At the first-ever Cyber Games 2025 in Malaysia, a Lebanese-led team absolutely crushed the competition, scoring 1st place out of 50 countries.
Yes, you read that right. Lebanon came first, beating out cybersecurity talent from across the world.
The winning team, Team Blue, was led by Assem Awad, a Lebanese cybersecurity expert who guided his team through four intense days of hacking challenges, digital investigations, and cybercrime simulations.
Lebanon has come close before when we placed second at GISEC, but this is the first time ever we took home the gold. And it’s a huge win for Lebanese talent on a global stage.
Over 140 participants, from 50 different countries, were brought together to fight simulated cybercrime in Kuala Lumpur.
Over the course of four days, they tackled real-world cyber challenges – things like:
- Tracing cryptocurrency used in crimes
- Digging into ransomware attacks
- Analyzing digital evidence
- Identifying attackers using open-source tools
Basically, it was like a global cyber detective movie. And Team Lebanon was the lead.
Here are the winners:
- 1st Place: Team Blue (Lebanon)
- 2nd Place: Team TSIX (Ukraine)
- 3rd Place: Team FFFFFFirewalls (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
This win puts Lebanon on the map in a space we’re not often recognized for – cyber. It proves we’ve got some serious brainpower ready to take on real global challenges.
