Wins
My various achievements, with supporting evidence :)
European CyberSecurity Challenge 2026 #
My fifth consecutive ECSC and third as captain. Hungary finished 15th among the 35 competing countries and 17th overall out of 42 teams, our strongest placing across my five editions. The final scoreboard includes seven guest teams; the US and Canada sit above Hungary, explaining the two-rank difference. The contest combined jeopardy challenges with attack/defence, keeping our own services running while exploiting other teams’ systems.
- scholarship
National Higher Education Scholarship #
The third consecutive award recognises my academic and professional work for 2026/27, following the 2024/25 and 2025/26 scholarships. Between the second and third awards, my work included the LLAIS workshop presentation in Bologna, the GRPO research presentation at ELTE and another season of cybersecurity competitions.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma. I award the National Higher Education Scholarship to David Imolai in recognition of outstanding academic and professional achievements for the 2026/2027 academic year. Budapest, 1 September 2026.
- award
Exceptional Student of the Informatics Faculty #
Received the faculty’s Exceptional Student distinction for a second consecutive year, recognising my academic work and scientific activity during the Computer Science BSc.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma. Awarded to Computer Science BSc student David Imolai, who received the Excellent Student of the Faculty of Informatics at Eötvös Loránd University distinction in 2026 for his outstanding academic and scientific work. Budapest, 7 May 2026.
- 4th
Hungarian CyberSecurity Challenge 2026 #
Fourth of 54 seniors and thirteenth of 172 competitors overall in the 23–26 April individual competition. The event page describes 72 hours of CTF and forensic-image tasks. Everyone tackles the same challenges, with separate junior, senior and overall rankings. HCSC also serves as a qualification route towards the Hungarian ECSC team.
English translation of Certificate
This certifies that David Imolai participated in the Hungarian Cyber Security Challenge organised by the National Cybersecurity Center on 23–26 April 2026. He placed fourth of 54 competitors in the senior category and 13th of 172 overall. Budapest, 6 May 2026.
Erasmus+ study scholarship #
Received an Erasmus+ study-mobility scholarship from ELTE for a semester at the Technical University of Munich. I spent April–September 2026 at TUM: a chance to study in a different university environment and use German outside a language exam. I took many interesting courses, like Rootkit Programming, or Cyber Physical Systems Security. At these courses I made Linux and UEFI rootkits, and wrote a paper about USB-C security. The exchange also included the DevOps course where we built Cooking Assistant. It was an unforgettable experience, which I would repeat in a heartbeat.
- certificate
Cambridge C2 Proficiency #
Grade A in Cambridge C2 Proficiency, with an overall score of 223. I took the exam in Budapest on 14 March 2026. Reading, Use of English and Listening were all 230; Writing was 218 and Speaking 209. A fairly satisfying piece of paper to have after years of doing most of my reading, programming and research in English.
Text of certificate
David Imolai has been awarded Grade A in the Certificate of Proficiency in English, Council of Europe Level C2. Overall score 223: Reading 230, Use of English 230, Writing 218, Listening 230, Speaking 209. Examination: 14 March 2026, Budapest. Issued 29 March 2026.
- Third
ELTE Faculty of Informatics TDK Conference #
Third place in the Informatics section for our follow-up GRPO research, presented at the autumn 2025 TDK and recognised in a certificate issued in May 2026. The work introduces generated cryptographic CTF tasks and a Python-tool-using LLM trained with Group Relative Policy Optimization. I worked on benchmark preparation and validation, and LLM infrastructure. The paper and Random-Crypto benchmark are public.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma awarded to David Imolai for third place in the Informatics section at the ELTE Faculty of Informatics autumn 2025 TDK conference, with the paper "Improving LLM Agents with Reinforcement Learning on Cryptographic CTF Challenges". Budapest, 7 May 2026.
- award
ELTE recognition for student innovation, HackSynth #
Recognition for the HackSynth team’s student innovation in HSUP, awarded at ELTE’s Innovation Days. It followed our work on the business proposal and Demo Day pitch, taking the research idea towards a proposed practical service.
