CompSci student makes mark in national cybersecurity tilt
By Stephanie Camille Ilar
Mr. Theone Genesis Eclarin, a third-year computer science student of the Mariano Marcos State University College of Computing and Information Sciences (MMSU CCIS) won 2nd runner-up in the wildcard bracket of the Hack4Gov National Finals at Sequoia Hotel, Manila Bay on December 8-10.
Themed "Cyber Guardians: Empowering Today's Defenders, Securing Tomorrow's Digital Nation," Hack4Gov is a cybersecurity competition where participants solve hacking-related challenges within a digital playground or a controlled environment.
Organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology-National Computer Emergency Response Team (DICT-NCERT), the competition brought together 20 of the country’s best cybersecurity teams. These included 16 regional champions and 4 wildcard teams, formed from each region’s top individual scorers.
Eclarin qualified as Region I’s highest scorer, earning him a spot in the prestigious national competition. At the finals, he was grouped with elite participants from Regions IV-A, Region IV-B, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Despite meeting only the night before the event, they were able to unite their individual tactics and work as a team.
Using their cybersecurity skills, they searched for hidden flags, solved challenges in digital forensics, open source intelligence, web exploitation, and cryptography in simulated environments that mimic real-life cyberattacks, accumulating a total of 3,500 points.
With this performance, the top three winning teams may have the opportunity to compete internationally together with the national champion team.
Eclarin was mentored by Mr. Joshua Fernandez since the preliminary rounds. His achievement underscores MMSU’s commitment to producing skilled digital defenders and the growing competence of students in the field of cybersecurity.
Joshua Fernandez
Dec, 15, 2025 09:19:am
Written By:
STRATCOM
