picoCTF

picoCTF is Carnegie Mellon University's free, online capture-the-flag cybersecurity competition. Participants reverse engineer programs, decrypt data, exploit intentionally vulnerable systems, investigate digital artifacts, and solve web and cryptography challenges to capture flags. The 2026 competition ran March 9–19 after registration from February 1 through March 16. The official U.S. middle/high-school scoreboard accepts solo competitors or teams of up to five, while other learners may still play for practice and learning.