Garden State Cyber

Great news, Garden State Capture the Flag competition for NJ high school students is BACK!

Last year we had over 1300 students from 62 schools participating. This year we are looking to make Garden State CTF bigger and better. Get your students psyched to compete again for swag, certificates and trophies. It's free and open to NJ high school students with fun challenges for all levels of cybersecurity experience. Here is a copy of the flyer.

Registration: Teachers must sign up their teams by February 12th. Schools can enter as many teams as they want with each team consisting of up to 4 students. Sign up your teams here (must be from teacher’s email)
Round one is an online Capture the Flag competition (CTF) that is open to all New Jersey high school students running from Tuesday February 24 (7:30 am) to Saturday February 28 (4:00 pm).

The top 10 scoring teams in NJ (max 1 per HS) qualify for the Finals.

Round two is for the top 10 Finalist teams (max 1 per HS) and will take place at the NJ Cyber Summit in late Spring. The Summit is free for all NJ teachers to participate in workshops and network to explore ways to enhance student opportunities in cybersecurity.

Teachers can follow the Garden State Cyber Google Group for more information.

We can't wait to see your school’s teams on the scoreboard!

Garden State Cyber Steering Committee

Mandy Galante

Daryl Detrick

Abby Lahr

Laura Wojick

Jeremy Milonas

Kevin Jala

As you’re getting students ready for the Garden State CTF, here’s a quick rundown of the tech setup they’ll need so things run smoothly on competition day.

Where the CTF runs
The CTF will be hosted at https://gardenstate.ctfd.io, so students need internet access to that domain during the event.

Devices & tools
The attached prep flyer lists the tools students may use. Many of these are commonly blocked or unavailable on school-managed devices, especially Chromebooks.

Because of that, students need access to a Linux environment. Schools usually handle this one of two ways:

Option 1: Linux virtual machines on school computers
If your school allows virtualization, students can use a Linux VM (Kali works well) on a desktop or laptop. This won’t work on Chromebooks.

Option 2: Cyber.org Cyber Range
Cyber.org offers free access to online Linux virtual machines through their Cyber Range:
https://cyber.org/range

The Cyber Range Kali machine already has most of the tools students need and allows access to cybersecurity sites that are often blocked by school filters. Approval isn’t instant, so schools should plan to apply at least a week ahead.

Also, the flyer includes more than just tool requirements. It has links to a range of CTF practice sites and labs that students can use to prepare for the Garden State CTF.

Let us know if you have any questions, we're here to help!

Garden State Cyber Steering Committee

Garden State Cyber curriculum was created through a collaboration of NJ teachers and CS4NJ