Singapore’s Next Cyber Defenders Emerge at National Cybersecurity Olympiad 2026
73 students from 20 schools across Singapore converged on NUS School of Computing for the finals of the National Cybersecurity Olympiad (NCO) 2026, the country’s national cybersecurity competition for pre-university students.
The finals, held on 28 March at the COM3 Multipurpose Hall, saw participants tackle a five-hour Jeopardy style Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, working through 15 challenges spanning Cryptography, Reverse Engineering, Web Exploitation, Binary Exploitation, and Forensics. The tasks demanded not just technical ability, but creative thinking under pressure – the kind of adversarial mindset that real-world cybersecurity work requires every day.
Now in its second edition, NCO is organised by the Centre for Nurturing Computing Excellence (CeNCE) at NUS Computing. The competition serves as Singapore’s pathway to the International Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO), identifying and preparing the nation’s strongest young talent for the global stage.
Rising to the challenge
Four students claimed gold medals for their outstanding performance:
- Nikola Winata (Anglo-Chinese Junior College)
- Meng Xiang (Hwa Chong Institution)
- Soong Yuan Jie Julian (Hwa Chong Institution)
- Ng Chen-Yi (Hwa Chong Institution)
They were joined by nine silver medallists and 14 bronze medallists from schools including Raffles Institution, NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, River Valley High School, Nanyang Junior College, Eunoia Junior College, and Yishun Town Secondary School – a spread that reflects cybersecurity’s growing appeal across the pre-university community.
Associate Professor Bimlesh Wadhwa presented prizes to the gold medallists at the ceremony. Representatives from the competition’s sponsors – including Mr Sam Chew, Deputy Director at the Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT), Ms Shirin Chua from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and Mr Jesus Escolar, CEO of Exelerys – also addressed the participants, noting the importance of building a strong cybersecurity talent pipeline in Singapore.
More than a competition
For many participants, NCO was a formative experience that went beyond rankings.
“It was well designed – lots of fun, and the time spent preparing really felt meaningful,” said gold medallist Nikola Winata.
Adhayan Jauhari, another participant, put it simply: “NCO is good for me since it provides me an avenue to showcase my love for cybersecurity.”
Chen Haowei, a silver medallist from Hwa Chong Institution, reflected on the bigger picture: “NCO was a fun and exciting experience. I look forward to seeing how it will help grow the cybersecurity community in Singapore!”
Behind the scenes, the effort to make the competition rigorous and fair was equally significant. Jaron Ng, a member of the NCO Scientific Committee, shared: “It was extremely heartwarming to see the young participants doing their very best to solve the challenges that we put together, and I look forward to seeing the same vigour in the participants during NCO 2027.”
What’s next
The work does not stop with the medals. Top performers from NCO 2026 will form the core of Singapore’s national team for IC 2026, where they will receive further training from CSIT before competing on the international stage in late June.
Looking further ahead, the NCO organising team is already planning for NCO 2027.
“For now, we’re committed to training our finalists in preparation for ICO 2026,” said David Lim, an NUS Computing student and Chair of the Scientific Committee. “In the long run, we’ll look towards preparing for NCO 2027. We intend to reach out and coordinate working with various local CTF teams for our December workshop and NCO 2027 challenges.”
“Beyond being a competitive platform to unearth valuable cybersecurity talents, NCO seeks to raise cybersecurity awareness across secondary schools and junior colleges in Singapore,” said Kee Zhen Xian, an NUS Computing student and Main Organiser of NCO. “Committing to our mission to develop participants technical and problem-solving skills, we ran a 10-day face-to-face workshop last December to equip aspiring contestants with the foundational skills needed to excel in NCO. We are currently exploring the launch of new courses and expanding our course capacity to reach and support even more aspiring cybersecurity enthusiasts.”
Supporting the pipeline
The National Cybersecurity Olympiad 2026 was supported by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, the Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies, Exelerys, and the NUS Co-operative Society.
NCO is part of a broader ecosystem of competitive computing programmes that run through CeNCE at NUS Computing. CeNCE also organises the National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI) and has been instrumental in training Singapore’s teams for international informatics competitions since 1992 – a legacy led by Associate Professor Tan Sun Teck, current President of the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
Full List of Medallists:
Gold
Meng Xiang (Hwa Chong Institution) · Ng Chen-Yi (Hwa Chong Institution) · Soong Yuan Jie Julian (Hwa Chong Institution) · Nikola Winata (Anglo-Chinese Junior College)
Silver
Wang Xikang Jason (Raffles Institution) · Chen Haowei (Hwa Chong Institution) · Tew Gun Rui (NUS High School of Mathematics and Science) · Jerome Lim Feng (Hwa Chong Institution) · Goh Lit Wan Bradyn (Nanyang Junior College) · Chang Yuhao (Eunoia Junior College) · Wong Chi To Aidan (River Valley High School) · Chan Ee Kiat Emmanuel (NUS High School of Mathematics and Science) · Zhang Hengwei (River Valley High School)
Bronze
Kishan Balamurugan (NUS High School of Mathematics and Science) · Lai Yi Zhe Lucas (River Valley High School) · Li Ziqi (Raffles Institution) · Avner Keinan Anugerah (Hwa Chong Institution) · Lim Kai Zhe Javier (Raffles Institution) · Liang Wei Yu (Hwa Chong Institution) · Aiden Kim Kai Teng (Hwa Chong Institution) · Yak Jun Le Kesler (Hwa Chong Institution) · Kavin Namit Bhambri (River Valley High School) · Yu Zihong (Raffles Institution) · Raphael Lim Fu En (Raffles Institution) · Chang Hua Keat (Yishun Town Secondary School) · Lee Kang Yi (Hwa Chong Institution) · Qiu Tian (River Valley High School)
