CAGAYAN de Oro City — Northern Mindanao will have a new team to watch in the country’s cybersecurity competition after MSU-IIT’s Team CYB3RUS won the HackForGov 2026 Region X qualifying round.
The team from Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) topped 12 student teams from across the region during the Sept. 18 competition at the N Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.
CYB3RUS will now represent Region X at the HackForGov National Finals in Metro Manila this December, where it will compete against regional winners from across the country.
Team CodeKada of Liceo de Cagayan University placed first runner-up, while Team Not A Bot of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines–Main Campus finished second runner-up.
CYB3RUS member Jiandele Ambal also took the top individual performer award. Quem Krister D. Magdugo of Team Not A Bot placed second, while La Leunel Valmoria of Team CodeKada ranked third.
The competition used a Capture-the-Flag format, putting students through cybersecurity challenges that tested their ability to detect vulnerabilities, investigate incidents and respond to threats.
Challenges covered web application security, network forensics and security, digital forensics and steganography, and open-source intelligence.
Organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology Region 10 with private-sector partners, including PLDT, the competition also gave participants certifications from DICT and the National Computer Emergency Response Team.
Magdugo earned an additional individual wildcard slot for the national finals. He will join three other top performers from different regions in a multi-regional wildcard team.
Top finishers at the national level may also get opportunities to represent the Philippines in international cybersecurity competitions in Asia and Europe, according to DICT Cybersecurity Bureau officials.
