Global Growth in Cybersecurity – Technology Olympiad Participation Triples at IIID

At the Iran International Innovation District (IIID), 1,956 participants in 1,241 teams — including 560 foreign teams from 83 countries — have joined the cybersecurity contests of the 2025 Technology Olympiad, tripling last year’s numbers and giving the event a global dimension for the first time.

Mohammad Hossein Doroudian, manager of the cybersecurity section, said the events are held in Capture The Flag (CTF) format. The preliminary round, conducted online and free of charge on Friday, September 25, 2025, lasted 24 hours and was open to all enthusiasts worldwide.

Last year’s participation was 650 individuals in 403 teams. This year’s jump to 1,956 individuals reflects both domestic growth and strong international interest.

Doroudian noted that 30 foreign finalists traveled to Iran to compete in person at the IIID finals. The final stage features three contests:

• Team CTF Attack & Defense – Teams defend their vulnerable systems while attacking others.
• Team Hardware CTF – Complex challenges focused on hardware hacking.
• Individual Lightning CTF – A rare and prestigious event held by only a few organizations worldwide.

In each contest, teams receive a vulnerable machine to protect while attempting to solve challenges in opponents’ systems. Every challenge has a flag or exclusive code; points are awarded based on difficulty and solution speed. Matches run 12 hours per day, with daily rankings and winners announced.