The 7th edition of the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) was successfully completed by Team Germany, followed by Poland and Italy. The event was organised in the beautiful city of Prague
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) congratulates the winners of the competition ending today who have shown such passionate engagement.
From 28th September to 1st October, the European Finals in Prague were supported by the Czech Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education. The Director General of Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) at the European Commission Mr Mario Campolargo presented the awards to the winning teams:
- 1st place: Germany
- 2nd place: Poland
- 3rd place: Italy
ENISA takes this opportunity to warmly thank the Czech Republic for their cooperation and support in hosting and organising the event. ENISA wishes to express its gratitude to all the community and experts who contributed to make the Challenge an even bigger and more engaging event every year.
Juhan Lepassaar, EU Agency for Cybersecurity Executive Director said: “The cybersecurity capacity of the Union heavily relies on a workforce adequate in size and equipped with the right knowledge and skills. The European Cybersecurity Challenge encourages cybersecurity careers and attracts the young talent needed tomorrow to ensure the continuity of the EU efforts dedicated to the cybersecurity of our digital space.”
The event in a nutshell
The event was the opportunity to gather 271 participants including 163 contestants supervised by the teams’ coaches and steering committee members, coming from 19 countries including EU Member States and EFTA countries.
Participating countries included Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.
For the first time ever, the event featured the presence of Canada and Slovakia as guests and of Norway and Estonia as observers.
European Cybersecurity Month
The winners of the competition will now be designated as ambassadors for the European Cybersecurity Month https://cybersecuritymonth.eu/ campaign starting today. Selected members of the ECSC winning team will also be offered the possibility to experience a traineeship at ENISA.
The European Cybersecurity Month campaign this year is organised around two themes: “Being Cyber Secure from Home” and “First Aid”.
How were the competitors challenged?
Participants had to solve security-related challenges from domains such as web and mobile security, crypto puzzles, reverse engineering, forensics to test their abilities and challenge their different cybersecurity-related skills in escape rooms.
This year’s edition featured the introduction of a new activity to allow participants from different teams, hence from different nationalities, to work together on international cooperation.
In 2022, ENISA will organise the first International Cybersecurity Challenge in Athens, Greece. More details on this competition will be published on ENISA website.
#CyberBecause
Launched on 7 September, the #CyberBecause campaign aims to promote cybersecurity careers and provide role models for young people. There is more to cybersecurity than simply hacking – and what’s more, anyone can forge a career in cybersecurity, regardless of background.
The number of cybersecurity professionals needs to grow by 89% globally just to meet the current demand. Yet careers in cybersecurity are far more diverse than many people think.
A cybersecurity career can take many avenues and can expand beyond technical skills whether IT, engineering, finance, law, communications, policy or any other fields.
Using the #CyberBecause hashtag, we encourage all cybersecurity professionals to share their story of how they started their career and education.
Let’s meet again next year!
The 2022 edition of the European Cybersecurity Challenge will take place in Vienna, Austria. Stay tuned on the ECSC website.
Background
In a world, that is changing fast, young people hold the key to innovation. The ENISA European Cyber Security Challenge was born out of this philosophy to encourage young people to pursue a career in cybersecurity.
The European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) is an annual exercise, coordinated by the European Union Agency for cybersecurity. The event offers a platform for young cyber talents across Europe to gather and engage in networking over a unique opportunity to experience cooperation in trying to resolve a cybersecurity problem.
The ECSC is intended to encourage young people to pursue a career in cybersecurity, by challenging and developing the participants’ skills needed in such extreme situations and connecting them with industry.
Supported by the European Commission and EU Member States, the ECSC falls within the skills chapter of the EU Cyber Security Strategy for the Digital Decade and the NIS Directive.
Further information
ECSC website - European Cybersecurity Challenge
ECSC 2021 dedicated website - ecsc2021.cz
ENISA topic – European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC)
ENISA report - Cybersecurity Skills Development in the EU
News Item – launch of the #CyberBecause campaign – Prague hosts a meeting of the best European talents in cybersecurity
Contacts:
For questions related to the press and interviews, please contact press(at)enisa.europa.eu
Contact
For press questions and interviews, please contact: press@enisa.europa.eu.