Raw brainpower, a splash of creativity, and a solid dose of grit — that’s the winning formula that crowned team VUBeest as Belgium’s top cybersecurity champs. The four students from the bridging programme to the Master in Computer Science made a lasting impression at the 2025 Cyber Security Challenge Belgium. With a jaw-dropping score of 1693 points, they outpaced over 200 other teams. Team robots.txt, also from VUB, secured an impressive fourth place.
The Cyber Security Challenge is the ultimate annual test for aspiring ethical hackers. Higher education students team up to tackle real-life, complex cybersecurity tasks: from digital forensics to reverse engineering and web security. No textbook theory here — this is hands-on hacking in its purest form.
The brains behind the victory are Kaïs Boutaleb, Senne De Neef, Thomas Berckmoes, and Anas el Faijah. Winning means team VUBeest will head to DEFCON in Las Vegas this August — the world’s largest hacking and cybersecurity conference. On top of that, they’ve earned a coveted six-day SANS training course — an exclusive deep dive into cutting-edge cyber defence. It’s a major leap forward in their journey.
“This was my very first time competing in a cybersecurity challenge. And we came in first. I’m still speechless. Now it’s time to use what we’ve learned for a good cause,” shared team member Anas in a personal post on LinkedIn.*
About the Cyber Security Challenge Belgium
Since 2015, the Cyber Security Challenge has been pushing students to test their digital skills in a thrilling, real-world hacking competition. What started as a spark to ignite interest in cybersecurity has become a key player in Belgium’s tech scene. Each year, the excitement grows — among young talent and among companies hungry for sharp, critical minds.
*This is a machine translation. We apologise for any inaccuracies.