European Cybersecurity Challenge

European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC)
StatusActive
GenreCTF Competition
FrequencyAnnual
VenueVaries (within Europe)
Location(s)Europe
Years active10
InauguratedNovember 3, 2014 (2014-11-03)[1]
Previous eventOctober 7–11, 2024
Next eventOctober, 2025[2]
Organised byENISA
Websiteecsc.eu

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 10 players under the age of 25 including 5 under 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 ?
2015 6 Lucerne, Switzerland Austria
2016 10 Düsseldorf, Germany Spain
2017 15 Malaga, 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]
  1. ^ a b "ECSC Lessons Learned Report". Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  2. ^ "Germany wins first place in the European Cybersecurity Challenge 2024". Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  3. ^ Therkildsen, Frederik (10 October 2024). "Jens Myrup Pedersens serviet-matematik spår en medalje er i sigtekornet til EM i cybersikkerhed". Computerworld. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  4. ^ Middleton, Sam (31 October 2017). "UK's best young cyber talent representing Britain in 2017 European Cyber Security Challenge". FE News. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  5. ^ Darmody, Jenny (16 September 2021). "Meet the students representing Ireland in 'the Eurovision of cybersecurity'". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b "ECSC: The 'Eurovision' of Cyber Security". TU Wien Informatics. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  7. ^ "ECSC Past Editions". ECSC. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Another successful edition of the European Cyber Security Challenge concluded in Romania". ENISA. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Germany wins the European Cybersecurity Challenge". ENISA. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  10. ^ Scerri, Matthew. "Team Malta at the 2022 European Cyber Security Challenge in Vienna". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Hurrah for Denmark top winner of the 2022 European Cybersecurity Challenge". ENISA. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Germany wins the 2023 European Cybersecurity Challenge". ENISA. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Switzerland shines at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2023". SwissCyberStorm. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Cybersecurity: The Italian national team of "good hackers" prepares for the European Championships". Agenzia Nova. Agenzia Nova. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Germany wins first place in the European Cybersecurity Challenge 2024". Retrieved 5 November 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. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  17. ^ gregor.gruber (2024-10-13). "Europameisterschaft im Hacken: So hat Österreich abgeschnitten". futurezone.at (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-07.