An ENISA initiative in cooperation with 26 European nations

ECSO is proud to support the European Cyber Security Challenge (www.wcsc.eu), an initiative of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) in cooperation with 26 European nations. Its aim is to promote cybersecurity talent across Europe and connect high-potential individuals with industry-leading organisations.
It looks to identify and promote talented young IT specialists at an early stage in their development, enabling them to successfully fill roles as urgently needed experts in global organisations.

Over 17,000 young talents from all over Europe took part in the national cybersecurity challenges run by local organisations and supported by the ECSC in 2021.

The winners went on to compete at the 2021 European Grand Final in Prague, where they demonstrated their skills by solving a variety of problems on hot topics such as crypto, reverse engineering, web security, and exploitation. The 2022 ECSC Grand Final will take place in Vienna.

Aims of the ECSC:

• To arouse and raise awareness of cybersecurity in Europe
• To harness the potential of IT talents in public organisations, private companies, academia and research
• To create a platform where talented IT specialists can network and exchange ideas directly with potential employers
• To identify cybersecurity talents and foster their careers
• To inspire young people to enter the cybersecurity field

New and open to all: the OpenECSC

In order to inspire even more people to engage with the issue, and to sustainably underpin the objectives of the ECSC, an openECSC competition is additionally planned for 2022.

Unlike the ECSC, which is limited to those 25 and younger, as the “open” in the title signifies this new program enables anyone interested – regardless of age, origin or educational background – to take part, demonstrate their knowledge, and become part of the community. So it’s an invitation to ALL the world’s cybersecurity enthusiasts!

The openECSC is being promoted by partner organisations in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, and expects to attract more than 20,000 participants from all over the world in its debut year.

For more information please contact: joe.pichlmayr@cybersecurityaustria.at