Today, at Palazzo Antonini, we held the award ceremony for the local competition of CyberChallenge.IT 2026 at the University of Udine. CyberChallenge.IT is a national training program for young talents between the ages of 16 and 24, aimed at recruiting the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

👏 Congratulations to the top three winners:

1. 🥇 Francesco Viciguerra, student at the Bachelor degree in Computer Science, UniUD
2. 🥈 Michele Ongaro, student at the Bachelor degree in Computer Science, UniUD
3. 🥉 Tommaso Sbrugnera, student at the ISIS “Malignani” secondary school

Congratulations also to all the Cyberdefenders who participated in the ethical hacking training program at DMIF this spring. They can now join MadrHacks, the Udine-based team of ethical hackers born out of these competitions, and one of the top teams worldwide.
Special thanks to all the instructors and tutors who guided the students throughout this training journey, as well as our sponsors karmasec and Danieli Automation.

The next step will be the CyberChallenge national competition, which will take place in Salerno on July 12-15, 2026. There, the University of Udine will be represented by Francesco Viciguerra, Michele Ongaro and Tommaso Sbrugnera, together with Francesco Graziano (Bachelor degree in Computer Science), Marco Del Pio Luogo (International Master degree in Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity) and Lorenzo Bonotto (Mathematics), with Xhulia Palaj (International Master degree in Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity) as reserve.

More information on Qui.uniud.

Go MadrHacks go! 🐍 Sicut Serpentes!