By Mads Sejer Nielsen og Caspar Birk, AAU Kommunikation og Public Affairs
Photo: Mads Sejer Nielsen

After an intense battle at the top of the field, Denmark leaves the European Cyber Security Championship 2025 with a fantastic second place. This was clear after Thursday's ceremony in Warsaw.

It testifies to the solid foundation for developing talented and committed young cyber talents in Denmark, says national coach and professor of cyber security at Aalborg University, Jens Myrup Pedersen.

"Denmark has been super strong in a field of very large cyber nations and with another podium place, there is every reason to be proud. The young people have been talented and fought hard all the way, and they are super good examples of the committed talent pool we have at home," he says.

Italy won the gold medal at the championships, which were held in Warsaw this year, while Germany came in third place. Last year, the Danish national team finished fourth at the championship, while in 2022 it took home a gold medal and in 2023 got a bronze medal.

Jeopardy and attack/defence

Over two days, the Cyber National Team has competed in two categories called 'Jeopardy' and 'attack/defence'. In the jeopardy discipline, they had to find information in vulnerable apps, web pages or network traffic, among other things. In the second category, the national team was given a server to defend, while they had to attack and try to exploit the other teams' servers.

The scenarios are reminiscent of some of the challenges that can arise in the real world, and the performance therefore arouses enthusiasm at the Danish Industry Foundation.

"Three podiums in five years testify to a stable high level of competencies among the Danish cybersecurity talents. It's worth celebrating and building on. In this light, we continue our work to motivate young people to educate themselves in cyber security in the hope that in the future they will either start their own business or otherwise contribute to cyber security somewhere in the Danish business community," says Malene Stidsen, Head of the Danish Industry Foundation's Cyber Security Programme.

Important result in this time

In the past year, cyber security and hybrid attacks have been on everyone's lips, but after the performance this year, it is clear that Denmark can hatch great talents in cyber security.

"It is crucial for Denmark's security that we have skilled cyber experts who can understand, anticipate and counter digital threats. At a time of rising international tensions and complex cyber attacks, the national team's impressive ranking shows that Denmark has young talents at a very high level. This gives reason for optimism for our future cyber security capacity," says Thomas Ahrenkiel, Head of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service.