A Structure that is Inclusive for Beginners

The Danish Cyber Championships have chosen to build a structure towards the selection of the National Team, whereas it starts with online trainings for all, then an online qualification, then regional championships, then national championship, then bootcamp and in the end 10 people will be selected. In this way we can grow the talent pool, making sure that beginners have a motivation to be part of it, even though they don’t have the skills (yet) to be part of the National team.

Online Training Sessions: Teaching the Younger Generation Cyber Skills

For the online training sessions, they have developed four different theme-based tracks, which create a wide range of opportunities for the participants. The tracks are suitable for beginners as well as for the advanced. The goal? Making the journey of improving your cyber skills a good experience for everyone and creating an interest for young people so they stay in the community.

The different tracks are:

• Beginner Track
• Exploitation Track
• Crypto Track
• Pentest Track

All tracks are mainly related to Capture the Flag, which makes the disciplines relevant to the competition. In 2024 1900 took part of the training sessions, 700 people participated in the online qualification and the 100 best continued to the national competition.

The goal is to find the strongest profiles for the Danish National Team, which will compete at the European Championships and represent Denmark in autumn 2024 in Italy.

Creating a Strong Community: Handing over the Future of Cyber Security to the Young

There is no specific way to create a community. It’s about using all the tools in your toolbox. To make it easy for the participants to communicate, we have created a large online community on Discord. Besides the online community, there is also a focus on supporting the local physical communities in both large and small Danish cities. Through our competition, people create important connections across gender and age, and a good foundation for a social community to flourish is crucial for young people to stay in the cyber security environment.

Collaboration between Partners: A Crucial Part of the Project

With help from Happy42, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, and multiple Danish universities and financial support from Industriens Fond, we started the format in 2021. Only through this collaboration, it was possible to create the long journey including training sessions, online qualification, Cyber Championships, and the support for the Danish National Team. We are very privileged also to have Industriens Fond as a partner, who support financially.

How to Prioritize both Beginners and Advanced Participants: A Balancing Act

Everyone is a beginner at some point. For each year we have held our training sessions, the participants have developed their competencies. The challenge is therefore to create and update the tracks, so they accommodate both beginners and advanced participants. Creating a space where everyone feels welcome regardless of level.

True Commitment: A Sustainable Plan for the Future

A project like ours depends on people with a true commitment to the matter. It is crucial for us that the project exists and thrives in the future.  We actively try to build a sustainable plan for the project, so that it does not depend on specific individuals. We need to keep up the energy and pass on our knowledge to the next generation within the cyber security community.

Learn More about the Cyber Championships and the Danish National Team

If you want to know more about the project and how our training sessions help build a community and talent development in cyber security, visit our website at https://www.cybermesterskaberne.dk/. Here you can explore our different tracks and collect information about the Cyber Championship and the Danish National Team.

Contact Person