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// openECSC2024 - CTFs announcement

01 . 03 . 2024

Following the tradition started two years ago by Joe and the Austrian team, in preparation for ECSC2024 we are pleased to announce the new edition of openECSC!

Moreover, as anticipated at the last hotwash meeting in Hamar, for this edition all the competitions organized by us at Italian level will be open and available to all interested contestants!

// Who?

ECSC2024 and openECSC2024 are organized jointly this year by the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency and by the Cybersecurity National Lab of CINI. The competitions will be supervised by the scientific managers Matteo Rossi and Giulia Martino and the technical managers Giovanni Minotti and Gianluca Altomani, who many of you will have already known from previous editions of the ICC or ECSC and obviously by many challenge authors and CTF players.

// What?

The European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) stands as a collaborative effort between the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and multiple European nations. Its primary goal is to foster cybersecurity talent across the continent while forging connections between promising individuals and industry leaders.

Each year, thousands of aspiring talents from diverse European regions participate in national selection competitions. Their aim is to represent their respective nations at the prestigious ECSC Grand Finals. However, this event accommodates only a limited number of participants due to stringent age and nationality criteria. Consequently, many contestants miss out on the opportunity to showcase their skills at the international level.

To address this disparity and broaden participation, the openECSC has been introduced since 2022. Unlike ECSC, which is restricted to individuals aged 25 and under, the "open" designation of this program signals inclusivity. It welcomes participation from individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, effectively inviting cybersecurity enthusiasts worldwide to engage, demonstrate their skills, and join the ECSC community.

The 2024 edition of openECSC will feature a total of four rounds, with the first three being approximately one weeklong, while the last one, the “Final Round” lasts 24 hours and all the other Italian CTF events. See the schedule section for more details.

The goal behind openECSC is to accommodate both not very experienced players and top-level ones but also to support all those nations that do not have sufficient effort to organize several cybersecurity competitions during the year to best select their teams.

Top performers in each openECSC rounds will be rewarded with unique ECSC and openECSC swag, and the winners of the first three rounds will be invited to Italy at the 2024 ECSC Grand Finals!

// When?

The openECSC rounds will follow the following agenda:

Round 1: 18 Mar. 2024, 10:00 UTC - 24 Mar. 2024, 22:00 UTC
Round 2: 22 Apr. 2024, 10:00 UTC - 28 Apr. 2024, 22:00 UTC
Round 3: 13 May 2024, 10:00 UTC - 19 May 2024, 22:00 UTC
Final Round: 21 Set. 2024, 10:00 UTC - 22 Set. 2024, 10:00 UTC

The additional jeopardy events currently planned are:

Italian Olympiads in Cybersecurity - Regional Selection: 6 Apr 2024, 14:00 UTC - 18:00 UTC (individual competition with target 14-19 year olds)
Italian Olympiads in Cybersecurity - National Selection: 8 June 2024, 09:00 UTC - 16:00 UTC (individual competition with target 14-19 year olds)
CyberChallenge.IT University selection: 29 May 2024, 09:00 UTC - 16:00 UTC (individual competition with target 16-24 year olds)

// Where?

Registrations will be open to everyone from the beginning of the next week on the CTF platform: https://open.ecsc2024.it/.

All the other competitions organized by us during the year will also be available on the same portal.

// Will there be prizes?

Of course! For each of the first three rounds, a set of prizes will be awarded to the top contestants as follows.

First place winner is invited to come to the ECSC Grand Finals in October 2024, in Italy.
Top 5 winners will be awarded a bag of openECSC and ECSC branded swag.
5 more swag bags will be awarded, randomly selecting 5 people from place 6th-100th at the end of the round.

// Can countries use openECSC as national qualification?

Of course once again! Countries and organizations can request to use the openECSC competitions as their national qualifier / additional training.

Separate scoreboards will be supported for these events; all players will still also be part of the main general scoreboard. Organizers will have the opportunity to access and personalize real-time information on those registered for their events.

To give the organizers enough time to set up the infrastructure to support it, requests must be delivered to the organizers at the latest one day before the start of each round. To submit a request, countries and organizations can contact the organizers at info@ecsc2024.it and will receive all the information and technical details for organizing their local qualifier or training.