Indonesian cyber talent deemed capable of competing on the world stage
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Royke L. Tobing, managing director of cyber security firm Spentera Group, believes the international cyber security competition Country to Country Capture The Flag (C2C-CTF), held in Bali from 10 to 14 August 2026, demonstrated the ability of Indonesian cyber security talent to compete on the world stage.
The presence of Indonesian talent in the winning C2C-CTF 2026 team, according to him, shows that domestic human resources can compete with cyber security talent from various countries.
“This is not an easy competition. Just to reach the final they had to get past hundreds of participants, then in the final round they had to work together with people from different countries, languages, universities and areas of expertise,” Royke said in a company press release received in Jakarta on Friday.
Royke said the main value of the competition lies not only in the prize, but in the experience and proof of participants’ ability to face cyber security problems directly.
“The prize money is certainly something to be proud of, but what is far more valuable is the proof of ability. They are placed in situations that demand speed of thought, precision, problem-solving skills and teamwork under pressure,” he said.
In C2C-CTF 2026, participants faced various simulations of digital security problems such as finding vulnerabilities in systems, understanding potential attacks, and finding ways to prevent and address them.
The challenges in the competition were designed to resemble problems that can occur in the real world, so participants were not only required to understand digital security theory, but also to be able to make decisions quickly and communicate with team members.
Royke said that holding competitions such as C2C-CTF is important for honing the ability to face cyber threats, which know no territorial boundaries.
“Cyber attacks can come from anywhere and their impact can also cross countries. Because of that, the people who will be on the front line of digital security cannot merely be technically excellent. They must be able to work with anyone, understand problems quickly, and then make the right decisions,” he explained.
Royke hopes the achievement of Indonesian talent in C2C-CTF 2026 will become a momentum to expand the development space for cyber security talent in the country.
“We have very good young people. The next task is to ensure they get an arena to train, compete, make mistakes, and then learn to become even better,” he said.
In the competition, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Indonesia acted as host and Udayana University as the local partner.
Meanwhile Hacktrace, part of Spentera Group, provided Hacktrace Ranges, a virtual laboratory for training participants to face simulated attacks and defence of digital systems.
Hacktrace has more than 50 laboratories for exercises in finding and testing system weaknesses and 20 laboratories for exercises in defending systems.
The training scenarios in these facilities are designed to resemble real conditions and have been used by more than 10,000 users.
The competition’s qualifying round was attended by 710 registrants. A total of 100 participants from 15 countries then advanced to the final round and were placed in cross-national teams of five people each.
The application of this competition format meant participants not only had to demonstrate technical cyber security skills, but also the ability to communicate and work together with people who have different languages and backgrounds.
The Indonesian representatives, consisting of Jacinta Syilloam from ITSN and Bambang Priyanto from Binus University, were part of the team that won first place and received a prize of 4,000 US dollars, or around Rp72 million, in the competition.