Cyber Defense Competition Concludes at GISEC GLOBAL 2026

Sep 21, 2026

67 min

Sep 21, 2026 11:31

From 350+ applications to one champion: School of Cyber Defense final stage at GISEC GLOBAL 2026

## Competition Overview

The School of Cyber Defense competition concluded its second edition at GISEC GLOBAL 2026 in Dubai. This year, the event expanded in scale and complexity, challenging participants to not only defend systems but also create solutions for real-world cybersecurity issues.

## Participation and Stages

The competition, hosted by the Dubai Electronic Security Center and organized by Techfirm, attracted over 350 applications from students across more than 30 UAE universities. The journey to the final involved three stages: a qualification round, a case challenge, and a live final.

In the qualification stage, over 300 participants from 90 teams tackled scenario-based tasks, with more than 90% scoring above the required threshold. The case challenge saw over 70 teams submitting solutions to official briefs, evaluated on criteria such as innovation and technical depth.

## Finalists and Winners

Seven top-scoring teams reached the live final at GISEC, representing institutions like BITS Pilani Dubai and the American University of Sharjah. Middlesex University Dubai's team "Unlisted" claimed first place, followed by "AUSec" from the American University of Sharjah and "ADPoly CyberGuard" from Abu Dhabi Polytechnic.

## Prize and Support

The competition offered a prize pool of AED 55,000, distributed among the winners. It was supported by industry partners including AMD, Kaspersky, and Huawei, highlighting a commitment to nurturing future cybersecurity talent in the region.

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