Team Portugal, which will compete in the European Cyber Security Challenge 2026, includes three students from xSTF, a cybersecurity group associated with the MSc in Information Security at DCC-FCUP.
Three students from the University of Porto have been selected to represent Portugal at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2026 (ECSC2026), which will take place in Germany from October 12 to 16.
The selected students are Nuno Saavedra, from the MSc in Information Security at the Department of Computer Science (DCC) of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP); Pedro Pinheiro, from the Bachelor's Degree in Informatics and Computing Engineering jointly offered by FCUP and the Faculty of Engineering (FEUP); and Kevin Pucci, from the Integrated Master's Degree in Medicine at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS).
All three are members of xSTF, a cybersecurity group associated with DCC-FCUP's MSc in Information Security that regularly competes in cybersecurity competitions. They secured their place at ECSC2026 through the CyberSecurity Challenge PT, organized by the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS).
At the European competition, Team Portugal—composed of secondary and higher education students aged between 16 and 25 from across the country, supported by national and international cybersecurity coaches and experts—will work together over three days to solve as many cybersecurity challenges as possible across a variety of domains. One of the coaches accompanying the team to Germany will be André Baptista, an alumnus of the MSc in Information Security.
The competition includes challenges in attack and defence, web security, mobile security, hardware security, cryptography, reverse engineering, and digital forensics. Teams compete to achieve the highest possible ranking in the event, which is organized by the Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale and the CINI Cybersecurity National Lab, with the support of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
The road to Germany
In Portugal, qualification for the European Cyber Security Challenge (ECSC) takes place each year through the CyberSecurity Challenge Portugal (CSCPT).
This year, the final selection bootcamp for CSCPT2026 was held in Rio Maior from July 17 to 20.
Each national team consists of ten members. The ten highest-ranked participants in the Portuguese competition qualify for the European championship, with places divided between the Senior category (participants born between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2003) and the Junior category (all younger participants).
CSCPT2026 is organized by the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS) in partnership with Instituto Superior Técnico, the University of Porto, AP2SI, and the Safe Internet Centre (Centro Internet Segura).