The European Cyber Security Championship: The enlarged national team of Romania has been established

The first edition of the Cyber Security Olympiad (OSC) and the fifth edition of the National Cyber Security Championship (RoCSC) have designated their winners, both competitions offering the opportunity to the first 15 ranked to be part of the extended national team of Romania ( Team Romania) and to prepare for this year's European Cyber Security Championship - ECSC. The National Directorate of Cyber Security (DNSC) informs: "The national stage of the Cyber Security Olympiad (OSC), a competition in its first edition and included for the first time in the official calendar of Olympiads and school competitions by the Ministry of Education, took place on 23 -May 24, 2024 at the National University of Science and Technology Bucharest, at the same time taking place, also on the university campus, the final stage of the National Cyber Security Championship (RoCSC). Young people eligible to participate in both competitions, which they completed the previous stages and qualified in the final stage, they were able to compete both at the OSC and at the RoCSC, the competition program being built in such a way as to allow simultaneous participation".

The Olympics took place in two stages: the county phase (March 2, 2024) and the national phase (May 23-24, 2024). Similarly, the 2024 edition of RoCSC also had two stages: qualification, held online (March 8-10, 2024) and the final, organized in physical format (May 23-24, 2024). The students ranked first in the general ranking of the national stage of the OSC received prizes and mentions awarded in accordance with the provisions of the Framework Methodology for organizing and conducting school competitions.

In addition to prizes, OSC offers the opportunity to the first 15 ranked students (out of 97 participants) in the national phase to be part of the extended national team of Romania (Team Romania). They will prepare for the European Cyber Security Championship - ECSC, which will take place this year in October, in Turin (Italy). Likewise, RoCSC allows the best 15 young people, among the 40 qualified for the final phase, to be part of the same preliminary batch of Team Romania, in order of points. 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 Romania and Bit Sentinel. OSC topics and methodology were 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 Security Sistemelor Informatice (ANSSI), as well as teachers and experts from the private sector partners, Orange Romania and Bit Sentinel, who come with extensive experience in organizing cyber security competitions.