The official opening ceremony of the "CIDC 2025 – Critical Infrastructure Defence Challenge" cybersecurity festival is currently underway at the Baku Congress Centre. The event is organized by the State Security Service (SSS) and the State Agency for Special Communications and Information Security (SASIS), in partnership with the Association of Cybersecurity Organizations of Azerbaijan (ACOA).
This year, a total of 2,245 visitors, 934 training participants, 51 teams, and 56 partner organizations have joined the event.
The primary goal of the festival is to promote the exchange of best international practices in critical infrastructure protection, information security, digital stability, and artificial intelligence applications, as well as to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Over the course of two days, participants will have opportunities to engage in the "Cyber Warfare in Smart Cities" competition, attend 10 presentations and five panel discussions led by local and international cybersecurity experts, participate in six free training sessions of the "Hack The Future 2" program at Azerbaijan’s first cyber school, and explore an exhibition showcasing the latest cybersecurity technologies and trends.
The cybersecurity exhibition features 41 local and international companies presenting cutting-edge solutions in information security, risk management, and network protection.
The highlight of the event is the virtual cyber warfare competition, based on the "Cyber Warfare in Smart Cities" concept. Twenty local teams representing government agencies, critical infrastructure, banks, and telecommunications sectors, as well as five international teams, will compete for a prize fund of 30,000 AZN. Participants include teams from the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
