Enhancing Vocational Cybersecurity Competencies Through Capture-The-Flag-Based Technical Evaluation: A Community Engagement Experience from the Central Jakarta Regional LKS

Anrie Suryaningrat (Informatics Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, Dian Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Amsal Eka Aditya Purba (Informatics Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, Dian Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Revalina Djawana (Informatics Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, Dian Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia)

Abdimas Umtas : Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat
Vol. 9 No. 3 (2026): ABDIMAS UMTAS: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat

Upgrading practical security skills in secondary vocational education requires an accurate assessment of how students handle live network threats. Faculty members from the informatics engineering department joined the regional Vocational Student Competition (LKS) in Central Jakarta as external judges to evaluate student performance. Testing took place via a 150-minute Jeopardy-style Capture The Flag (CTF) setup involving 8 school teams, with each team containing two students. Logs from the platform backend and manual inspection sheets served as primary data sources. Analysis of the final scores showed that while every team handled baseline scanning tasks successfully, advanced challenge phases exposed clear limits in manual vulnerability analysis. Specifically, only 3 teams successfully captured the final flag due to an over-reliance on automated tool scripts. Providing direct, immediate post-incident feedback helps vocational schools alter their laboratory designs, shifting from static manuals toward open-ended troubleshooting environments.