Feature Events
Every year, the amazing folks at BSides Ottawa put together a wide variety of featured events, including our famous Capture-the-Flag (CTF), various dynamic villages, and other interactive features, such as career fairs, escape rooms, and tabletop exercises. Below, you can learn about some of the featured events we’ve hosted at BSides Ottawa in the past, made possible by volunteers and our generous sponsors.
Interested in volunteering? Check out our CFV Want to be a Feature Sponsor? Take a look at our Feature Sponsorship Packages while they’re still up for grabs.
Capture the Flag
As Forrest Gump once said, life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get. The same is true for our famous CTF, although what we do know, is that this event consistently challenges even the brightest minds to try harder and team up with others to solve puzzles, pop boxes, and capture the elusive flags, while also providing a diversity of challenges that is rewarding and engaging even for beginners.
The CTF is generally open from 9:00am – 5:30pm both days.
Lockpick Village
Presented by TOOOL Ottawa
Giving keyless entry a different meaning…
New or experienced, come learn how lock picking works, and try it yourself on a variety of practice locks leading to progressively more challenging locks. TOOOL Ottawa reminds everyone to never pick a lock you do not have permission to open, and never pick a lock you depend on. This village has plenty of locks, cuffs and challenges to satisfy your curiosity so you need not be tempted to practice on your own door locks, with friendly people nearby to help and encourage you.
Lock picking is a rewarding experience and in under and hour many people are able to master the techniques and get the thrill of opening some of the most common padlocks available. Other hands on training will include lock pinning, handcuffs and bypass tools.
Embedded Systems Village
Embedded systems exist at the intersection of hardware and software, built to accomplish a specific task. Often these disciplines are dealt with individually, but understanding the custom relationships between hardware and software is key to performing security research on these devices.
Embedded Systems Village advances the security of embedded systems by hosting hands-on hacking workshops, showcasing new security research demos, and organizing exciting hacking contests to educate attendees and manufacturers on the approach hackers use to attack these devices.
Blue Team Village
Step into the world of cyber resilience at the Blue Team Village, where your expertise in detection, investigation, and response is key. This immersive experience is designed to challenge your ability to uncover hidden threats, analyze complex incidents, and piece together the story behind cyber intrusions. You’ll work alongside like-minded professionals, applying cutting-edge techniques in digital forensics and incident response to real-world scenarios. Whether you’re experienced in blue teaming or eager to enhance your skills, the Blue Team Village offers a hands-on environment where your investigative instincts and analytical prowess will shine.
Policy Village
Policy Village is not about corporate policies such as Acceptable Use Policy… Nor is it about implementing technical controls or anything like that. Rather, it’s about understanding the ways that policies at the government level affect the world of cybersecurity, and what we can do to get involved in policy-making. Whether you’re a cybersecurity professional, casual hacker, or enthusiast of politics, this track offers a lot to think about, and some ideas to take home. See the attached video from 2024 for more details.
Career Fair
The BSides Ottawa Career Fair is an expo-style event where potential employers and employees to get to know each other in person, to ask questions, and—in some cases—even to start the application process. Whether you’re just getting your feet wet or are a battle-hardened cybersec ninja, come to the fair either or both days and see what shakes out.
Cybersecurity Escape Room
Put your wits to the test in our immersive Cybersecurity Escape Room challenge! This high-stakes experience transports you to the heart of a live cyber crisis. Work against the clock to crack codes, outsmart threat actors, and unravel security puzzles designed to push your critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills to the limit. With every clue unlocked and every challenge conquered, you’ll come closer to securing your organization’s virtual perimeter and escaping to victory. Are you ready to face the threats and emerge as a hero? Can you beat the hack?
The escape room is generally open 9:00am – 5:30pm both days.
Interactive Tabletop
Test your resilience and strategic thinking with our immersive tabletop exercises, designed to challenge both technical and leadership skills in real-world cyber crisis scenarios.