The Singapore National Cybersecurity Olympiad (NCO) is a national-level cybersecurity competition modelled after the International Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO), a global initiative inspired by prestigious competitions such as the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve rapidly, the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals far outpaces the current supply. Despite its growing importance, cybersecurity education and early talent development remain limited. The NCO aims to address this gap by cultivating interest and capability in cybersecurity among secondary school and junior college students in Singapore.

Beyond identifying top talent, the NCO seeks to:

• Raise cybersecurity awareness within the school community
• Inspire students and educators to engage more deeply with cybersecurity concepts
• Encourage creative and critical thinking in solving complex security challenges
• Provide hands-on exposure to real-world security problems such as vulnerability identification, threat analysis, and secure system design
• Develop participants' technical and problem-solving skills through practical learning

The competition adopts a Capture-The-Flag (CTF) format, where participants individually tackle a series of cybersecurity challenges within a six-hour contest window, testing both theoretical understanding and practical skills across a range of security domains.

The inaugural NCO was hosted in 2025 by the School of Computing (SoC) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Moving forward, the competition will be organized annually by the Centre for Nurturing Computing Excellence (CeNCE), under the School of Computing, NUS.

Through the NCO, we hope to build a strong pipeline of future cybersecurity talent and contribute meaningfully to Singapore's long-term cyber resilience.