Great news – the dcua team from the Igor Sikorsky KPI Technical Information Security Laboratory, based at the Faculty of Physics and Technology, won the Hackfinity Battle CTF 2025 large-scale cybersecurity competition. The competition brought together over 4,300 teams and more than 24,000 participants from different countries around the world. Hackfinity Battle CTF (Capture the Flag) is an international cybersecurity competition that brings together the best professionals and amateurs from around the world. Each team had to solve a series of challenging cybersecurity tasks, testing their skills in real-world conditions. The tasks covered various areas of cybersecurity, from cryptography to web security and network analysis. Each task had one or more flags (lines of text) that served as proof of achieving the goal, after which points were awarded.
The head of the Technical Information Security Laboratory, Associate Professor of the Institute of FTI, Mykola Ilyin, told the KP correspondent about the competition and the KPI team's participation in it:
"Such competitions have been held for over 30 years, and registration for most of them is free. The competition was held on the TryHackMe platform, which specializes in cybersecurity education and training. The tasks set for participants require them to have in-depth knowledge and understanding of modern cyber threats, as well as the ability to act quickly and effectively. Success depends on how quickly and accurately the team can solve the tasks using their technical knowledge and skills. Our dcua team, consisting of FTI students Dmytro Krygin, Oleksii Bondarenko, Davyd Shanidze, Volodymyr Duduladenko, and Yurii Prykhodko, was the best in this competition. As in many others since its creation in February 2012. In the global ranking according to CTFtime.org, dcua was among the top 10 best teams in the world from 2013 to 2019, and in 2016 it was the world champion. Many of the team's players are now continuing their professional careers, distinguished by the unique skills they need to solve the problems they face. Generations are changing in the team, but the unique methods of preparation, training, and the best results in Ukraine remain unchanged.
The winning team received $1,000, and each participant was awarded Apple AirPods Pro 2 wireless headphones, a 12-month TryHackMe subscription, a voucher for the SAL1 exam, and more. The TryHackMe platform provides educational services, training materials, and certification exams that are popular around the world (the organization has more than 200,000 users on Discord) — some of the prizes are in the form of subscriptions and exam vouchers.
– In your opinion, how important is winning this competition for the dcua team, KPI, and Ukrainian cyberspace?
Participation and victories in such competitions clearly demonstrate the actual state of Ukrainian education in the field of cybersecurity.
The number and quality of results demonstrated by students in independent international competitions are a direct consequence of the level of training at the university, a comprehensive assessment of the educational process, starting with the selection of applicants, the organization of the educational process, including informal education and self-education, the quality of teaching, and the qualifications of teachers. At competitions of this level, there is no room for imitation, pretended achievements, or advantages—the results are displayed on the scoreboard.
The importance of victory lies in the fact that it clearly demonstrates the existence of high-quality university education in cybersecurity in Ukraine and the existence of higher education institutions that provide such education. It also answers common questions: 1) Where can I find more qualified cybersecurity specialists in Ukraine? – Increase the volume of training at higher education institutions that provide quality education. 2) Where can I become a qualified cybersecurity specialist? – Study at higher education institutions that provide quality education.
Thus, at this competition, Igor Sikorsky KPI demonstrated its place among universities that provide quality education.