The Professional Network for Cyber Security in NITO, together with VOLT Linjeforening , is organizing a CTF (Capture The Flag) during DeltaCon 2026.
It takes place on Friday 11 September at 14–18 at the Student House at USN Campus Vestfold in Borre. It is open and free for everyone (you do not have to be a student at USN Vestfold to join), food will be served along the way, and you do not need any prior knowledge to join. The number of places is limited, so sign up well in advance.
NITO's professional network for Cyber Security's CTF has been run twice under Kongsberg Agenda (2025 and 2026), and this edition of NITO CTF has been further developed with new tasks.
What is a CTF?
Capture the Flag (CTF) is a competition in ethical hacking. You are given a series of tasks, each of which hides a "flag" – a short string of text that you find by solving the task. The flag is pasted into the competition system, you get points, and a leaderboard shows you how things are going.
The tasks are run in a closed practice environment that is designed to be broken into. There is an important difference from reality: testing the security of systems you have not been given permission to test is illegal. A CTF gives you a place where you can learn the techniques in a safe and legal way.
Typical task categories under a CTF:
- Web – find weaknesses in websites and APIs, such as inadequate access control or input validation.
- Cryptography – cracking weak or incorrectly used encryption, encoding, and hash values.
- Digital forensics – look for traces in files, logs, and disk images.
- Network analysis – read a traffic record and find what should not be there.
- Steganography – information that is hidden inside images, audio files, or documents.
- Reverse engineering – find out what a program actually does, without having the source code.
- OSINT – open sources: information that is freely available, but well hidden.
Our CTF is run in a so-called jeopardy format. This means that the tasks are open in a set of categories with increasing difficulty, and that you are free to choose which ones you want to attempt. More difficult tasks give more points.
How much do you need to know?
Smaller than you think. The question set is composed of several levels: the simplest tasks can be solved by anyone who is willing to try things out and read the question text carefully, while the most difficult ones provide something to try out even for experienced ones. You will go a long way with curiosity, patience and systematics.
It's also perfectly fine to stand firm. That's part of it, and that's part of the point.
Alone or in a team?
You can participate solo or in teams of up to five people. We recommend teams – you see different things, and it is more social. If you do not have a team in advance, we will help you find someone to sit with when we start at 2 pm.
Important rule: No use of AI/AI
It is not allowed to use artificial intelligence during the competition. Participants and teams who are caught using AI tools will be disqualified.
The reason is simple: the point is that you should learn the techniques yourself. Safety engineer Lillie Rugtveit has compared it to the fact that chess engines do not belong in a chess tournament - see kode24's article on the matter.
Of course, you are allowed to use search engines, documentation and common tools. The rules are reviewed together before the competition starts.
Collaboration with VOLT Linjeforening
This CTF is a collaboration between NITO and VOLT Linjeforening at USN Vestfold, and is part of the student event DeltaConUSN 2026. We thank you for the invitation and the collaboration!
DeltaConUSN runs for four weeks from 10 September to 2 October 2026 and consists of lectures, workshops, company visits and social events. Everything is free and open to everyone at USN Campus Vestfold.
Practical info:
- Food and mineral water will be served along the way
- Place: Vestfold Student Society, Raveien 201, 3184 Borre (map view)
- Registration takes place at VOLT Linjeforening, which also sends out more specific information
Program
Raymond Kristiansen
Project Manager
