Volume 5
Abstract: As cybersecurity college students prepare for the workforce, competing in cybersecurity competitions such as the National Cyber League continues to be a popular and growing endeavor. This research discusses the development of a brand-new undergraduate cybersecurity course ‘Competitions in Cybersecurity’ where students practiced in eleven online Capture-the-Flag (CTF) or similar cybersecurity learning platforms throughout the semester. Students completed an assessment of each online practice website. This research highlights the assessment results regarding which of the eleven websites were enjoyable, easy to get started, and believed to be applicable to prepare for National Cyber League (NCL) competitions. This research also identified multiple websites that students found to be challenging to get started and/or were not applicable to NCL preparation. Furthermore, this research noted eight of the eighteen students who successfully completed this course showed significant improvements within their National Cyber League Individual Game placements within the same semester and/or following semester. This research noticed that platform satisfaction and perspective differed between the eight students who showed significant NCL improvement and the other students who did not show as much significant improvement. Download this article: CPPJ - V5 N2 Page 78.pdf Recommended Citation: Grech, B.P., (2026). Evaluating Eleven Online CTF Platforms for Undergraduate Cybersecurity Competition Preparation. Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practice Journal 5(2) pp 78-103. https://doi.org/10.62273/FWOS1592 | ||||||