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ARE YOU READY FOR

THE CHALLENGE ?

Get ready for the first Greek Cyber Security Challenge

Registrations Have Closed!

CYBER SECURITY
CHALLENGE GREECE

2025 Edition

The Cyber Security Challenge Greece is a brand new cyber security event for students in Greece. Based on the principles of a Capture the Flag (CTF), this cyber security competition is a challenge-based game played by teams of maximum 4 students. The Challenge takes place at the 29th of March 2025, at the University of West Attica in Athens with hubs in both Patras hosted by the University of Peloponnese and Thessaloniki at the University of Macedonia.

What is the Challenge?

We launched the first edition of the Cyber Security Challenge in Belgium in 2015. After nine successful editions and each year growing keen interest from the industry, the Cyber Security Challenge has become a not to miss event for students and industry professionals. In 2025 we will launch the first Cyber Security Challenge Greece in order to raise awareness and interest of students that are about to complete their education.

Who can join?

The challenge is open to teams of maximum 4 students. It will be a hybrid event, so that both on-site teams and remote teams can participate. However, only on-site teams are eligible to compete for prizes, which will be awarded to the finalists at the venue in Athens during the Award Ceremony at the end of the competition.

How to play?

During the CTF, the teams must solve challenges within 6 hours covering a wide range of categories, e.g. crypto, network, reversing, web, mobile, pwning or forensic. The complexity of challenges ranges from easy up to nightmare. To get a feel for what you can expect you can always head over to the write-ups of the previous editions on CTF Time. The top winning on-site teams of the event might also be eligible to honorary prizes.

Prizes for top teams

No one will leave empty handed from the CyberSecurity Challenge Greece, however, the top teams are in for some amazing prizes:

1st

Sans On-Demand Courses

For each member of the winning team, SANS Institute gives out 1 On-Demand Course for any SANS course of your choice.

2nd

Silver Annual Academy & Fortinet Access Point

For each member of the second ranked team, HackTheBox gives out 1 Silver Annual Academy subscription and GCC Hellas gives out 1 Fortinet Access Point.

3rd

VIP+ Annual Lab Subscription

For each member of the third ranked team, HackTheBox gives out 1 VIP+ Annual subscription.

4th

3-month Prolab Subscription

For each member of the fourth ranked team, HackTheBox gives out a 3-month Prolab subscription

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Cyber Security Challenge and how can I participate?

Got questions? We have an answer.

Here is a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the Cyber Security Challenge. You can also send us all your questions at info@cybersecuritychallenge.gr.

Q: What is the CyberSecurity Challenge Greece?
Based on the principles of a Capture The Flag (CTF), this computer security competition is a challenge-based game played by teams of maximum 4 students. Over a limited timeframe, the teams must solve challenges covering a wide range of security issues, e.g. cryptography, reverse engineering, network security, web or mobile application security, wireless and forensics analysis. Complexity of challenges range from trivial up to very difficult.
Q: Who can join?
Anyone is allowed to participate in this CTF event. But only participants who are students in a recognized Greek academic institution are allowed to compete for prizes. Participants must either be 18 years old or turn 18 in 2025; if you or a member of your team has not reached that age, then do contact us before registering. Note that PhD students or post-doc students are not eligible to participate. In case of doubt, please contact us.

Consult the rules of engagement for more information.
Q: Why are only students eligible for prizes?
Much like Cybersecurity Challenge Belgium, this challenge steers its attention towards motivating young talented students to pursue cybersecurity as a career. The challenge and its difficulty are primarily focused on students that are just starting to explore the cybersecurity landscape and at the same time, to challenge those that already feel like they are mastering the field. With that in mind, it's a student competition, and not a professional competition.
Q: What's the difference between Remote and Physical Participation?
Anyone can participate remotely to the event. Remote participants are however not allowed to compete for prizes. You can just opt in for the experience :)

Only students are allowed to participate on-site. Students who participate on-site can compete for prizes.
Q: Should we bring our own equipment?
Yes, you will have to bring your own equipment (Laptop) for the event with your tools installed. It's suggested to have a Kali Linux VM but any distro would suffice. Anything you feel comfortable with :)
Q: We're not security experts yet: Do we stand a chance?
Of course! Challenges have been designed for students, not for security specialists, so you don’t need to be a security expert to join. A good general IT knowledge and a good level of motivation is what matters most. The Cyber Security Challenge is composed of challenges designed with all levels of complexity.
Q: Can I participate on my own?
Yes you can! But working in a team is always more fun, and you'll probably be able to solve more challenges when being part of a team. If you have some trouble finding teammates, register solo, and join our Discord to find other people looking for a team.
In any case, if you're joining solo and planning on participating on-site, make sure to select the "I need help finding a team" checkbox during your registration process and do not register a team. We will find a team for you and assign you in that team :)
Q: What's the registration process?

For those that are planning on joining the CTF remotely the registration process is straight forward. Create an account on our platform, register your team and you're set.


For those that are planning on joining us on-site, the registration process consists of a few more steps.

  1. Create an account on our platform and register your team. If you are not yet part of a team, and would like to join one, then just mention this during the registration process. We will then assist you in finding a team for you.
  2. Since only students are allowed to join on-site, we request you to send us a picture of your academic ID, front and back, to ctfteam@cybersecuritychallenge.gr.You will receive an email from us, confirming your registration as a team, once we have received the academic IDs of all team members.

