About University
Ibn Tofaïl University is a public university located in Kénitra, Morocco. The university offers a wide range of academic and research programs across science, technology, engineering, and other disciplines.
As part of its cybersecurity education initiatives, the university focuses on providing students with opportunities to go beyond theoretical learning and develop practical skills through hands-on experience.
To support this approach, the cybersecurity team at the university introduced Simulations Labs as part of its practical learning activities and the delivery of Silent Breach CTF 2026.
Challenges
Cybersecurity education requires more than lectures and theoretical coursework.
While students may understand concepts such as vulnerabilities, cryptography, cloud security, or malware analysis in the classroom, they also need opportunities to investigate systems, experiment with different approaches, make mistakes, and solve real cybersecurity problems.
To achieve this, the university needed:
Bridging Theory and Practice
Students needed a practical environment where they could apply cybersecurity concepts directly instead of only studying them through lectures and course materials.
Supporting Different Skill Levels
The university wanted to provide activities suitable for learners with different levels of cybersecurity experience, ranging from introductory exercises to advanced technical challenges.
Combining Learning with Practice
Rather than delivering a traditional CTF competition, the university wanted participants to study cybersecurity concepts before applying their knowledge through related hands-on exercises.
Remote Accessibility
The university needed a solution that would allow students and participants to access cybersecurity activities remotely without requiring complex laboratory infrastructure or difficult technical setup on their own machines.
Solution
Ibn Tofaïl University used Simulations Labs to build and deliver Silent Breach CTF 2026, a 100% online educational cybersecurity experience.
The solution included:
Educational Content and Hands-On Challenges
The university combined educational materials with practical cybersecurity challenges, allowing participants to first study a concept and then apply their knowledge through related exercises.
This approach helped transform Silent Breach from a traditional CTF competition into a structured cybersecurity learning experience.
More Than 100 Challenges and Labs
The university developed 100+ cybersecurity challenges and hands-on labs covering multiple cybersecurity domains, including:
- Web Security
- Network Security
- Cloud Security
- Cryptography
- Secure Coding
- Digital Forensics
- Malware Reverse Engineering
- Mobile Security
- OSINT
The activities were designed with multiple difficulty levels, ranging from easy challenges for beginners to more advanced scenarios for experienced participants.
Flexible Challenge Design
Simulations Labs gave the university flexibility to create different types of cybersecurity activities.
The team developed downloadable analysis challenges alongside dynamic hands-on labs for areas such as web security and cloud security.
This flexibility allowed organizers to design activities based on the learning objectives and technical requirements of each cybersecurity domain.
Fully Online Cybersecurity Experience
By delivering Silent Breach through Simulations Labs, the university was able to make the program accessible remotely.
Participants could engage with educational content, practical labs, and cybersecurity challenges without the need to build or maintain complex cybersecurity lab environments on their own devices.
Continuous Improvement Through Participant Feedback
Running the competition also allowed the organizing team to collect feedback and continuously improve the learning experience.
Participant feedback helped the university review challenges and refine areas such as difficulty, fairness, challenge design, and learning objectives.
Outcome
The response to Silent Breach was encouraging from the beginning.
Within the first few days of launching the platform, more than 140 participants had already joined the program, with new participants continuing to register and engage with the challenges and learning content.
The initiative helped:
- Engage 140+ participants within the first few days
- Deliver 100+ cybersecurity challenges and hands-on labs
- Cover 9 major cybersecurity domains
- Provide activities for multiple skill levels, from beginner to advanced
- Bridge the gap between theoretical cybersecurity education and practical application
- Combine educational content with hands-on cybersecurity exercises
- Deliver a fully online and accessible cybersecurity learning experience
- Continuously improve challenge quality based on participant feedback
By leveraging Simulations Labs, Ibn Tofaïl University was able to create an educational cybersecurity environment where participants could learn a concept, practice it in a controlled environment, and test their skills through increasingly challenging exercises.
Customer Quote
"The most valuable aspect of Simulations Labs for us is the ability to transform cybersecurity concepts into practical experiences. Instead of only explaining a vulnerability in a lecture, we can give students an environment where they have to identify it, understand why it exists, and determine how it can be exploited or mitigated.
My recommendation to other universities would be not to use the platform only for competitions. It becomes much more valuable when challenges are connected to clear learning objectives and educational content. Students can first understand a concept, practice it in a controlled environment, and then test their skills through increasingly difficult challenges.
For us, this approach has helped turn Silent Breach into not only a CTF competition, but also an educational cybersecurity experience."
Pr. Akram Chhaybi
Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity
Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University
