European Cybersecurity Challenge

From HandWiki
Short description: European Cybersecurity CTF Competition


European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC)
StatusActive
GenreCTF Competition
FrequencyAnnual
VenueVaries (within Europe)
Location(s)Europe
Years active11
InauguratedNovember 3, 2014 (2014-11-03)[1]
Previous eventOctober 6–9, 2025[2]
Next eventUnknown
Organised byENISA
Websiteecsc.eu
Cybersecurity Challenge 2025, Arena COS Torwar, Warsaw, Poland
Cybersecurity Challenge 2025, Arena COS Torwar, Warsaw, Poland

The European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) is an annual cybersecurity competition organized by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). The event aims to foster young talent in the field of cybersecurity by bringing together teams of young individuals from various European countries to compete in solving cybersecurity-related challenges. The challenge days are usually split between the two popular CTF formats: jeopardy and attack-defense.[3] Teams consist of at most 10 players under the age of 25, at most 5 of them over the age of 20. Each country runs national qualifiers and competitions as part of the selection process.[4] It has been described as "the Eurovision of cybersecurity".[5][6]

Previous Events[7]
Year Number of Official Teams Location Winner
2014 3[1] Fürstenfeld, Austria Austria
2015 6 Lucerne, Switzerland Austria
2016 10 Düsseldorf, Germany Spain
2017 15 Málaga, Spain Spain
2018 17 London, United Kingdom Germany
2019 20 Bucharest, Romania Romania[8]
2021 19 Prague, Czech Republic Germany[9]
2022 28 Vienna, Austria[6][10] Denmark[11]
2023 28 Hamar, Norway Germany[12][13]
2024 31 Turin, Italy[14] Germany[15][16][17]
2025 34 Warsaw, Poland Italy [18]
2026 to be announced Bochum, Germany[19] to be declared

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "ECSC Lessons Learned Report". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/the-european-cyber-security-challenge-lessons-learned-report/@@download/fullReport. 
  2. ECSC. "ECSC" (in en). https://ecsc.eu/. 
  3. Therkildsen, Frederik (10 October 2024). "Jens Myrup Pedersens serviet-matematik spår en medalje er i sigtekornet til EM i cybersikkerhed". Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.dk/art/288960/jens-myrup-pedersens-serviet-matematik-spaar-en-medalje-er-i-sigtekornet-til-em-i-cybersikkerhed. 
  4. Middleton, Sam (31 October 2017). "UK's best young cyber talent representing Britain in 2017 European Cyber Security Challenge". FE News. https://www.fenews.co.uk/skills/uk-s-best-young-cyber-talent-representing-britain-in-2017-european-cyber-security-challenge/. 
  5. Darmody, Jenny (16 September 2021). "Meet the students representing Ireland in 'the Eurovision of cybersecurity'". Silicon Republic. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/ecsc-cybersecurity-eurovision-competition. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 "ECSC: The 'Eurovision' of Cyber Security" (in en). https://informatics.tuwien.ac.at/news/2291. 
  7. "ECSC Past Editions". ECSC. https://ecsc.eu/past-editions. 
  8. "Another successful edition of the European Cyber Security Challenge concluded in Romania". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/enisa-news/another-successful-edition-of-the-european-cyber-security-challenge-concluded-in-romania. 
  9. "Germany wins the European Cybersecurity Challenge". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/enisa-news/winner-of-the-european-cybersecurity-challenge. 
  10. Scerri, Matthew. "Team Malta at the 2022 European Cyber Security Challenge in Vienna" (in en). MaltaToday.com.mt. https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/announcements/announcements/128903/team_malta_at_the_2022_european_cyber_security_challenge_in_vienna. 
  11. "Hurrah for Denmark top winner of the 2022 European Cybersecurity Challenge". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/hurrah-for-denmark-top-winner-of-the-2022-european-cybersecurity-challenge. 
  12. "Germany wins the 2023 European Cybersecurity Challenge". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/germany-wins-the-2023-european-cybersecurity-challenge. 
  13. "Switzerland shines at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2023". SwissCyberStorm. 27 October 2023. https://www.swisscyberstorm.com/2023/10/27/switzerland-shines-at-the-european-cyber-security-challenge-2023/. 
  14. "Cybersecurity: The Italian national team of "good hackers" prepares for the European Championships" (in en). Agenzia Nova. Agenzia Nova. 10 September 2024. https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/cybersecurity-the-italian-national-team-of-good-hackers-prepares-for-the-europeans/. 
  15. "Germany wins first place in the European Cybersecurity Challenge 2024". https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/germany-wins-first-place-in-the-european-cybersecurity-challenge-2024. 
  16. Therkildsen, Frederik (11 October 2024). "Danmark må nøjes med en fjerdeplads til EM i cybersikkerhed: "Danmark har vist vi stadig kan gnubbe skuldre med de allerstørste"". Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.dk/art/288992/danmark-maa-noejes-med-en-fjerdeplads-til-em-i-cybersikkerhed-danmark-har-vist-vi-stadig-kan-gnubbe-skuldre-med-de-allerstoerste. 
  17. gregor.gruber (2024-10-13). "Europameisterschaft im Hacken: So hat Österreich abgeschnitten" (in de). https://futurezone.at/digital-life/europameisterschaft-ecsc2024-ergebnis-team-austria-hacken-it-security-openecsc/402962235. 
  18. "Let's Cheer for ITALY Winner of the 2025 European Cybersecurity Challenge!". 26 June 2025. https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/lets-cheer-for-the-winner-of-the-2025-european-cybersecurity-challenge. 
  19. "Germany to Host the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) 2026 in Bochum" (in en). 2026-02-23. https://ecsc2026.de/news/ecsc-2026-bochum.