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FAQs

Who We Are

Slug Security is a student organization at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Founded to build a community of hackers in the growing world of cybersecurity. We believe anyone can hack, not just computer science majors, but anyone with the passion to break things apart and peek behind the curtain.

Our goal is to keep things open and interesting. Experienced members bring what they know, sharing real insights and cutting through the noise to guide new members. We break down the best parts of cybersecurity, showing why it’s worth the hype.

Here, anyone with curiosity can jump in, make new friends, get hands-on with hacking, and find their way. No gatekeeping, just real talk and real skills.

What We Do

Think workshops, social gatherings, and some serious (but fun) competitions. We run hands-on hacking sessions, from capture-the-flag challenges to live demos on topics like reverse engineering and pen-testing. We keep most club events open to everyone, no matter their experience.

For specifics, here’s what we’re doing:

  • Interest Groups: Not into hardware and just want to hack servers? Find your people in one of our focus groups
  • Competitions: Taking on the big leagues in national and international competitions
    • MITRE eCTF (embedded Capture the Flag Competition)
    • NSA Codebreaker Challenge
    • CCDC (National Cyber Defense Competition)
  • Practice: Weekly meetups to experiment, learn new techniques, and get hands-on with different tools
    • Interest Group Workshops
    • CCDC Working Sessions
    • Capture the Flag (CTF) practice
  • Club Projects: Applied hacking work, tackling real security challenges
    • Bug bounty programs that pay students to hack and secure companies
    • Working to secure real university systems
    • Building a cyber range to safely emulate vulnerable networks for practice

How to Get Involved

It's easy to get involved, we have no set commitment requirements. Just show up to our events and participate in our activities. If you're interested in formally joining, please visit our join page for more information.

What Is a CTF Competition

Capture The Flags, or CTFs, are a kind of computer security competition. Teams of competitors (or just individuals) are pitted against each other in a test of computer security skills.

More information can be found at CTFd's "What's a CTF?".

I'm Not a CS Major

No worries! We gladly welcome anyone interested in learning about computer security, regardless of their major. In fact, we have an economics major on our CTF team!

Topics We Cover

Our club explores a diverse array of cybersecurity topics, such as web security, reverse engineering, cryptography, forensics, and beyond. We design our workshops and events to be both informative and engaging while addressing fundamental and advanced subjects to cater to various skill levels.