First cybersecurity competition held in Nineveh draws 75 students from across governorate

MOSUL — Northern Technical University in eastern Mosul hosted Nineveh governorate’s first cybersecurity competition, “Ashur City Eve,” with about 75 students competing in challenges that tested skills in digital protection, data analysis, and system penetration.

The event was held at the university’s Scientific Forum Hall in the Kafa’at neighborhood and brought together participants from both public and private institutions, including Al-Noor University and Nineveh University. The initiative was supported by Asiacell, several internet providers, and local businesses that offered meals and sponsorship.

“This is the first specialized cybersecurity and artificial intelligence event held by Nineveh universities,” said Nawar Abdulghani, head of the cybersecurity department at Northern Technical University. “The competition involved students from various institutions in challenges related to vulnerability detection, penetration testing, and system protection. The goal is to prepare students for the local and international job market.”

“The platform we used was developed entirely locally,” he added. “Winners will be nominated to participate in Iraq’s national CTF competition, where the top 10 percent are offered employment opportunities in government and private-sector cybersecurity organizations.”

Participants competed in encryption, digital forensics, web vulnerabilities, and cyber intelligence, simulating real-life threats in a secure environment under supervision from experts working in the cybersecurity field.

“This is the largest competition of its kind in Nineveh,” said participant Maryam Talaat. “It’s encouraging to see events like this in cybersecurity, which is clearly growing in the governorate and has a promising future.” She added that the event featured practical challenges that reflected real-world threats. “In the future, we hope to contribute to protecting banks, airports, and other systems.”

“Anyone who enters this field can feel their skills developing,” she said. “We hope these competitions continue with support from organizations like Ashur City, which played a clear role in making this happen, along with the students themselves, who brought meaningful projects.”

Abdulrahman Sufyan, another participant, said the competition created space for students to showcase technical abilities. “Ashur City Eve is meant to highlight student capabilities in cybersecurity,” he said. “We use these challenges to safely discover and exploit vulnerabilities in a training environment. This helps us become more technically professional.”

“This is the first edition of the competition,” he added. “Scores are updated automatically with each challenge. Whoever solves it first earns the most points. I’m currently in second place, and I see this as a very useful experience. In future editions, we hope to see more companies participate and support student skills.”