English translation of Certificate
Certificate of Recognition. Eötvös Loránd University awards this certificate jointly to the HackSynth team, David Imolai and a teammate, for their outstanding student innovation performance in the Hungarian Startup University Program in 2025. Budapest, 5 November 2025.
- conference
Presenter at LLAIS, a workshop at ECAI 2025 #
I presented “Improving LLM Agents with Reinforcement Learning on Cryptographic CTF Challenges”, co-authored with Lajos Muzsai and András Lukács, at the Workshop on LLM-Based Agents for Intelligent Systems (LLAIS) within ECAI 2025 in Bologna. Our work combines generated crypto tasks with reinforcement learning for an agent using a persistent Python environment. The certificate records attendance at the surrounding ECAI conference.
Text of certificate
Certificate of attendance. David Imolai attended ECAI 2025, Bologna, 25–30 October 2025. Signed by the Organizing Committee Chair.
- 21st
European CyberSecurity Challenge 2025 #
My second ECSC as captain of the Hungarian team, coordinating communication and cooperation while continuing to solve challenges. We finished thirteenth in jeopardy and twenty-first of 34 countries overall. My competition note describes the captain’s role alongside technical work.
Text of certificate
Certificate of Attendance presented to Dávid Imolai for participating as a team member of Team Hungary. ECSC 2025, Warsaw, Poland, 6–9 October 2025.
Speaker at ITBN CONF-EXPO 2025 #
I spoke alongside two other panelists about what participants gain from security competitions and where the ecosystem could improve. I brought the perspective of an individual CTF player and national-team captain, combining technical challenge solving with team coordination. My post about the discussion lists the topic and speakers.
- scholarship
National Higher Education Scholarship #
My second consecutive National Higher Education Scholarship, awarded for academic and professional achievement in 2025/26. It followed a year in which HackSynth won the faculty TDK and national OTDK cybersecurity session, while we developed its business proposal through HSUP. The government’s recipient list names me under ELTE’s Faculty of Informatics.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma. I award the National Higher Education Scholarship to David Imolai in recognition of outstanding academic and professional achievements for the 2025/2026 academic year. Budapest, 1 September 2025.
- leadership
Project Owner, Hungarian Startup University Program #
I led the technical direction and coordination of HackSynth’s proposed autonomous pentesting service. With two teammates and a mentor, I developed its business plan and pitched to the jury at Demo Day after being invited to the event. We explored SMEs, larger organisations and security service providers as customers, and worked through positioning, competitor analysis and customer trust. Weekly meetings connected the business work to our research with Lajos Muzsai and András Lukács. Reliability was a central engineering question: the agent needed to find vulnerabilities without damaging a customer’s system. The ELTE interview describes our responsibilities and plans. Our deliverables were a business plan and pitch built around the research prototype; automatic remediation remained a proposed extension.
Text of certificate
Certificate awarded to Dávid Imolai, HackSynth, for the successful completion of the Hungarian Startup University Program and participation at HSUP Demo Day of the 2024/25 academic year.
- award
Exceptional Student of the Informatics Faculty #
The faculty’s annual student award, recognising academic work and scientific activity during my Computer Science BSc. In the same academic year, my research with Lajos Muzsai progressed from first place at the faculty TDK to a national OTDK Cybersecurity session win. The Informatics workshop’s results page lists the award alongside those research and scholarship results.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma. Awarded to Computer Science BSc student David Imolai, who received the Excellent Student of the Faculty of Informatics at Eötvös Loránd University distinction in 2025 for his outstanding academic and scientific work. Budapest, 8 May 2025.
- First
37th National Student Research Conference (OTDK), ICT section #
Lajos Muzsai and I won first place in the Cybersecurity session with HackSynth, supervised by András Lukács. Our LLM agent plans commands, runs them in a Docker attackbox and summarises the results for its next step; we also built its PicoCTF and OverTheWire benchmarks. We presented at BME during the 23–25 April conference. The faculty’s OTDK report names us among the first-place winners.
