TU Delft CTF 2024: Hundreds of Hackers Join Largest Dutch Cybersecurity Competition
TU Delft's annual Capture The Flag (CTF) competition made history this year as the largest beginner-friendly hacking competition in the Netherlands. Bringing together hundreds of students, tech enthusiasts, and cybersecurity newcomers, the event featured a day packed with problem-solving, hacking, and learning on the TU Delft campus.
This year's competition saw teams of four collaborating to solve challenges in binary exploitation, reverse engineering, cryptography, web security, hardware hacking, and more. The competition followed the Jeopardy-style CTF format, allowing participants to approach problems in any order. Teams earned points for submitting the correct "flags" – hidden pieces of information obtained by bypassing security measures. A twist kept the competition dynamic: as more teams solved a particular challenge, its point value decreased, rewarding teams that tackled the hardest, least-solved puzzles.
The competition was organized by the TU Delft CTF Team and sponsored by Fox-IT, CFLW, CGI, Raspberry Store, HackTheBox, Leezr Optiek, the TU Delft Safety and Security Institute, and the SafeHorizon EU project. It saw massive demand and filled its 200 available spots in five days, indicating a need for expansion in future editions. In response, organizers have already hinted that TU Delft CTF 2025 will be bigger, accommodating more participants and challenges to meet the growing interest in the event.
Beginners' Session: A Gateway to Cybersecurity
The event opened with a special beginners' session, designed specifically for those new to the world of hacking. It provided a crash course on basic cybersecurity concepts and CTF strategies, making it accessible for participants without prior experience. Attendees learned about common hacking techniques, how to approach challenges, and how to navigate the CTF competition effectively.
The session aimed to offer a supportive space for newcomers to ask questions and learn from experienced mentors. By the end of the session, beginners were equipped with the confidence and knowledge needed to participate in the competition.
A Day of Competition and Learning
The main competition began at 10:00, with teams diving into a variety of challenges. Participants had eight hours to solve problems that tested their skills across a wide set of cybersecurity disciplines.
One of the highlights of the competition was its inclusivity – with challenges of various difficulties catering to both beginners and more advanced participants. The design ensured that everyone, regardless of their skill level, had something to contribute.
Hardware Badges: A New Dimension in Hardware Hacking
One of the standout features of this year’s competition was the introduction of hardware badges as part of the hardware hacking category. Each participant received a badge embedded with a microcontroller, which served as the foundation for the hardware-based challenges. These badges required participants to solve challenges involving physical hacking techniques such as fault injection attacks. For many, this added an exciting hands-on component to the otherwise software-focused competition.
The Final Hours and Winners
At 17:00, the live scoreboard froze, adding a final layer of suspense as teams worked to finalize their solutions. The competition ended at 18:00, with a prize ceremony following shortly after. The winning team, Rick’s Rakkers, demonstrated exceptional skills by solving some of the event's most complex challenges.
Overall, the event was a great success. Participants left with not only prizes and recognition but also valuable experience and a deeper appreciation for cybersecurity.
Looking Forward
With two hundred participants and hundreds more on the waiting list, the overwhelming interest in TU Delft CTF 2024 has prompted plans to expand next year’s event to accommodate even more teams. As the event wrapped up, many students, especially beginners, expressed excitement about joining the university’s CTF Team and applying their newfound skills to future challenges.
About TU Delft CTF: The TU Delft CTF is an annual event organized by the university's CTF Team, offering a platform for students and the broader community to explore and enhance their cybersecurity skills in an engaging, competitive environment. Through hands-on challenges, the event emphasizes ethical hacking and aims to inspire the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
The TU Delft CTF Team consists of bachelor-, master- and PhD-studenten who gather weekly to improve their hacking skills and compete together. The team is always open to new members and can be reached at ctf-ewi@tudelft.nl. The team is hosted by the EEMCS Cybersecurity group.