Hands-on Practice

Sites and resources for gaining the most important experience: hands-on practical application.

Capture The Flag (CTF)

In cybersecurity, a Capture The Flag (CTF) is a hands-on competition designed to simulate real-world hacking scenarios. Participant, who are often security professionals, ethical hackers, students, or red teams, attempt to solve technical challenges that test their offensive and/or defensive skills.

Types of CTF Competitions

CTFs can vary in format but typically fall into three main categories:

1. Jeopardy-Style – Players solve challenges in categories like cryptography, reverse engineering, web exploitation, and forensics to earn points.

2. Attack-Defense – Teams defend their own systems while attacking others, simulating real-world red vs. blue team scenarios.

3. Boot2Root / Puzzle-Based – Participants must gain root access to a vulnerable machine or solve multi-step hacking challenges.

CTFs for Cyber Training

For cybersecurity professionals, CTFs provide an opportunity to:

• Practice offensive security techniques like privilege escalation, exploit development, and lateral movement.

• Learn real-world tactics used by adversaries in penetration tests.

• Improve technical agility in areas like reverse engineering malware, bypassing security controls, and social engineering.

• Enhance teamwork in scenarios that mimic cybercriminals and advanced persistent threats (APT).

CTFs are also widely used for cybersecurity education, hiring assessments, and upskilling professionals. Many competitions, such as DEFCON CTF, Hack The Box, and PicoCTF, provide an immersive experience to sharpen security expertise.

Here is a list of some of the more popular platforms for hands-on CTF training:

Site	Description	CTF Type
247CTF	Provides unique challenge instances for each player, eliminating the need for VPNs or shared environments. Players can start, stop, and restart challenges at any time.	Jeopardy-Style
CTFtime	A comprehensive archive of past and upcoming Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions, including team rankings, statistics, and event details.	CTF Aggregator (Tracks multiple formats)
OverTheWire Wargames	Offers a variety of security wargames to help players learn and practice cybersecurity concepts in a structured, gamified environment.	Puzzle-Based / Boot2Root
OverTheWire Warzone	A simulated IPv4 Internet environment where all connected devices are targets for hacking. Players can connect their own vulnerable systems for testing.	Attack-Defense
UnderTheWire	Focuses on Windows PowerShell training through interactive wargames, helping users develop scripting and automation skills.	Jeopardy-Style
Challenges.re	Created by Dennis Yurichev, this site focuses on reverse engineering challenges, complementing his book Reverse Engineering for Beginners.	Jeopardy-Style (Reverse Engineering)
ROP Emporium	Teaches Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) through structured challenges designed to improve exploit development skills.	Puzzle-Based / Exploit Development
PicoCTF	A beginner-friendly CTF competition designed for students, featuring challenges in reverse engineering, cryptography, and web security.	Jeopardy-Style
CTF365	A cyber range where users build and defend their own servers while attacking others, simulating real-world cybersecurity scenarios.	Attack-Defense
Hack The Box	An interactive penetration testing lab with constantly updated challenges, including real-world scenarios and CTF-style puzzles.	Boot2Root / Puzzle-Based
VulnHub	Provides vulnerable virtual machines for hands-on security training, allowing users to practice penetration testing techniques.	Boot2Root / Puzzle-Based
Root Me	Offers a wide variety of security challenges, including web exploitation, cryptanalysis, forensic analysis, and reverse engineering.	Jeopardy-Style
Exploit Education	Formerly Exploit Exercises, this site provides virtual machines and challenges focused on privilege escalation, exploit development, and debugging.	Boot2Root / Exploit Development
Hack This	A platform for learning hacking and network security, featuring challenges that simulate real-world vulnerabilities.	Jeopardy-Style
W3Challs	A real-world hacking challenge platform with no guessing or simulation, covering multiple offensive security topics.	Jeopardy-Style
Pwnable.kr	A pwn-focused wargame site offering challenges related to binary exploitation, reverse engineering, and system hacking.	Boot2Root / Exploit Development
Pwnable.tw	Similar to Pwnable.kr, this site provides binary exploitation challenges with a scoring system based on difficulty.	Boot2Root / Exploit Development

Certifications for Offensive Security Professionals

Certifications are also available from many vendors to validate penetration testing, ethical hacking, and exploit development skills. These certifications help professionals demonstrate their expertise in network security, red teaming, and vulnerability assessment, making them valuable challenges to pursue. These can often help "get you in the door" when applying for jobs.

Below is a table comparing some of the popular offensive security certifications:

Vendor	Certification	Description	Price	Pros	Cons
Offensive Security	OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional)	A hands-on pentesting certification requiring a 24-hour practical exam and report writing. Focused on real-world attack scenarios using Kali Linux.	~$1,599	Highly respected, strong industry recognition, hands-on exam	Extremely challenging, steep learning curve, only "entry level"
Offensive Security	OSCE3 (Offensive Security Certified Expert)	Advanced certification covering exploit development, red teaming, and advanced pentesting techniques.	~$5,499	Deep focus on exploit development, highly respected	Extremely difficult, requires OSCP-level expertise
Offensive Security	OSWE (Offensive Security Web Expert)	Focuses on white-box web application security, requiring candidates to analyze source code and exploit vulnerabilities. The exam is 48 hours long.	~$1,499	Highly specialized in web app security, strong industry recognition	Requires deep knowledge of web application security and coding
TCM Security	PNPT (Practical Network Penetration Tester)	A real-world pentesting exam covering Active Directory exploitation, lateral movement, and report writing.	~$399	Affordable, realistic pentesting scenarios, includes reporting	Less recognized than OSCP, limited advanced exploitation
Pentester Academy	CRTP (Certified Red Team Professional)	Specializes in Active Directory attacks, privilege escalation, and lateral movement techniques.	~$249	Strong Windows AD exploitation focus, affordable	Limited coverage of web and network pentesting
Hack The Box	CPTS (Certified Penetration Testing Specialist)	A hands-on pentesting certification covering network security, Active Directory exploitation, and web application attacks.	~$299	Affordable, practical exam, good for beginners	Less recognized than OSCP, newer certification
GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification)	GXPN (GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester)	Covers exploit development, buffer overflows, and reverse engineering.	~$8,000	Deep focus on exploit development, highly technical	Extremely expensive
eLearnSecurity (INE Security)	CPTS (Certified Penetration Testing Specialist)	Covers network security, web exploitation, and privilege escalation with a practical exam.	~$350	Well-rounded pentesting coverage, hands-on exam	Less industry recognition compared to OSCP
eLearnSecurity (INE Security)	eJPT (eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester)	Entry-level pentesting certification covering network security, web exploitation, and basic enumeration.	~$200	Beginner-friendly, practical exam	Not recognized for senior pentesting roles
Mile2	CPTC (Certified Penetration Testing Consultant)	Focuses on enterprise-level pentesting, including report writing and compliance.	~$1,500	Strong emphasis on consulting and reporting, good for senior roles	Less technical than OSCP, geared toward business-oriented pentesting
International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council)	CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)	Covers ethical hacking fundamentals, tools, and methodologies via a multiple-choice exam.	~$1,199	Well-known globally, only for beginners	Not a practical exam, focuses more on theory than hands-on skills, terrible course material, not worth the price

Thanks

If you like this content and would like to see more, please consider buying me a coffee!