Philippine colleges compete in regional cybersecurity challenges

Students from various higher education institutions in the Philippines recently demonstrated technical expertise in regional cybersecurity competitions.

In Iligan City, Iligan Medical Center College (IMCC) emerged as the overall champion of the Cyber Skills Challenge Iligan 2026. Held as part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the event featured Capture the Flag (CTF) and Cybersecurity Quiz Bowl categories. IMCC’s team ‘PowerPuffBoys’ secured first place in the Quiz Bowl and second place in the CTF competition.

In Bacolod City, Silliman University (SU) placed third in the HackForGov 5 Negros Island Region (NIR) Regional Competition. Organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the competition utilized a Capture-the-Flag format to test skills in areas such as network forensics, cryptography, and web application security. The University of St. La Salle Bacolod took first place, while STI West Negros University finished as the first runner-up.