On April 19, 2025, SDU University, in collaboration with the CYCNET Community, successfully hosted its annual Security Day event — a cybersecurity competition held in the Capture The Flag (CTF) format. The event brought together students, faculty members, and cybersecurity professionals, fostering an engaging and educational environment focused on real-world security challenges.

This year’s CTF welcomed 13 finalist teams, selected through a preliminary qualifying round. Participants demonstrated their skills by solving complex tasks in categories such as Steganography, PWN, Reverse Engineering, Forensics, and more — mirroring real scenarios faced by professionals in the field.

The competition was held on the TryHackMe platform, our official Education Partner, which provided an immersive, hands-on learning experience. Winners of the competition were awarded premium TryHackMe subscriptions, granting access to advanced cybersecurity labs and career development tools.

The event commenced with an opening ceremony, where we had the honor of welcoming Yelzhan Nassipov, representative of Fortinet, as a guest speaker. His motivational speech inspired participants to continue striving toward excellence in the cybersecurity field.

We also express our sincere gratitude to CyberQupiya.kz, Kazakhstan’s national CTF platform, for their partnership and contribution to the event. As a leading local platform, CyberQupiya plays a key role in promoting ethical hacking and cybersecurity training among students and professionals.

We thank all the participants, partners, and organizers for making Security Day 2025 a success. Events like these are instrumental in preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and enhancing the practical learning experience at SDU University.