CS CYBERSHIELDSHOWDOWN 2026 EN | አማ Register ↗

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

HARDEN.
HACK.
HUNT.

Four days. Three hands-on challenges. Teams harden vulnerable systems, attack a separate target network, and investigate evidence from a simulated incident.

Register to compete ↗ See how it works ↓ Join Telegram ↗
04competition days
03hands-on formats
04people per team
100%practical experience
01 / THE COMPETITION

WHAT HAPPENS
AT CYBERSHIELD?

CyberShield is not a multiple-choice test. Teams move through purpose-built environments across four competition days. Each challenge is designed for a different defensive, offensive, or investigative objective.

01

HARDEN DAY

DEFEND THE ENVIRONMENT.

Teams receive a vulnerable or misconfigured network and harden it against the competition's defined security framework. Organizers score the improvement between the baseline and post-hardening results.
  • Organizer baseline assessment
  • Team hardening activity
  • Organizer post-hardening scan
DAY 1 02

RED TEAM

COMPROMISE THE NETWORK.

Discover attack paths, exploit weaknesses, pivot through the environment, and capture objectives.
  • Reconnaissance
  • Exploitation
  • Pivot and escalate
DAYS 2–3 03

INCIDENT RESPONSE

INVESTIGATE THE ATTACK.

Follow the evidence, analyze activity, reconstruct the incident, and identify what matters.
  • Artifact analysis
  • Threat hunting
  • Incident reconstruction
DAY 4
02 / FIND YOUR PATH

THERE IS A WAY
IN FOR YOU.

Whether you are ready to compete, still building confidence, or looking to support Ethiopia’s cyber talent, the next step should be clear.

FOR COMPETITORS

I’M READY TO TEST MY SKILLS

Review the format, build a four-person team, and prepare for four connected days of competition.

Explore the competition ↗
FOR BEGINNERS

I’M INTERESTED, BUT NEW

Join three virtual, two-hour bootcamps covering Harden, Hack, and Hunt before the competition begins.

See how to prepare ↗
FOR PARTNERS

I WANT TO SUPPORT THE PIPELINE

Contribute infrastructure, training, prizes, expertise, or sponsorship to strengthen the experience.

View partnership options ↗
03 / PROVEN IN ADDIS

CYBERSHIELD DID NOT START IN 2026

BUILT FROM
REAL EVENTS.

2023Established in Addis
100+First-edition registrations
02Completed CyberShield events
2026The four-day evolution
2023THE FIRST CYBERSHIELD

More than 100 people registered for the first edition. Teams worked against public Linux services and an internal Windows and Active Directory environment.

2025THE COMMUNITY RETURNED

The second edition expanded the competition experience, preparation, and community participation.

2026THE FOUR-DAY EVOLUTION

CyberShield now connects defensive hardening, red-team operations, and incident response in one program.

Event highlights · CyberShield 2025
Official CyberShield highlights · 2025
2025

THE COMMUNITY RETURNED

Competition, instruction, and a larger room of participants working side by side.

Competition floor · 2025CyberShield teams competing across the ALX technology hub in 2025
Competition floor · 2025
Technical briefing · 2025CyberShield participants presenting a technical briefing in 2025
Technical briefing · 2025
Learning together · 2025CyberShield participants attending a learning session in 2025
Learning together · 2025
Hands-on competition · 2025CyberShield participants working through the hands-on competition in 2025
Hands-on competition · 2025
2023

WHERE CYBERSHIELD BEGAN

The first teams, the first shared network, and the community photograph that started the story.

First edition teamwork · 2023Participants collaborating around laptops at the first CyberShield event in 2023
First edition teamwork · 2023
Teamwork from every angle · 2023Overhead view of a CyberShield team collaborating around laptops in 2023
Teamwork from every angle · 2023
Focused on the challenge · 2023Two CyberShield participants focused on their laptops in 2023
Focused on the challenge · 2023
The first CyberShield community · 2023Participants gathered for the first CyberShield community photograph in 2023
The first CyberShield community · 2023

The archive is grouped by event year and every photograph keeps its original aspect ratio—nothing is cropped to fit the layout. A poster frame will be extracted from the official 2025 highlight video when its optimized MP4 is added.

