The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), together with sponsors including ISACA, created and hosted the first International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) in Athens, Greece from 14-17 June this year. This challenge was designed to attract young talent in the cybersecurity community and to bring global attention to the education and skills needed in cybersecurity professions.
Competing in challenges about web application and system exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, hardware and attack/defense, teams from seven regions across the globe participated in the first ICC this month: Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Oceania and the United States. Team Europe took home the victory for ICC 2022 by solving the most challenges, followed by Team Asia in second place and Team USA in third.
ISACA Chief Global Strategy Officer Chris Dimitriadis was onsite at the event, and he was able to congratulate the ISACA Award winners on Team Asia, who were champions in the attack/defense competition. ISACA Athens Chapter leaders Iro Chatzopoulou and Panagiotis Droukas were also present, and they volunteered with ISACA Global Government Relations and Public Affairs Director Emily Bastedo at the event open for Athens school children to learn more about cybersecurity careers.
“ISACA is very proud to have sponsored the first ICC and for the opportunity to support a challenge in which the younger generation was in the spotlight. It was very exciting to witness the energy, commitment and passion for cybersecurity in all teams that participated,” Dimitriadis said of the event. “Building a cybersecurity workforce is one of the key challenges that the public and private sector are called to address for establishing digital trust that, in turn, acts as an enabler of digital technology, which is the backbone of the world economy. ISACA is working toward contributing to the creation of that workforce at a global level, as digital trust is at the epicenter of our strategy.”
Set to take place annually, the ICC is poised to play a key role in fostering cybersecurity entrepreneurship and creating future top security experts from all over the world. This competition is setting a precedent for educating and training future generations of cybersecurity professionals, while simultaneously promoting friendly relations between the regions that are represented there. Additionally, the ICC will help address the shortage of IT security professionals, create a more cyber-secure society at large and build digital trust throughout online services.
The next ICC is scheduled to be hosted by the US Department of Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the United States in August 2023.