Dubai, UAE —
The future of cybersecurity begins at GISEC GLOBAL 2025. From May 6 to 8, the Dubai World Trade Centre will host the largest cybersecurity event across the Middle East and Africa, and for the first time, the Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC), in collaboration with GISEC and Techfirm, is launching the School of Cyber Defense (CTF) competition — a groundbreaking competition that has already drawn unprecedented interest from universities across the UAE.
Over 300 applications were submitted from nearly all leading universities in the UAE, resulting in 130 carefully selected participants. After two days of intense qualification rounds on May 6–7, the top 50 scorers will advance to the finals on May 8, where they will form 10 elite Incident Response Teams to tackle high-pressure cybersecurity scenarios in real time.
Throughout the qualification stage, participants will solve practical tasks that reflect real-world challenges, from network defense and threat management to system security and incident response. Their actions will be evaluated automatically through an advanced scoring platform, with real-time rankings displayed to keep the competition dynamic and transparent.
The final stage will push students to not only demonstrate technical mastery but also the ability to collaborate, analyze rapidly, and adapt under pressure — the critical skills demanded in today’s cybersecurity landscape. A prize pool valued at over AED 130,000 awaits the winning teams.
The School of Cyber Defense (CTF) competition is organized by the Dubai Electronic Security Center in collaboration with GISEC and Techfirm, with the support of AMD. All competition infrastructure will be powered by servers based on AMD EPYC™ processors, providing participants with industry-leading performance and advanced security features. Hardware-level protection, including Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) and Secure Boot technologies, ensures the environment matches the real-world challenges future cybersecurity experts will face.
Spire Solution, Huawei, HPE Networking, HONOR, Circularo, Great List and Rasinfotech also took the initiative to support the competition, driven by their belief in the importance of student-focused initiatives and their commitment to preparing the next generation of national talent in the cybersecurity community. Their support also reflects their confidence in TechFirm’s professionalism in managing and organizing such specialized events, as well as its extensive experience in enabling and delivering cybersecurity services.
The CTF Championship is an important step toward building a resilient digital future by fostering a new generation of cybersecurity leaders. With more than 25,000 cybersecurity professionals from over 160 countries expected to attend GISEC 2025, the School of Cyber Defense (CTF) competition will stand out as a defining event, shaping tomorrow’s cyber defense landscape.
Contacts:
+971522707567