The Cyber Security Olympiad in the Ministry of Education's calendar

The Ministry of Education has published the list of Olympiads that will be organized and will take place in the 2023-2024 school year. In the calendar of national competitions approved by the Ministry, there is, for the first time, the Cyber Security Olympiad (OSC), as a clear recognition of the major importance on which cyber security education acquires in Romania, in the context of rapid technological evolution, but also of the shortage of specialists in this field. The Cyber Security Olympiad will take place in two stages, as follows: the county stage (March 2, 2024) and the national stage (May 22-25, 2024). The session of the county stage consists of a one-hour theoretical test and a five-hour practical test, with a maximum 30-minute break between the two. At the national stage, a single test will be held, which will include items related to theoretical aspects and Jeopardy-type practical applications, according to the press release of the National Directorate of Cyber Security (DNSC). The participants in the national phase of the Olympiad will have the chance to be selected in the extended group of the national cybersecurity team (Team Romania) for the European Cyber Security Championship (ECSC). The selection will be held on the second day of the competition and consists of a test of practical applications with a higher degree of difficulty, which includes an Attack & Defense type exercise. The first 30 competitors with the highest score, in descending order of the scores obtained at the national stage, can participate in the play-off, regardless of the class in which they participated. The first 15 competitors ranked in the OSC play-off will have the opportunity to represent Romania at the European Cyber Security Championship - ECSC, completing Romania's preliminary batch.

The national cyber security team (Team Romania) will consist of five Juniors (up to 20 years old) and five Seniors (21-25 years old), plus two reserves. The composition of the team will be established after participating in a training stage organized by the National Cyberint Center within the Romanian Intelligence Service, DNSC, ANSSI, together with teachers and experts from partners Orange and Bit Sentinel. The subjects and methodology of the competition are developed and evaluated by the Central Commission of the Cyber Security Olympiad (CCOSC), made up of representatives of the National Directorate of Cyber Security (DNSC), of the National Cyberint Center within the Romanian Intelligence Service, of the National Association for Systems Security Informatice (ANSSI), as well as professors and experts from private sector partners, Orange Romania and Bit Sentinel. The specific topic for OSC includes exercises that integrate fundamental concepts of cyber security, but also applied elements of cryptography, security of web, mobile or desktop applications, Open Source Intelligence techniques, analysis of electronic logs, network traffic, data captures, memory or hard disk, reverse engineering, configuration and security of operating systems and networks, programming and scripting.