We Became Vice-Champions at HackDay France 2026

I still can’t fully describe what those 24 hours felt like.

Together with my teammates — Patrick Șuster, Filip Anghel, Vlad Hărdălău, and Alexandru Docea — we competed in the international cybersecurity final of HackDay.fr 2026, organized by ESIEE Paris. And we finished 2nd place in the world.

It didn’t start that way.

We came into the finals ranked 25th after qualifications. Not exactly the position you dream of. But once the competition began, everything changed.

For 24 hours straight — no sleep — we fought for every single challenge.
Minute by minute. Problem by problem.

We coded, tested, failed, retried, and pushed forward. Some challenges felt impossible at first. Others required teamwork at a level I’ve rarely experienced before. But we didn’t stop.

What made this even more special was our team itself — a collaboration between CoderDojo Timișoara and the Vianu Cybersecurity Club in Bucharest. Different cities, one mindset.

Somewhere along the way, we realized we were climbing fast.

And in the end… we made it to 2nd place, right next to:

• SANSTUP (France)
• UVT-CTF (Romania)

A podium with strong Romanian presence — something I’m incredibly proud of.

But honestly, what I’ll remember most isn’t the ranking.

It’s the energy of the team.
The pressure.
The moments when something finally worked after hours of frustration.
And the fact that even after the competition ended… we were still thinking about the unsolved challenges, trying to figure them out.

That’s who we are.

This experience showed me that we can compete at the highest level in the world — and win.

And we’re just getting started.

Thank you, guys, for the honor of working together with you in Dacia Team.

PS. Thank you ING Hubs and Fundatia Comunitara Bucuresti for this year support. Real helpful 🙂