Talent4Cyber, the first Spanish university hackathon, starts

• Commander of Joint Cyberspace Command opens first university cyber event

The Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE), the University of Granada, the TRUST Lab of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena and Telefónica have joined forces to organise the first university Hackathon in Spain.

The Commander of the MCCE, Rear Admiral Javier Roca Rivero, inaugurated the university event that links cybersecurity with the military world, inviting the participants to enjoy these two days, in which they will compete to demonstrate their cyber skills: ‘The Joint Cyberspace Command hopes you enjoy observing, finding and eliminating the cyberattacks that we manage every day in our nation. Today, you're going to get an up-close look at what we do in our organisation. It's an opportunity for you to see if this career path appeals to you and might fit your professional profile.

The Joint Cyberspace Command employs more than 100 engineers, computer scientists and telecommunications graduates.

Within this organisation, there are multiple specialties to work in the cyber domain: operating systems, network architecture, security or data analyst, among others.

The aim of the hackathon is to raise awareness of the service provided by the Armed Forces (FAS) to society in the field of cyberspace, as well as to train and evaluate the capabilities of university students in the event of a military operation in this field.

During these two days, the 40 teams (18 from the Technical University of Cartagena, 22 from the University of Granada), made up of four people each, compete to win the final reward. Which will consist of participating in the Locked Shields 2025 exercise organised by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), as members of the Spanish team of the MCCE.