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Facebook Open-Sources Capture the Flag Competition Platform As It Encourages Students (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the open-source-ftw dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Facebook announced today that it is making its gamified security training platform called Capture the Flag (CTF) open source in an effort to encourage students and developers to learn about online security and bugs. The platform, which is popular at hacker conventions such as Def Con, pits different teams of hackers against one another. The social juggernaut itself has run CTF competitions at events across the world."By open sourcing our platform, schools, student groups, and organizations across all skill levels can now host competitions, practice sessions, and conferences of their own to teach computer science and security skills," wrote Gulshan Singh, a software engineer on Facebook's threat infrastructure team. "We're also releasing a small repository of challenges that can be used immediately upon request (to prevent cheating)."

13 comments

  1. Open Source the Facebook Trending News Curator by Baldrson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Facebook should get their priorities straight about open source.

    --
    Seastead this.
    1. Re:Open Source the Facebook Trending News Curator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      troll harder

    2. Re:Open Source the Facebook Trending News Curator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where in the GPL does it say you're not allowed to use the software to encourage partisanship? Are you sure "open source" means what you think it does?

  2. This is terrible by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    If Facebook encourages students then those same students are going to take my job!

    -theodp

  3. I've got a fever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "By open sourcing our platform, schools, student groups, and organizations across all skill levels can now host competitions, practice sessions, and conferences of their own to teach computer science and security skills,"

    And there's only one thing that can cure it: more commas.

    Then Will Ferrel proceeds to passive aggressively type commas at the other members of the security team.

    1. Re:I've got a fever by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry that commas are confusing. Here, maybe this will help.

      Slide 1:
      OPEN SOURCING OUR PLATFORM

      Slide 2:
      * Schools
      * Student Groups
      * Organizations

      ...ACROSS ALL SKILL LEVELS!

      Slide 3:
      HOST YOUR OWN:
      * Competitions
      * Practice sessions
      * Conferences

      Slide 4:
      TEACH SKILLS:
      * Computer Science
      * Security

      Slide 5:
      <happy music video>

  4. Learn slaves, learn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then when you all know it you can be paid pennies on the dollar!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

    1. Re:Learn slaves, learn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everyone should save their pennies. A storm is coming.

  5. Try playing cowboys and indians instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When men were men...

  6. What happened to the NASA article?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What happened to the story that just was here a few minutes ago, about NASA releasing a bunch of previously-patented technologies?

    Cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bt0-T-YmkL0J:https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/05/11/1546231/nasa-releases-56-patents-into-the-public-domain-for-commercial-use+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

    Linked article: http://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-releases-56-patents-into-the-public-domain/

    It was quite a fascinating story, especially the multiplayer VR alpha-wave-biofeedback game idea.

  7. So long as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those students aren't Conservative and or express Conservative views right?

  8. CTF Code by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since the /. editors are asleep at the wheel once again and forgot to include a link to the code... https://github.com/facebook/fbctf

    I miss the /. of 1999.

    1. Re:CTF Code by 8086 · · Score: 1

      You can't blame them for not posting something that anyone who needs it can find through the article/google, and you can't blame them for being lazy when you yourself are too lazy to post an anchor tag around that link. I miss the /. of 1999 too, but what we have now is much better than what we had a year ago.