International Junior Cybersecurity Olympiad (IJCO) Global Finals – Capture-the-Flag (CTF)

This competition is open to ALL Year 7 to 13 (Secondary 1 to A-Lvls/STPM) students who are studying in Malaysia.

Students who have won ๐—š๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ/ ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ/ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฒ Award in IJCO 2026 will be invited to compete in STEAM AHEAD: International Junior Cybersecurity Olympiad (IJCO) Global Finals 2026.

Year Level: 7 to 13 (Secondary 1 to A-Levels/ STPM)
*According to Year Level in January 2026
Language(s): English
๐‚๐Ž๐๐“๐„๐’๐“ ๐ƒ๐€๐“๐„: 11-16 December 2026 @ Tashkent, Uzbekistan
๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐‹๐Ž๐’๐ˆ๐๐†: 28 October 2026
๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜: https://forms.gle/v2tXf3uHP8hvh33C8

How to Register

Step 1: Fill in the Info Request Form: https://forms.gle/v2tXf3uHP8hvh33C8
*Note that this is not the Registration Form
.
Step 2: Invitation will be sent to your email when you are eligible to participate.
*Take note that Info Request Form is not โ€œRegistration Formโ€ ๐Ÿ™‚

<DOWNLOAD STEAM AHEAD INFO BOOKLET HERE-COMING SOON>

What is International Junior Cybersecurity Olympiad (IJCO) Global Finals – Capture-the-Flag (CTF)?

Capture-the-Flag (CTF) is a gamified approach to learning cybersecurity through a fun and captivating training + competition package. Participantsโ€™ cybersecurity knowledge and teamwork skills are tested by reinforcing important concepts through challenges written as interactive games and puzzles. CTFs can be used to determine the skill level of participants.

Prior to the competition, trainings and workshops would be conducted to help participants gauge their preparation levels and brush up on the necessary skills to ace the competition challenges. This may be between 4 days to a week, depending on the program structure.

How to Participate?

1. Students will be grouped into teams (usually of 3 members) and assigned virtual machines which
have been pre-implanted with vulnerabilities and data they would have to discover.
2. Teamwork and partnership is strongly encouraged.
3. Submission of the data found (also known as โ€œflagsโ€) will be on a challenge site that will be shared with participants.
4. Communication with students (especially in the case of international students) will be through a
specified chat channel. The chat channel will be monitored by admins 24 hours over the entire CTF duration.

Date

๐‚๐Ž๐๐“๐„๐’๐“ ๐ƒ๐€๐“๐„: 11-16 December 2026 @ Tashkent, Uzbekistan
๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐‹๐Ž๐’๐ˆ๐๐†: 28 October 2026

Awards

IJCO GF Individual & Team Award – refer to Info Pack here!

OVERALL CHAMPION AWARDS โ€“ PRESIDENTโ€™S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) โ€“ PAExS and PAExS Star Award

The top performing contestants who win all 2 out of 5 Individual Gold Awards in IJMO, VIJSO GF, IJIO GF, IJCO GF and IJAO will be honored with the Presidentโ€™s Award for Excellence in STEAM (PAExS).

For Year 3 to 11 (1 winner per grade)

  • Trophy
  • Certificate
  • Induction into the International Junior Honor Society (IJHS)





>>>ย Download theย STEAM AHEAD 2026 Booklet here <<<

STEAM AHEAD (A COMBINATION OF 5 COMPETITIONS โ€“ IJMO, VIJSO GF, IJIO GF, IJCO GF, IJAO)

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. STEAM AHEAD is our initiative to combine our international academic competitions to educate students and bring them international exposure about possible career choices in these fields.

So, STEAM AHEAD is the first to combine 5 international arts and academic competitions in one location and offer multiple opportunities for students to win awards.ย The following are the awards participants can stand to win:

  1. IJMO โ€“ Math Olympiad Individual Award
  2. Vanda International Junior Science Olympiad (VIJSO) Global Finalย Individual Award
  3. Vanda International Junior Science Olympiad (VIJSO) Global Finalย Team Award
  4. International Junior Informatics Olympiad (IJIO) Global Finalย Individual Award
  5. International Junior Informatics Olympiad (IJIO) Global Finalย Team Award
  6. International Junior Cybersecurity Olympiad (IJCO) Global Final Individual Award
  7. International Junior Cybersecurity Olympiad (IJCO) Global Final Team Award
  8. International Junior Arts Olympiad (IJAO) Individual Award
  9. IJMO Overall Champion, Runner-up, 2nd Runner-Up in each year level
  10. VIJSO Global Final Overall Champion, Runner-up, 2nd Runner-Up in each year level
  11. IJIO Global Final Overall Champion, Runner-up, 2nd Runner-Up in each year level
  12. IJCO Global Final Overall Champion, Runner-up, 2nd Runner-Up in each year level
  13. Presidentโ€™s Award for Excellence in STEAM (PAExS) winners in IJMO, VIJSO Global Final Individual & IJIO Global Final Individual

PAExS Award

The top performing contestants who win all 2 out of 5 Individual Gold Awards in IJMO, VIJSO Global Final, IJIO Global Final, IJCO Global Final and IJAO will be honored with the Presidentโ€™s Award for Excellence in STEAM (PAExS).

These contestants will be awarded a PAExS Trophy, certificate and International Junior Honor Society (IJHS) Induction.

PAExS Star Award

The top performing contestants who win all 3 out of 5 Individual Gold Awards in IJMO, VIJSO Global Final, IJIO Global Final, IJCO Global Final and IJAO will be honored with the Presidentโ€™s Award for Excellence in STEAM (PAExS).

These contestants will be awarded a PAExS Platinum medal and certificate plus get inducted into the International Junior Honor Society (IJHS) and win a full scholarship to attend the Young Achievers Leadership Academy (YALA).

STEAM AHEAD 2026 is brought to you by SIMCC in collaboration with Scholastic Trust Singapore Limited and our global partners in over 35 countries and territories.

At each STEAM AHEAD event, we will start to promote linkages across the subjects so that it will up-skill students and boast their interest in STEAM.

Our goal is to help our students get into professional paths that are future proof. Our societyโ€™s demand for technically driven roles is rising and therefore it is crucial that students are encouraged to get qualifications in Science, Technology, and related fields. By getting qualifications that will allow students to work in innovative fields, they are guaranteed to have fulfilling and well-paid professions.

More info will be available at our facebook (fb.me/smoMalaysia).