If you don't receive an email, feel free to reach out to us on Discord. We will also contact you in case a member of your team has not completed the registration process.

Do note that our locations have a limited capacity of seats. This means that we will be accepting completely registered teams first. So make sure, you and your teammates complete the registration process as soon as possible if you're planning on joining us on-site!


Make sure your team has received a formal invite to our location. Students that have not received an email will not be able to join us on-site. Do note that teams can join from multiple locations (e.g. 1 team member joining from Thessaloniki and the rest from Athens)

We understand that in some unforeseen circumstances not all members of the same team can be present in a physical location. For those cases, reach out to an admin in the discord channel (Before the event starts) to remove the missing member from your team, so your team can still be eligible to compete for prizes.


Important

Additionally, all participants will have to create an account (If they don't have one already) on "ctf.hackthebox.com" in order to access some challenges. Make sure to complete this process in advance so you don't lose time during the event!

Q: I lost my academic ID or I haven't been issued one yet. What can I do?
In case you lost your academic ID or you haven't been issued one yet, you can email us a Proof of Enrollement Document instead. You can refer to the secretary office of your Institution for that document. Make sure it's issued as a "General Request".
Q: How can I prepare for the cyber security challenge?

A good way to get started with the Cyber Security Challenge is to take a look at write-ups from some of the past Cyber Security Challenge editions:

Once you feel you’re ready to try and solve some challenges on your own, you could take a look at the "awesome-ctf repository": it contains a list of useful tools sorted per category (reversing, cryptography, web, …). It also contains a list of "wargames" available 24/7 for practicing.

For example, the "overthewire wargames" feature a series of challenges, and suggests an order in which to play them based on their difficulty. You can also ask questions on our Discord channel.

Q: Where will the event take place?
The main location of the event is the University of West Attica in Athens Campus of Ancient Olive Grove (ANCIENT OLIVE GROVE, 250 Thivon & P. Ralli str, Egaleo Postal code 12241, Athens). We will also have two hubs to facilitate people from other cities. One in Thessaloniki hosted by the University of Macedonia and one in Patras hosted by the University of Peloponnese.
Q: Who organizes this challenge, and why?
The challenge is energized by NVISO, supported by large private corporations and banks (our sponsors), as well as public agencies and organizations that are committed to raising our country’s awareness on cyber-security threats and help train a generation of security-aware professionals and security experts. All sponsors are regularly recruiting talented graduates to re-inforce their security teams, so you may also be meeting your future employer at our event!
Q: What kind of challenges can I expect?
We have a wide range of challenges ranging from general security knowledge over mobile security to reverse engineering and cryptography. Some of them will be easy and others will be a challenge even for the more skilled participants. To get a feel for what you can expect you can always head over to the write-ups of the previous editions on GitHub (see "How can I prepare for the Cyber Security Challenge?")

Partnering with Cyber Security Challenge as a sponsor

Interested in getting in contact with the future top cyber security experts in Greece? Contact us at info@cybersecuritychallenge.gr

Premium Sponsor

NVISO

NVISO is a cyber security services firm composed of outstanding security professionals - each has a specific field of expertise, ranging from security research and risk management to incident response and security testing.

Prize Partners

SANS

SANS Institute is the most trusted resource for cybersecurity training, certifications and research. Offering more than 60 courses across all practice areas.

HackTheBox

Hack The Box is a leading gamified cybersecurity upskilling, certification, and talent assessment software platform enabling individuals, businesses, government institutions, and universities to sharpen their offensive and defensive security expertise.

GCC Hellas

Operating as a Value Added Distributor and trusted advisor to the ecosystem of ICT System Integrators, resellers and partners, GCC Hellas promotes solutions and services in Security and Networks, across several sectors and companies in the Greek and Cypriot market.

Supported By

BSides Athens

Security BSides is a community-driven framework for building events by and for information security community members. These events are already happening in major cities all over the world!

IEEE Patras

IEEE Student Branch's mission is to foster an environment where students can dive into technology. Our aim is to provide hands-on opportunities, educational activities and networking, enhancing student's knowledge while encouraging innovation.

Main Location Athens

University of West Attica

The Ancient Grove Campus is located in the Municipality of Egaleo, on Str. P. Ralli and Thivon, inside the Ancient Grove area, where the famous “Walking School” of Plato as well as the St. John Church of was built in the eleventh century A.D. This church was the springboard of the “Hidden School” during the difficult years that followed the fall of Constantinople.

Hub Location Thessaloniki

University of Macedonia

The University of Macedonia is the second and “youngest” University of the city of Thessaloniki and it specializes in economic and social sciences. It was founded by the Greek State under the Presidential Decree 147/10-4-1990. In the academic year 2016-2017 the University of Macedonia completed 60 years of operation as an Institution of Higher Education in Greece.

Hub Location Patras

University of Peloponnese

The University of the Peloponnese (UoP) was established in 2000 as the only academic Institution of Higher Education in the Peloponnese Region (Southwestern Greece). The headquarters of UoP is in Tripolis and it comprises of five Schools and nine Departments located in the six capitals of the Peloponnese.