Vietnamese university teams have swept the top 10 positions in the preliminary round of the 2025 National Student Cybersecurity Competition (SVAT2025), underscoring the country’s growing strength in cybersecurity education and digital defense.
The qualifying round, held over the weekend, brought together 327 teams with 1,265 students from more than 50 universities and colleges across eight Asian countries. Organized by the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam), the event has been hailed as the largest and most technically challenging edition since its inception.
Participants competed online for eight consecutive hours, tackling 21 challenges in five key categories: Web Security, Reverse Engineering, Pwnable, Cryptography, and Forensics. Each team’s progress was monitored through a real-time scoring system and on-camera supervision to ensure transparency.
The BlueBox team from the Academy of Cryptography Techniques topped the leaderboard with 2,679 points, solving 18 of the 21 challenges. Anhchaic2 from the University of Information Technology – Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, came second with 2,103 points, followed by RUBY CHAN from the Academy of Cryptography Techniques’ Ho Chi Minh City branch. Teams from Hanoi University of Science and Technology rounded out the top five.
A total of 76 teams have advanced to the final round—20 in Division A for security and technical institutions, and 56 in Division B for civilian universities. The Division A final will take place on November 15, 2025, in Hanoi, featuring a live Attack & Defense format, while Division B will compete online with additional AI, IoT, and blockchain topics.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Trieu Manh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention, the competition aims to nurture a new generation of digital defenders for Vietnam’s digital transformation strategy.
*Sources: Zing News, VietnamPlus, VJST, Tuoi Tre, VnEconomy
