SINGAPORE/VIETNAM (October 17, 2023) – “Digital Dragons: the Cybersecurity Challenge 2023” a competition co-hosted by the Vietnam-Korea University of Information and Communication Technology (VKU) saw the participation of more than 50 university teams from across Vietnam, with Singapore’s EVVO Labs co-hosting the event.
The month-long, nation-wide competition was endorsed by the Vietnam Authority of Information Security (AIS) and sponsored by Huawei Cloud aimed to cater to the goal of nurturing young cybersecurity talent and boost the country’s technological capabilities, supporting the nation’s cyber development and defence efforts.
The competition was held from August to September this year, featuring the participation of more than 100 teams from leading universities across Vietnam. The teams engaged in a series of “Capture the Flag” challenges, where the flag represents a simple digital element. Participants were expected to identify and exploit any vulnerabilities in the system in order to reach the flag. The highest scoring teams advanced to the next round, with each stage testing the participants’ skills in reverse engineering, cryptography, digital forensics and more.
The finale took place at the Vietnam-Korea University of Information and Communication Technology (VKU) on September 16, with associate prof. Dr. Huỳnh Công Pháp and Dr. Trần Thế Sơn from Vietnam-Korea University (VKU), along with Mr. Lê Công Phú and Mrs. Bùi Thanh Hà representing VietNam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT – MIC), Mr. Mai Tấn Linh from the Danang Department of Education, and Mr. Huỳnh Sang from the Department of Science and Technology in Danang in attendance.
Lê Thanh Duẩn, Tô Đỉnh Nguyên, Nguyễn Đăng Nguyên, and Lê Khắc Trung Nam from Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) emerged as the champions at the grand finale, securing a total score of 2282 and taking home a prize of $ 1500.
COO of EVVO Vince Chew speaking about the event said: “The competition’s success represents the first in our holistic plan to nurture cybersecurity talent in Vietnam. Central to our strategy is a lifelong learning program designed to equip individuals with cutting-edge cybersecurity skills while fostering global citizenship and essential competencies like problem-solving and ethical reasoning. Next, we are expanding our workshop offerings, launching mentorship programs, and forging collaborations with more local universities. We hope that these initiatives will help to cultivate a versatile talent pool capable of tackling cybersecurity challenges, both local and global,”