Japanese team finishes as runner-up at Vietnam cybersecurity student competition

The competition, themed 'Data Security and Personal Data Protection,' was sponsored by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Education and Training, and jointly organized by the National Cybersecurity Association (NCA) and the Ministry of Public Security's Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05).

The event drew 200 teams to its preliminary round on October 18, narrowing down to seventy-six finalists from eight ASEAN countries and Japan.

The final round featured two categories: Category A, an 'Attack-Defense' format, and Category B, a 'Jeopardy-style Capture the Flag' challenge.

Category A featured twenty teams, with seventeen competing in person at a Ministry of Public Security facility in Hanoi and three participating online.

The format required teams to defend their own systems while probing and exploiting vulnerabilities in opponents' systems within a simulated data center environment.

After several hours of intense competition, TPC1 from the University of Tsukuba in Japan scored 6,100 points and 25 coins, sharing the runner-up spot with HCMUS-Bingsu from the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, which earned 4,700 points and 322 coins, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Both teams trailed the champion, PTIT.CBS of the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology in Hanoi, who secured 6,700 points and five coins.

The University of Tsukuba, located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, is one of Japan's oldest national universities, enrolling around 16,500 students across twenty-eight schools and clusters.

Category B featured fifty-six teams tackling advanced challenges in Web Security, Reverse Engineering, Pwnable, Cryptography, and Forensics.

The format tested participants' analytical abilities, strategic thinking, and incident-response skills through intensive, simulation-based tasks.

UIT-Reze from the University of Information Technology under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, emerged as the champion in this category, with two other Vietnamese teams finishing as runners-up.

The Bandung Institute of Technology, a leading public research university in Indonesia, received a consolation prize.

The institution is widely regarded as one of Indonesia's most prestigious universities and has produced many prominent figures in science, engineering, politics, business, academia, and culture.

Each category awarded three third-place teams and ten consolation prizes.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Major General Le Xuan Minh, director of A05 and vice-president of the NCA, described the competition as rigorous and intellectually demanding.

He noted that the final round unfolded as a genuine 'technology battle,' highlighting participants' analytical skills, teamwork, and composure under pressure.

He emphasized that the contest showcased the considerable potential of Vietnamese students in cybersecurity, a strategic field crucial to national defense in the digital age.

"Every Vietnamese student participating today, regardless of their final ranking, has helped affirm the intelligence and progressive spirit of Vietnam's youth on the regional and global cybersecurity stage," he added.