The Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) organized the award ceremony of the Cyprus Cybersecurity Team that took place on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at the University of Cyprus.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Mr. Kyriakos Kokkinos, the Commissioner for Communications of the Digital Security Authority, Mr. George Michaelides, and the Director of the Pedagogical Institute, Mrs. Athina Michaelides.

During speech, Deputy Minister Mr. Kokkinos mentioned he was proud and optimistic about “the new generation of scientists, who are the stepping-stone of the future we want to build for our country. They are the scientific potential of tomorrow in the field of cybersecurity, and not only in this field". He also noted that the Deputy Ministry supports the participation in such initiatives, which are in full connection with the goal of accelerating the digital transition, as a tool for sustainable and long-term development and prosperity.   "We are counting on you, the new minds, to achieve our national goals and the ambitious goals that Europe has set for 2030" he concluded.

The Chairman of the Cyprus Computer Society Mr. Costas Agrotis, congratulated the participants and warmly thanked the volunteers-mentors who, as he noted, "stand by all young talents, aiming at their education and acquaintance with the misconcepted world of hacking".

The officer of CCS Mr. Toumazis Toumazis provided information on the Cyprus Cyber Security Challenges organized annually by CCS in collaboration with the Cyprus Cybersecurity Community CyberMouflons. Mr. Vassilis Sikkis, representative of Cyprus at the Steering Committee of the European Challenge, presented the process of preparing the challenges of the national competition and how the team is prepared for the European Competition.

Finally, Konstantinos Diomedous, team captain of the National Team 2021, shared the experience of travelling and participating at the competition and how challenging it was for the team to rank 6^th the European Cyber Security Challenge in Prague on 18/9 until 1/10 2021.

During the event, the 10 members of the 2021 team and all the persons who participated since 2017 either as members of the National Team or as mentors received the collectible coin of the Cyprus Cyber Security Challenge CCSC.

It is noted that the Cyprus CCSC challenge is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence, the Digital Security Authority and the Office of the Commissioner for Communications and is approved by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth.

The participation of the National team in the European competition would not be possible without the support of the following organizations: ADACOM Cyber Security, Deloitte, European University Cyprus, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Oracle Academy, UCLan Cyprus, University of Nicosia, Bulletproof, Offensive Security, ICSI, QSecure, Robo. com. cy, Roothunt Cyber, Runesec, Silensec, SCP School of Certified Professionals.

The next national competition will be launched in Spring 2022. More information can be found on https://www.ccsc.org.cy  and  on Facebook @CCSC. Cyprus, where you can watch the entire event that was broadcast  live.