04 / PREPARE

NEW TO CYBERSECURITY?

THREE VIRTUAL
BOOTCAMPS.

Each two-hour session prepares participants for one part of the competition: Harden, Pentest, and Blue Team / IR. Delivery will be online, most likely through Zoom.

Bootcamp details & FAQ ↗ Ask in Telegram ↗

14–16 SEPTEMBER 2026መስከረም 4–6

ONLINE · 2 HOURS EACH

  • 14 SEP · Harden bootcamp
  • 15 SEP · Pentest bootcamp
  • 16 SEP · Blue Team / IR bootcamp
05 / FEATURED VOICES

PRACTITIONERS JOINING THE COMMUNITY

LEARN FROM PEOPLE
DOING THE WORK.

Brief talks and conversations will connect competitors with professionals working across cloud security, operational security, entrepreneurship, and Ethiopia’s technology ecosystem.

Abel headshotAbel Shiferaw

ABEL SHIFERAW

Senior Data Engineer at Google · Founder & CEO at Datanomics

Featured voice
Abraham headshotAbraham

ABRAHAM

AWS Systems Engineer · Operational Security

Featured voice
Temkin headshotTemkin Chapi Mengistu

TEMKIN "CHAPI" MENGISTU

Founder and Lead Developer at Snapwre

Featured voice
Mathilda headshotMathilda Giovanni Grisenti

MATHILDA GIOVANNI GRISENTI

Founder of GundanCore Technology

Featured voice
Kuleni headshotKuleni Shewakena

KULENI SHEWAKENA

Cloud Security Architect, Microsoft

Featured voice
Michael headshotMichael Yemane

MICHAEL YEMANE

Senior Security Engineer · ZTI Solutions
SecureLabs IT Technologies · CyberShield Organizer

Featured voice
Henock headshotHenock Negash

HENOCK NEGASH

Yekolo Temari · CyberShield Organizer

Featured voice

Session topics, times, and participation details will be added as the program is finalized. Professional affiliations identify speakers and do not necessarily indicate organizational sponsorship.

06 / PARTNER WITH CYBERSHIELD

HELP BUILD THE
NEXT GENERATION.

Partners do more than place a logo. They help make practical cybersecurity experience accessible to Ethiopian students and professionals.

Start a partnership conversation ↗
01

INFRASTRUCTURE

Cloud credits, platforms, labs, connectivity, and technical support.

02

LEARNING

Bootcamp instruction, mentoring, training vouchers, and career pathways.

03

EXPERIENCE

Challenge development, practitioner speakers, judges, and volunteers.

04

ACCESS

Sponsorship, prizes, participant support, and community outreach.

07 / ORGANIZERS & PLATFORM

THE NETWORK BEHIND CYBERSHIELD

BUILT
TOGETHER.

CyberShield is organized with community, venue, and technology support that makes the hands-on experience possible.

Organizer
SecureLabs IT Technologies SecureLabs IT Technologies

SecureLabs IT TechnologiesEvent coordination and cybersecurity program

 Organizer
ALX Addis Ababa ALX Addis Ababa

ALX Addis AbabaCapstone, ALX Tech Hub · Venue host and event delivery

 Organizer

Yekolo TemariChallenge development and community coordination

 Cyber range platform
Immersive / Snap Labs Immersive

ImmersiveSnap Labs technology ↗

Names and logos identify each organization’s role in the event and do not imply broader endorsement.

17–20 SEPTEMBER · ADDIS ABABA

READY TO
ENTER THE
NETWORK?

Registration is open for CyberShield Showdown 2026. Event announcements and participant updates are also available on Telegram.

Register to compete ↗ Join the Telegram channel ↗