e . size
CTF con en knowledge
-2.53
0.011
0.70
-5.66
<.001
0.84
CTF ask skills
-1.61
0.107
0.45
-5.24
<.001
0.78
Gene al sel -e icacy
-0.75
0.453
0.21
-0.82
0.414
0.12
Cybe secu i y sel -e icacy
-0.14
0.885
0.04
-2.20
0.028
0.33
CTF ask sel -e icacy
-0.51
0.610
0.14
-3.70
<.001
0.55
CTF con en in e es
-0.59
0.557
0.16
-3.78
<.001
0.56
Fu he s udy in e es
-1.54
0.123
0.43
-3.16
0.002
0.47
Ca ee in e es
-0.81
0.420
0.22
-0.25
0.799
0.04
Resea ch in e es
-0.63
0.527
0.18
-1.44
0.151
0.21
A i ude
-0.98
0.327
0.27
-1.84
0.067
0.27
Pos -su ey 2
N=9
N=26
Secu i y beha iou in en ions
-1.34
0.180
0.37
-1.84
0.434
0.27
Las week's beha iou
-0.48
0.655
0.13
-0.44
0.660
0.07
Table 5. Compa ison o pos and p e alues.
Enginee ing N=12
Mixed N=13
z
p
e . size
z
p
e . size
CTF con en knowledge
-2.89
0.004
0.83
-3.36
<.001
0.93
CTF ask skills
-2.52
0.012
0.73
-2.59
0.010
0.72
Gene al sel -e icacy
-0.94
0.348
0.27
-1.72
0.086
0.48
Cybe secu i y sel -e icacy
-1.51
0.131
0.44
-0.28
0.783
0.08
CTF ask sel -e icacy
-2.46
0.014
0.71
-2.81
0.005
0.78
CTF con en in e es
-0.43
0.666
0.12
-0.54
0.589
0.15
Fu he s udy in e es
-0.41
0.680
0.12
-0.27
0.785
0.08
Ca ee in e es
-1.89
0.059
0.55
0.00
1.000
0.00
Resea ch in e es
-0.28
0.783
0.08
-1.00
0.317
0.28
A i ude
-0.36
0.719
0.10
-1.38
0.167
0.38
Pos -su ey 2
N=7
N=8
Secu i y beha io in en ions
-1.13
0.257
0.33
-0.76
0.450
0.21
Las week's beha io
-1.34
0.180
0.37
-1.00
0.317
0.28
Table 6 shows he di e ences in s a is ically signi ican alues in p e- and pos -su ey
be ween g oups. Fo example, in he p e-su ey, he In oSec g oup had s a is ically
signi ican ly highe alues in CTF con en knowledge han any o he g oup, bu in pos -
su ey, he knowledge di e ence be ween In oSec g oup and ICT g oup has la ened.
Simila la ening can be seen in CTF ask sel -e icacy be ween ICT and Mixed
g oups, as in he pos -su ey, he di e ence is no anymo e signi ican . Howe e ,
some di e ences ha e also s eepened, o example, In oSec and ITC g oups ha e
signi ican ly highe cybe secu i y sel -e icacy alues compa ed o Enginee ing and
Mixed g oups in he pos -su ey. Addi ionally, he In oSec g oup epo ed signi ican ly
highe alues in hei gene al in e es in lea ning cybe secu i y compa ed o he ICT
and Mixed g oups. Howe e , in e ms o gain, he e we e no s a is ically signi ican
di e ences be ween g oups.
Table 6. S a is ically signi ican di e ences in p e- and pos -su ey be ween g oups.
G oup
Va iable
S a is ically signi ican ly highe alue compa ed o ...
P e-su ey
Pos -su ey
In oSec
CTF con en knowledge
ICT
Eng.
Mixed
Eng.
Mixed
″
CTF ask skills
Eng.
Mixed
Mixed
″
Cybe secu i y sel -e icacy
Eng.
Mixed
″
CTF ask sel -e icacy
Mixed
Eng.
Mixed
″
Fu he s udy in e es
Mixed
Eng.
Mixed
″
CTF con en in e es
Eng.
Mixed
″
Ca ee in e es
ICT
Eng.
Mixed
ICT
Eng.
Mixed
″
Resea ch in e es
ICT
Eng.
Mixed
ICT
Mixed
″
A i ude
Eng.
Eng.
Mixed
ICT
CTF ask skills
Mixed
″
CTF ask sel -e icacy
Mixed
″
Cybe secu i y sel -e icacy
Eng.
Mixed
3.3 Sa is ac ion, pe cei ed meaning ulness, and gene al in e es in lea ning
In he pos -su ey, s uden s a ed he CTF asks and a ious o he CTF ea u es in
e ms o sa is ac ion, pe cei ed meaning ulness o lea ning, and how he asks and
ea u es a ec ed hei gene al in e es in lea ning cybe secu i y:
• Sa is ac ion wi h CTF scena io: 46 s uden s (55%) we e e y o ex emely
sa is ied, ou o hem 59% male and 46% emale s uden s; 34 s uden s (41%)
we e sa is ied.
• Meaning ulness o lea ning: 40 s uden s (48%) pe cei ed he CTF as e y
o ex emely meaning ul, ou o hem 51% male and 42% emale s uden s; 40
s uden s (48%) pe cei ed he CTF as meaning ul.
