The Iran Tech Olympics CTF 2025, which took place in Tehran, Iran, from October 27-29, 2025, attracted 12 thousand contestants from 65 countries - double the number from 2024.
Surpassing a great many competing teams, DTU’s 4lias team impressively ranked first among international teams and number 5 out of 27 overall in attack-defense CTF 2025.
Having come 13th globally in the qualifying round, DTU’s 4lias - consisting of:
- Nguyen Ba Khanh,
- Vo Tuan Anh,
- Le Khac Huy, and
- Nguyen Tri Tam
were the only Vietnamese team to advance to the finals of the Iran Tech Olympics CTF 2025 in Iran.
MSc Nguyen Nhat Hoang (middle) and DTU’s 4lias team at Iran Tech Olympics CTF 2025
The Iran Tech Olympics CTF 2025brought together over 1,100 technology experts from 16 countries, including Russia, Pakistan, Oman, Vietnam, Turkey, Tunisia, Iraq, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, India, Lebanon, Indonesia, Romania, Algeria, the Netherlands, and the host country, Iran.
Teams competed in six core disciplines, including:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Cybersecurity
- Programming
- Warrior Robotics
- Drones
- The IoT
Among them, Cybersecurity discipline is regarded as the most intense “battle of wits,” requiring strategic thinking, advanced technical skills, and strong teamwork. It consists of three challenges: Attack/Defense CTF, Hardware Security, and Speed-Run CTF.
The Attack-Defense CTF is the first challenge within the Cybersecurity. In this round, each team must both defend their own systems and attack opponents’ systems to capture “flags” and earn points. Each team is provided with a server containing vulnerable services, forcing them to quickly analyze and patch weaknesses while exploiting vulnerabilities in other teams’ systems to gain a competitive advantage.
DTU’s 4lias team listed in the Top 5 out of 27 overall in attack-defense CTF 2025
From the start, DTU’s team 4lias adopted a highly strategic division of tasks: one group focused on vulnerability analysis and system defense, while the other concentrated on attacking, hunting, and capturing flags. As the difficulty increased and the organizers continually updated flags and used service-level agreement (SLA) scoring, 4lias continued performing at a steady level, maintaining high uptime while sustaining effective attacks. After a full day of intense competition, DTU’s 4lias rose above many strong opponents to secure 5th place out of 27 overall and first place among international teams - an achievement to be proud of given that the other teams were professional groups from cybersecurity companies and organizations.
Captain of Team 4lias, Nguyen Ba Khanh, said: "Participating in this competition was an incredibly special experience, allowing us to meet, compete with, and learn from many strong teams worldwide. It broadened our perspectives and taught us how to develop new strategies in the Attack-Defense model. Before leaving for Iran, our mentors and DTU gave us dedicated support, from practice sessions and equipment preparation to refining our skills, so we could fully focus on the competition. Specialized knowledge in Computer Networks, Programming, and Vulnerability Exploitation proved extremely valuable, giving us the confidence to perform well and secure a strong position in the contest."
DTU’s 4lias team ranked first among international teams and number
5 out of 27 overall in attack-defense CTF 2025
MSc Nguyen Nhat Hoang, an information security lecturer at the Faculty of Computer & Communications Network Engineering, guided the DTU team. “Team 4lias demonstrated steadfastness, a solid knowledge base, and a serious and professional competitive attitude,” he explains. “Their achievement not only stands as testament to the abilities of DTU students, who can confidently compete against experts and engineers from top global tech corporations, but it also affirms Vietnamese students’ intelligence, resilience, and strong ability for integration in highly specialized fields. This also gives convincing proof of the effectiveness of DTU’s long-standing commitment to the research-practice-application model, which has helped class after class to develop strong expertise and allowed them to confidently reach out to the world.”
(Media Center)