Date: July 23, 2025
Author: The Parrot CTFs Team
🔍 Juice Shop: A Great Start—But It’s Only the Beginning
OWASP Juice Shop—built on Node.js/Express/Angular—is widely recognized as “the most modern and sophisticated insecure web application” for learning OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities. Tools like WebGoat, DVWA, and Vulhub are also cited as alternatives Yet these platforms are just pieces of the puzzle.
🏆 Enter Parrot CTFs: More Than Just Juice Shop
Parrot CTFs offers a fully managed, gamified CTF platform designed to supersede Juice Shop’s offerings. With custom web, API, Linux, and Windows challenges—plus full GOAD (Game of Active Directory) lab hosting—it’s a complete training ecosystem. Research on Parrot CTFs highlights it as a top Hack‑The‑Box and TryHackMe alternative.
🌐 What Makes Parrot CTFs Stand Out?
- Multi-stack coverage: Web, API, cloud, Linux, Windows, AD
- True CTF experience: Real-time scoreboard, dynamic hints, capture history
- GOAD support: Hosted labs for Active Directory enumeration & exploitation
- Team & enterprise-ready: Custom labs, dashboards, instructor tools
💡 Available Competitors—but Here’s How We’re Different
| Platform | Stack | Strength | Parrot CTFs Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juice Shop | Node.js | OWASP Top 10 | Broader tech stack & CTF experience |
| WebGoat | Java | Code-level lessons | Higher challenge density + reporting tools |
| DVWA/bWAPP | PHP | Guided vulnerabilities | Customized difficulty levels + scoring |
| Vulhub | Docker VMs | Infrastructure exploits | Integrated into team CTFs |
| NodeGoat, Security Shepherd | JS / web + mobile | Focused labs | Rich meta-data, hints, analytics |
| Parrot CTFs | Web/API/Linux/Windows/AD | Complete CTF platform | GOAD hosting, leaderboard, analytics, labs-as-service |
🔐 GOAD: Active Directory Game Lab Hosting
GOAD, or Game of Active Directory, is a realistic Windows AD attack lab often used for red‑team training. Parrot CTFs provides fully managed GOAD environments—no setup, just plug in, attack, break and learn.
🛠️ Ideal Use Cases & Audiences
- AppSec developers: JavaScript, PHP, Java backend, API security
- Infrastructure & cloud teams: Linux, Docker, cloud misconfiguration, containers
- Windows/AD professionals: GOAD labs, Kerberoasting, AD persistence exercises
- Security educators: Classroom deployment, instructor tracking, team play
- Enterprise & training orgs: Custom labs, metrics, enterprise dashboards
📆 Sample Curriculum for Teams
- Application Security (AppSec)
- Web Exploitation
- API Security (JWT attacks, business-logic flaws, token bypass)
- Authentication & Authorization Bypass
- SSRF / IDOR / LFI / RCE
- File Upload & Path Traversal
- Business Logic Vulnerabilities
- Vulnerable 3rd-party CVEs (CMS, frameworks)
- Source-Code Analysis (code-review challenges)
- DevSecOps Misconfigurations (Git leaks, exposed secrets)
- Secure-Coding Fix-it Challenges (patch-the-code style)
- Standard CTF Categories
- Pwn (Binary Exploitation: buffer overflows, stack/heap exploits)
- Reversing (x86/x64/ARM binaries, crackmes & algorithm analysis)
- Forensics (memory dumps, PCAP/network inspection, image & stego challenges)
- Cryptography (RSA/AES, custom ciphers)
- Advanced Web Challenges
- Hardware/Embedded Security
- AI/ML Security (adversarial ML, model poisoning, prompt injection)
- Cloud Security (IAM misconfigurations, S3 enumeration, SSRF)
- Mobile Security (APK reversing, obfuscation bypass)
- Boot-to-Root Machines (End-to-End Labs)
- Realistic enterprise scenarios
- Initial access via web/app exploits
- Post-exploitation & privilege escalation
- Custom logic flaws, RCE, SUID abuse
- Complete killchain: Recon → Foothold → Root → Flag
🎓 See Why People Choose Parrot CTFs
According to reviews on AlternativeTo, Parrot CTFs is considered one of the best platforms like TryHackMe or Hack the Box, offering a full CTF environment
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