ENISA Set to Establish a Framework for Cyber Security Competitions

Today the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) announced the planning of the 1st pan-European Cyber Security Competition in 2015. The competition is organised jointly in collaboration with experienced organisations from EU Member States for students.

The Organizing Committee of the 1st pan-European Cyber Security Challenge is composed of the following representatives: 

• Norbert Pohlmann - Cyber Security Challenge Germany;
• Joe Pichlmayr — Cyber Security Challenge Austria;
• Andrei Avădănei —DefCamp Romania; 
• Raúl Riesco- INTECO Spain;
• Okonweze Austen — Cyber Security Challenge UK;
• Bernhard Tellenbach — Swiss Cyber Storm;
• Demosthenes Ikonomou- ENISA and
• Rafael Tesoro-Carretero- EC DG CONNECT.

Cybersecurity competitions — the status in Europe

ENISA also publishes a new report analyzing the current situation concerning cybersecurity- challenge competitions in Europe. The experience gathered constitutes the basis for the development of the pan-European competition on cybersecurity.

The European Cyber Security Challenge Competition 2015 aims to be the result of a public–private partnership comprised of capable players, aiming at improving the ICT educational approach to Europe’s digital citizens.

The report provides a general overview of existing cybersecurity- challenge competitions in Member States and outlines a roadmap for a future pan-European cyber-challenge competitions. The first part presents the experience of five countries while the second comprises of a short ‘how to’ guide containing the steps in organizing a challenge. The third part gives details on concrete developments concerning a pan-European challenge. The last part of the report contains several recommendations that should be taken into account. Graphics providing additional content are provided in the annex.