• In e es in lea ning cybe secu i y: 58 s uden s (71%) epo ed inc eased
in e es , ou o hem 75% male and 62% emale s uden s; emaining 29% o
s uden s epo ed no change.
3.4 Tasks, ins uc ions and gami ica ion elemen s
S uden s we e signi ican ly mo e sa is ied wi h CTF asks han wi h ins uc ions. CTF
asks we e pe cei ed as signi ican ly mo e meaning ul o lea ning han gami ica ion
elemen s, which we e also pe cei ed less meaning ul han ins uc ions. Fu he mo e,
CTF asks we e ega ded as signi ican ly mo e impo an o gene al in e es in
lea ning cybe secu i y compa ed o bo h ins uc ions and gami ica ion elemen s, and
ins uc ions we e conside ed signi ican ly mo e impo an han gami ica ion elemen s.
The e was a signi ican di e ence be ween male and emale s uden s in gami ica ion
elemen s' pe cei ed meaning ulness o lea ning and i s impo ance o gene al
in e es in cybe secu i y lea ning. In bo h cases, male s uden s conside ed
gami ica ion elemen s signi ican ly highe han emale s uden s. Addi ionally, he
In oSec and ICT g oups we e mo e sa is ied wi h ins uc ions han he Mixed g oup.
Las ly, In oSec s uden s pe cei ed ins uc ions signi ican ly mo e meaning ul o
lea ning han he ICT and Mixed g oups.
4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
CTF pa icipa ion inc eased knowledge ac oss all g oups wi h la ge e ec sizes,
indica ing imp o emen . Fo all g oups excep In oSec s uden s, ask skills also
inc eased wi h la ge e ec sizes. Addi ionally, CTF pa icipa ion imp o ed ask skill
sel -e icacy in all g oups excep In oSec s uden s. The highes e ec sizes we e
obse ed in he Mixed, Enginee ing, and emale s uden g oups, while he lowes in
he male s uden and ICT g oups. Inc ease in knowledge and skills has been
obse ed, e.g., by Cho hia & No ako ic (2015) and Ka agiannis & Magkos (2021),
howe e , his s udy ound a ia ion based on he s uden s’ majo . The likely eason o
he lack o imp o emen in skills and ask skill sel -e icacy among In oSec s uden s
was he beginne le el CTF. These s uden s p obably al eady had conside able
p ac ice wi h ask- ela ed skills, lea ing li le oom o u he de elopmen . The e o e,
eache s should conside pa icipan s’ skill le els when selec ing he CTF di icul y o
ensu e ha e en skilled s uden s can imp o e.
While in In oSec g oup knowledge inc eased, he e we e no signi ican changes in any
o he a iables. In con as , he CTF had mo e bene i s o ICT s uden s. Thei
knowledge, skills, ask- ela ed sel -e icacy, con en in e es , and e en in e es in
u he s udy signi ican ly inc eased. Findings among ICT s uden s align wi h he
ea lie CTF esea ch, e.g., (Cole, 2022; Ka agiannis & Magkos, 2021). Howe e , ICT
s uden s’ cybe secu i y-speci ic sel -e icacy signi ican ly dec eased, al hough he
e ec size was small. This may sugges ha he CTF scena io helped o co ec an
o e es ima ion o secu i y skills, allowing ICT s uden s o assess hei con idence in
hese skills mo e app op ia ely. I his in e p e a ion is co ec , and he esul can be
achie ed wi h such a simple a angemen , i di ec s o ecommending secu i y- ela ed
p ac ical exe cises o ICT s uden s. I is c ucial, o example, om secu e so wa e
p oduc ion pe spec i e ha enginee s a e no o e con iden in hei secu i y skills.
Howe e , ega ding CTFs’ beha iou ela ed a iables, no e ec i eness was obse ed
in his s udy. The only s a is ically signi ican inc ease in a i ude was ound among
male s uden s; howe e , he e ec size was small. Since he CTF asks we e no
designed o p omo e beha iou al changes, his ou come was expec ed. Howe e , o
CTFs aiming o inc easing e.g., cybe secu i y awa eness, also beha iou al impac s
should be examined when assessing he e ec i eness o he CTF.
Rega ding CTF p ope ies, s uden s we e signi ican ly mo e sa is ied wi h he CTF
asks han wi h he ins uc ions. Addi ionally, CTF asks we e pe cei ed signi ican ly
mo e meaning ul o lea ning han gami ica ion elemen s. Male s uden s pe cei ed
gami ica ion elemen s mo e meaning ul o lea ning and mo e impo an o inc easing
in e es in lea ning cybe secu i y han emale s uden s. Realizing how impo an i is
ha he asks a e pe cei ed meaning ul by s uden s may help eache s o design he
CTFs in a mo i a ing and ins uc i e way. Gua an eeing meaning ulness o e e yone
migh no be easy bu when success ul i may also mi iga e he challenge ha gami ied
lea ning seems o be mo e appealing o men han o women.
The pa icipan s we e sa is ied wi h he CTF and pe cei ed i meaning ul o lea ning.
Gene al in e es in lea ning cybe secu i y inc eased, wi hou any signi ican di e en-
ces in gains be ween g oups. Thus, CTF is a sui able app oach o p o iding p ac ical
cybe secu i y exe cises o s uden s. Howe e , i is impo an o se he CTF di icul y
le el app op ia ely in ela ion o he lea ning objec i es o ensu e i s e ec i eness.
