CZECHIA: From September 28th until October 1st, Czechia hosts in Prague the 6th edition of the European Cyber Security Challenge (ECSC). As teams compete, I am willing to raise your cybersecurity awareness through six team presentation videos that I have hand-picked for the occasion. Before speaking about the videos, let’s see first what this competition is all about.
What is the European Cyber Security Challenge
The largest technical cybersecurity championship of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), ECSC 2021 gathers talents from 27 European countries. A year ago, the President of the Czech branch of the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association (AFCEA), Tomáš Müller, appealed to European partners to support the ECSC competition. Entities such as Palo Alto Network, ČEZ, CETIN, ALEF NULA, and GORDIC took on the call for collaboration, and a Conference on the risks of Artificial Intelligence on the Human Brain will also take place today, 30th September.
An online classification scoreboard has been enabled on the official website www.ecsc2021.cz, and the winning team will be announced on October 1 at the closing ceremony.
Who Competes in the European Cyber Security Challenge
The contestants for ECSC 2021 are Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Estonia, Malta, and Norway will attend as observers.
In addition to the #CTF (Capture the Flag) challenge in the #Jeopardy mode, the teams will develop cross-team activities such as the Escape Room and hardware challenges.
Six ECSC 2021 Team Videos that Deserve Your Attention
While all the videos depicting the ECSC 2021 teams are great, I’ve selected the ones that I think are the most comprehensive in the sense of context and creative execution.
As you will see, those videos are prone to interpretation and can serve as a learning tool in some way. Numbers are to ease reference, but they are all works of art although they follow the same theme. Which one do you like the most and why?
1. Team ECSC 2021 Spain
Prague 2021, are you ready? As the Agents of Atlas, they were not a team but became one. Two different musical pieces divide the presentation of the Spanish Team. Underlining their versatility and preparedness to come up as a team, members seem to complement each other’s competencies. If you remember, Spain was the winner of the 2016 and 2017 ECSC editions.
The first part of the video presentation is a general overview of their trajectory and training, and then comes the individual presentation in a more playful rhythm.
Also Read: “ASEAN-India Hackathon-2021”-Brainstorming Experience For Students
2. Teams ECSC 2021 Slovenia
The Slovenian team reminds me of the knightly class of feudal times: the chivalry who were ruled by a strict code of conduct, attitudes, practices, philosophies, principles, and behavior. When I watch the video, I get a sense of gallantry and honor…
Team Slovenia reveals themselves in a looping piece of stomp music. The unique percussion performance shows the power of rhythm. The same way coordination and teamwork are crucial when it comes to overcoming cybersecurity threats. Epic, right?
3. Team ECSC 2021 Romania
This modern Count Dracula team will hold your attention twice as long as others as they have relevant data to share from the tower of their expertise. Matrix-style music with a very intense focus on technology reveals the Romanian cybersecurity team.
Impressive and consistent transitions with a highly organized context and a gamified approach to walking us through places, situations, and who the team is will catch your eye all the way. Low contrast pushing faces full of determination instead of smiles is another creative way to underline that “hypnotism is possible only before dawn”…
The message is as if they say, “We go out when we have to.” Don’t miss it, especially if you are a fan of Bram Stoker’s new-age spirituality and mysticism!
4. Team ECSC 2021 Malta
The Musketeers are brothers in arms and highly-skilled soldiers who smile under their mustaches… The Malta team uses a very refined sense of humor, and they are the only 1. to openly call themselves a “hacking team,” something that Chema Alonso would approve; and, 2. have two brothers on board.
A good match is “pizza” and “cats” time, but the bottom line is a much deeper message: the coaches did their job and are now very tired or confident in their trainees, maybe even both. What do you think? Why do coaches are having a nap?
Also Read: Mumbai Blackout Not A Result Of Cyber-Attack: Union Minister RK Singh
5. Team ECSC 2021 Netherlands
Have you heard of the “cyber derailed” combo? The Netherlands team presents a very catchy video showing the team across obvious application domains and infrastructures that cyber defense is responsible for.
Aside from street sessions, they all perform in a hangar around a locomotive. As my goal is to underline the depth of creativity behind the composition, I remind you that in cybersecurity we recognize two different attack directions: horizontal (locomotion) and vertical (floors and building levels).
Similarly, did you notice the 1:15 hand gesture that the crypto-mobile specialist makes? Is he trying to tell us something? Investigate and share with us! Let’s discuss it.
6. Team ECSC 2021 Italy
Astonishing focus of contemporary media: the human-to-human mutation! Firstly, a dramatic dedicated logo space opens the story that has a sharp and rather unexpected development. Secondly, only a few seconds represent the whole team as people merge in continuity… Thirdly, credits come in right away, and you “stay hungry, stay foolish” as you wonder where the rest of images are. Subsequently, the large space of dedication floods the screen like the Venice channel, and vertical stories begin floating to end with the image of the entire team.
To sum up, wisely synchronized with the flow, classical instrumental music reminds us once again of the Italian identity and soothes the senses as if the Italian cybersecurity team has taken care of all problems alone…
I find this masterpiece for the most analytical. What do you think about that? How do sudden transitions affect you? What is the message?
[UPDATE] Today, October 1, the award ceremony #ECSC2021 was broadcast live from the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. The third prize went to Italy, the second to Poland and the first to Germany.
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