The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, together with other regional and international organisations, organised and hosted for the first time the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC). The event took place from 14th to 17th June 2022, in Athens. The aim of the challenge was to attract young talent and raise awareness in the community, globally, on the education and skills needed in the area of cybersecurity. The winner of the ICC 2022 was Team Europe, composed of representatives from 12 countries. The two captains of the team were Nuno Sabino, Técnico PhD student and CMU researcher (under the CMU Portugal Program), and Danique Lummen (The Netherlands).

The competition brought together a total of 105 participants, from 65 different countries, divided into seven teams representing Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Oceania and the United States of America. “Each region selected its best team of 15 participants to compete in the final event that took place in Athens”, explained Nuno Sabino. Pedro Adão, Técnico professor (Department of Computer Science and Engineering – DEI) and coordinator of STT – the Security Team @Técnico, shares “It’s a wonderful feeling! It was great to compete in the ICC 2022 with all the other great teams from all over the world”.

“Professor Pedro Adão played a fundamental role in the team’s training, in the strategy and development of tools for a successful performance in the Attack & Defence challenges”, says Nuno Sabino. Some challenges faced by the participants included exploiting web applications and systems, cryptography, reverse engineering, hardware and Attack & Defence challenges.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to train the Team Europe, along with 4 other colleagues of different nationalities, and to supervise these 55 young talents from 21 different countries during this long training and selection process, culminating in success, in Athens,” shared professor Pedro Adão.

“The fact that we have Nuno Sabino in the final team proves not only to the quality of our training in Computer Science and Engineering (Undergraduate and Master Programmes), but also reflects the investment we have made since 2014 in our team”, says professor Pedro Adão. “It should be a source of pride for DEI, Técnico, and also for Portugal, as it demonstrates that we have top cybersecurity talents in our country”, he adds.