Registration is now open for the Kaspersky CTF 2026, an online security competition designed for academic and corporate teams. This announcement follows the conclusion of the SAS CTF qualifying round, which saw eight finalist teams emerge from a pool of more than 1,100 participants. Consequently, these finalists will advance to the offline finals scheduled to take place in Bali from October 20 to 23, 2026.
The company continues to support professional development through these competitive events. Last year, its tournaments attracted 2,500 teams globally. Meanwhile, the recent qualifiers tested participants with Jeopardy-style tasks focused on vulnerability detection and incident investigation.
SAS CTF Qualifier Winners Announced
The qualifying round concluded on June 7, 2026, after intense competition among 1,146 participating teams. Specifically, the team FR13NDS x Kheshig from Kazakhstan and Mongolia secured the first position by capturing 20 out of 24 flags. Furthermore, ARESxTRX from the United States and Italy took second place, while BunkyoWesterns from Japan finished third, with both teams capturing 19 flags.
Other top-performing teams included PIG SEKAI, dda_com from Korea, v01d-ma from Morocco, amigus from Russia, and thehackerscrew. These eight teams have earned their spots in the upcoming offline finals.
Registration Details for Kaspersky CTF 2026
The upcoming Kaspersky CTF 2026 is scheduled as a 24-hour online challenge taking place from August 29 to 30, 2026. Interested participants must register using an academic or corporate email address before the deadline on August 30. Additionally, applicants must select one of five regional streams, which include North America, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and Asia.
Competition Structure and Scenarios
The tournament features real-world cybersecurity scenarios. These challenges cover cryptography, reverse engineering, binary exploitation, and forensics. Notably, some tasks incorporate artificial intelligence elements and are inspired by actual investigations conducted by the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team.
“These competitions are far more than entertainment. For business they’re an effective and budget-friendly tool for team’s skillset development.”
Leonid Bezvershenko, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky GReAT
Prizes and Final Round in Bali
Winning teams from each regional stream will receive an invitation to the on-site finals in Bali. There, they will compete for a share of the $18,000 prize pool. To prepare participants, the organizers will provide educational activities, including a preparatory webinar, over the next two months.
