This year’s Cyber Security Challenge Belgium (CSCBE) once again brought together more than 1.000 students and young talents from across the country, underlining the rapidly growing interest in cybersecurity among the next generation.
The finals of the 12th edition took place on Saturday 28 March 2026 at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, where the best participants faced off in an intense Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.
CTF challenges are widely used in the cybersecurity community as hands-on training exercises. Participants combine technical knowledge, creativity and teamwork to identify vulnerabilities and retrieve hidden “flags”. During the finals, teams were challenged to analyse vulnerabilities, solve technical puzzles and think creatively under time pressure, mirroring real-world cybersecurity scenarios.
“Every year we see more young people discovering cybersecurity through challenges like these,” said Vincent Defrenne, Director of the Cyber Security Challenge Belgium and co-founder of NVISO. “The competition gives them a safe environment to develop real-world skills and connect with a broader cybersecurity community.”
From online qualifiers to national finals
One month before the finals, more than 1.000 players competed individually in the online qualification round. After this competitive preselection, the 132 strongest participants advanced to the finals in two separate tracks, where they worked in teams on challenges covering broad areas such as web security, cryptography and digital forensics.
Two competition tracks
This year’s edition introduced a new competition structure with two distinct tracks.
In the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) track, the top 16 juniors (under 20) and 16 seniors (under 25) from the qualifiers advanced to the finals. These players are among the strongest candidates to join the Red Daemons, Belgium’s national cybersecurity team. In the coming months they will receive further training before the final team is selected to represent Belgium at the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) in October in Bochum, Germany.
In parallel, the CTF for Students Track allowed participants to compete for prizes. Team Quivr with students from KU Leuven emerged as the winners and will receive tickets to Black Hat Europe and a SANS training, supporting their further development in cybersecurity.
Building the next generation of cyber defenders
The Cyber Security Challenge Belgium is more than a competition. It introduces students to cybersecurity and encourages them to pursue education and careers in the field. For many participants, the challenge is a first real step into the field. Several finalists first discovered cybersecurity through online CTF challenges and communities while still in secondary school.
At the same time, the initiative helps strengthen Belgium’s cybersecurity ecosystem and supports the development of future cyber defenders by bringing together students, universities, industry partners and public authorities.
The Cyber Security Challenge Belgium is organized with the support of partners from industry, academia and the public sector. Their continued support is essential: by backing CSCBE, they contribute directly to the development of future cyber professionals and to the digital resilience of Belgium.
Through its support of the CSCBE, the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) actively contributes to nurturing this growing community and investing in the cybersecurity expertise needed to protect Belgium’s digital society.