Over 60 Ukrainian cyber specialists enhanced cyber skills in the CTF Challenge

On 9–10 December, 62 cyber specialists from Ukrainian law enforcement, critical infrastructure providers, and academia participated in a two-day cybersecurity exercise, CTF Challenge, to sharpen their practical skills and prepare for real-world cybersecurity threats.

For Ukraine, cyber resilience is a frontline need in wartime. As Russia’s full-scale aggression enters its fourth year, cyberattacks increasingly target government systems and critical infrastructure in an effort to disrupt daily life. This year, CERT-UA has already registered more than 5,600 cyberattacks. Over the past two years, the number of attacks has doubled.

“Now we are able to deliver truly practical, impactful activities that strengthen Ukraine’s cyber resilience in one of the most challenging years for all of us. Russian cyberattacks have become more frequent and sophisticated, often combined with missile strikes to disrupt vital services that millions of people rely on. Yet despite this pressure and Ukraine’s limited resources, we have shown resilience and continued to develop our national cybersecurity system, and this simply would not have been possible without your support,” said Nataliia Tkachuk, Head of the Cybersecurity and Informational Security Service of the Office of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Secretary of National Cybersecurity Coordination Center.

This time, the Jeopardy-style CTF (Capture The Flag) exercise featured around 40 hands-on cybersecurity challenges that were delivered to participating teams across both days. The challenges evolved around a Smart City model, covering critical infrastructure across land, air, and water from traffic lights and railway stations to harbours and water supply systems.

Working through the digital security tasks, participants strengthened their practical skills in areas like cryptography, reverse engineering, web security, and network analysis.

And here are the results:
1st place – team Mogyla, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
2nd place – team NuWee, National University of Water Farming and Nature Conservation
3rd place – team G1rlUn1ty, a joint women’s team from the CERT of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Best Women’s Team – team G1rlUn1ty, a joint women’s team from the CERT of the National Bank of Ukraine.

“If even one major cyberattack is stopped thanks to the skills gained in these trainings, it’s already a big win. And I’m convinced that, in reality, hundreds of attacks are being thwarted because of the new knowledge participants take away from exercises like this,” emphasised Hannes Astok, Executive Director, e-Governance Academy.

The exercise also hosted a distinguished visitors’ delegation of Ukrainian high-level officials and foreign diplomats residing in Kyiv, offering them a closer look at Ukrainian–Estonian cooperation within the Tallinn Mechanism.

The CTF Challenge is part of the ESTDEV-supported project “UA–EE Cyber Shield via Tallinn Mechanism”, which focuses on boosting Ukraine’s resilience against evolving cyber threats while strengthening international cooperation through the Tallinn Mechanism. The wider goal is to build cyber resilience skills for more than 500 Ukrainian participants from law enforcement, critical enterprises, and academia.

The project is implemented jointly by the e-Governance Academy (eGA), CybExer Technologies, and Ukraine’s National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre under the National Security and Defence Council. So far, 187 cyber specialists have taken part in training events under the second phase of the initiative, bringing the total to 574 participants across the full ESTDEV-supported collaboration under the Tallinn Mechanism.

The cyber range exercises are funded by the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) with nearly €1 million. This project is part of Estonia’s contribution to supporting Ukraine’s cybersecurity and resilience through the Tallinn Mechanism. The Tallinn Mechanism, established in December 2023 by 11 partner countries: Estonia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Canada, Poland, France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, the USA, and the United Kingdom. The mechanism aligns Ukraine’s key cybersecurity priorities with international support, reinforcing the country’s resilience and preparedness against evolving cyber threats.

Photos by Stas Kartashov