On May 1, 2026, the Cyber Security Universiade 2026 was held at the National University “Kyiv Aviation Institute”. The event became the first inter-university cybersecurity competition in Ukraine organized in the Capture The Flag (CTF) format.
The competition was organized by the National University “Kyiv Aviation Institute”, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, and Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, with the strategic support of CRDF Global and the technological support of Cyber Unit Technologies on the Cyber Range UA platform.
The event brought together 110 participants in 21 university teams. Participants solved 23 practical simulations of different difficulty levels in the areas of DFIR, cryptography, web application security, and network forensics.
A key feature of the Universiade was the integration of tasks related to 5G network security and modern telecommunication infrastructure, developed by the SECURE project team. Participants worked with realistic scenarios focused on identifying and analyzing vulnerabilities in communication systems, network components, traffic flows, and security configurations.
The practical environment included advanced equipment and software tools, such as ID Quantique quantum random number generators, Amarisoft solutions, software-defined radio (SDR) platforms, OpenAirInterface 5G, ASUS NUC computing units, and user equipment (UE) devices. These components enabled realistic 5G security scenarios, including work with radio access, 5G Core interactions, traffic analysis, monitoring, and vulnerability assessment.
The winners of the competition were:
1st place — CyberRangeKAI
2nd place — CyberSea
3rd place — CyberVin
The event demonstrated how cyber ranges, 5G laboratories, and university-industry cooperation can strengthen practical cybersecurity education and prepare students to protect modern digital and telecommunication infrastructures.
