Have you attended a conferences holding a Capture the Flag competition and wondered why someone would spend hours huddled around their computers playing instead of enjoying the conference? Have you considered playing but not sure your skills are up to par or that you would even know how to play? In the 5 Ws of CTF’s we will break things down the way we did in grade school by answering the who, what, when, where and why of CTFs. We may even delve into the sixth and maybe most important “w” how.