“Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer” Team Wins Second Place in Capture The Flag at National Cyber Week 2025

Image: The Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team during the award presentation for Second Place in Capture The Flag (CTF) at National Cyber Week 2025.

Surabaya, F-ELECTICS ITS – Another proud achievement has been made by students of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) through the Faculty of Intelligent Electrical and Informatics Technology (F-ELECTICS). The Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team successfully secured Second Place in the Capture The Flag (CTF) category at National Cyber Week 2025, an event organized by Cyber Security Bina Nusantara University.

The Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team is a cross-study-program team within F-ELECTICS, consisting of Umar Baharun and Evandra Raditya Fauzan from the Information Technology (IT) Study Program, Class of 2025, and Daniel Dhaniswara from the Software Engineering (RPL) Study Program, Class of 2025. The collaboration between the IT and RPL programs became a key strength in facing this national-level cybersecurity competition.

Umar Baharun explained that the formation of the Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team was not an instant process. The three members had known each other since their vocational high school years and frequently met at various CTF competitions.

Image: Members of the Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team (left to right): Evandra Raditya Fauzan, Dhaniel Dhaniswara, and Umar Baharun.

“Back in vocational high school, we often met at CTF competitions and already knew each other. Coincidentally, the three of us were accepted into ITS, so we decided to form a team together,” said Umar. This shared experience and close relationship helped the team coordinate more effectively during National Cyber Week 2025.

The team’s interest in the field of cybersecurity stemmed from the nature of CTF competitions, which challenge participants’ logic and creativity. According to Umar, CTF feels like solving digital puzzles that sharpen analytical thinking. “CTF is exciting, it feels like playing a puzzle game. We are challenged to think logically and solve problems using various approaches,” he explained.

At National Cyber Week 2025, participants competed under a Jeopardy-style CTF system, featuring various challenge categories such as cryptography, web security, forensics, reverse engineering, and binary exploitation (PWN).

Among all categories, PWN or Binary Exploitation was considered the most difficult by the team. Nevertheless, clear role distribution played a crucial role in their success. “Roles are usually assigned based on each member’s skills. Evan handles web exploitation, I take care of cryptography and forensics, while Daniel focuses on reverse engineering,” Umar explained. This strategy allowed the team to work in parallel and maximize each member’s expertise throughout the competition.

Image: The team working on CTF challenges during National Cyber Week 2025.

The academic background at F-ELECTICS also played an important role in shaping the team’s mindset during the competition. The Software Engineering (RPL) program helped increase awareness of security aspects in application development, while Information Technology (IT) provided strong networking fundamentals that were highly relevant to CTF challenges.

“RPL makes us more aware of security issues when developing applications. Meanwhile, the networking fundamentals from IT are extremely useful in CTF competitions,” Umar added.

For F-ELECTICS students and others who are interested in pursuing cybersecurity and national CTF competitions, the Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team shared several important tips. According to them, teamwork and regularly reading write-ups from previous competitions greatly help in expanding problem-solving strategies and ways of thinking.

In addition, technical preparation is a crucial factor. “Prepare the environment early, as it tools, scripts, and everything you need. Don’t wait until the competition starts to set things up,” Umar advised.

The achievement of the Manarul Ilmi Enjoyer Team is expected to inspire more F-ELECTICS ITS students to actively participate in national cybersecurity competitions and continue developing their competencies in technology and cyber security.