Young experts in ethical hacking dueled at the CTF 2025 Finals organized by UTM and CYBERCOR
04 May 2025
On April 10, 2025, in the premises of the National Institute for Innovations in Cybersecurity – CYBERCOR, took place one of the most important technological events dedicated to young people passionate about digital security: the Capture The Flag (CTF) Competition Final, organized by the Technical University of Moldova and its partners.
The event brought together 20 finalists from all over the country, young people selected following technical challenges carried out on the CODWER Academy platform. The format of the finals – King of the Hill – tested not only technical knowledge, but also quick reaction, individual strategy and resilience under pressure. Each participant was given access to three virtual machines configured with real vulnerabilities, with the aim of gaining full control of the systems and maintaining it for as long as possible.
The topics covered in the competition were diverse and complex, including vulnerability exploitation, cryptography, web security, network traffic analysis, reversing and OSINT (Open Source Intelligence). These challenges brought theory and practice together in an applied way, giving young people the opportunity to simulate real attack and defense scenarios in cyberspace.
After several hours of intense confrontations and ingenious solutions, the awards ceremony followed. The winners of the CTF 2025 finals were rewarded with top technology prizes:
- First place: a LENOVO ThinkPAD T16 Gen 3 laptop
- Second place: a 13-inch MacBook Air
- Third place: a 12.9″ iPad Pro 12.9″ (6th gen)
- Three special mentions: each received an Apple Watch Series 10
The prizes were offered with the support of the Development Foundation, a strategic partner of the event, in recognition of the participants’ performance and as an investment in the future of cyber professionals.
During the ceremony, Dr. Dinu Țurcanu, UTM’s pro-rector for digitization, delivered a message of encouragement to the young people present, stressing the importance of continuous training in the field of cybersecurity. In his turn, Mihai Lupașcu, Director of the Cyber Security Agency (CSA), congratulated the winners and said that such competitions are a springboard to successful careers in the digital sector.
The event was organized in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, the Agency for Cyber Security, the Technical University of Moldova, the National Institute for Cyber Security “Cybercor” and CODWER Academy. The competition also benefited from the support of the Moldova Cybersecurity Rapid Assistance 2.0 Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the E-Governance Academy (EGA), together with the European Union Partnership Mission to the Republic of Moldova (EUPM Moldova).
The Technical University of Moldova reaffirms, through such initiatives, its essential role in the training of the future generation of cybersecurity specialists. The University encourages young people to constantly develop their skills, to participate in relevant competitions and to transform their passion for technology into a future career.