English translation of Certificate
Certificate of Recognition. This certifies that David Imolai and Lajos Muzsai achieved first place in the Cybersecurity session of the Computer Science section at the 37th National Student Research Conference (OTDK). Budapest, 25 April 2025.
- 8th
Hungarian CyberSecurity Challenge 2025 #
I finished eighth among seniors and twelfth overall in the 24–27 April individual competition: my first senior-category HCSC after three years as a junior. Later that season I competed with the Hungarian team at ECSC in Warsaw.
English translation of Certificate
This certifies that David Imolai participated in the Hungarian Cyber Security Challenge organised by the National Cyber Security Centre on 24–27 April 2025. He placed 12th overall in the individual competition and eighth in the senior category.
- conference
XXVI. Eötvös Conference #
Lajos Muzsai and I presented HackSynth at the college’s 4–5 April student conference, explaining the planner–summariser loop and its evaluation framework to the audience of students and faculty.
English translation of Certificate
This certifies that David Imolai presented "HackSynth: LLM Agent and Evaluation Framework for Autonomous Penetration Testing" at the XXVI Eötvös Conference, held on 4–5 April 2025. Budapest, 5 April 2025.
- 13th
Hack The Box Cyber Apocalypse CTF 2025 #
Our Hungarian Cyber Security Team finished thirteenth out of 8,130 teams, solving all 77 challenges for 57,025 points during the 21–26 March competition. The team’s public report details our experience, with work across reverse engineering, cryptography, forensics and web exploitation.
Text of certificate
Certificate of Participation. Cyber Apocalypse CTF 2025: Tales from Eldoria. Username: David Imolai. Team: Hungarian Cyber Security Team. Team rank: 13th out of 8,130 teams. Solved challenges: 77/77. Total points: 57,025. CTF dates: 21–26 March 2025.
- First
ELTE Faculty of Informatics TDK Conference #
Lajos Muzsai and I presented HackSynth at the faculty TDK, winning first place and a nomination for the national OTDK. The project brought together agent implementation, a runnable Docker attackbox and repeatable evaluation on CTF tasks, and the jury recommended it for presentation at OTDK.
English translation of Certificate
This certifies that David Imolai took part in the ELTE Faculty of Informatics TDK conference on 17 December 2024 and won first place in the Informatics section with "HackSynth: LLM Agent and Evaluation Framework for Autonomous Penetration Testing". The jury recommended the work for presentation at OTDK. Issued in Budapest, 25 February 2025.
- 26th
European CyberSecurity Challenge 2024 #
My first ECSC as captain, following two editions as a junior team member. I continued to solve challenges while taking responsibility for cooperation between players; Hungary finished twenty-sixth of 31 countries. Turin hosted the tenth edition at Officine Grandi Riparazioni.
Text of certificate
European Cybersecurity Challenge 2024. Certificate of Attendance presented to Dávid Imolai for participating as captain of Team Hungary. 8–11 October, Turin, Italy.
- scholarship
National Higher Education Scholarship #
My first national scholarship as an ELTE Computer Science BSc student, awarded for academic and professional achievement in 2024/25. Alongside my degree and Eötvös József College studies, I was doing cybersecurity research and competing with the Hungarian team.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma. I award the National Higher Education Scholarship to David Imolai in recognition of outstanding academic and professional achievements for the 2024/2025 academic year. Budapest, 1 September 2024.
- certificate
telc Deutsch B2 #
Passed telc Deutsch B2 with 278.5 out of 330 points and the grade Gut: 151.5/180 in the written examination and 127/150 in the oral examination. I took the exam on 31 August 2024, and later had plenty more opportunities to use German during my Erasmus semester in Munich.
English translation of Certificate
telc Deutsch B2, European level B2. Awarded to David Imolai. Written examination: 151.5/180 points, comprising Reading 72.5/75, Language elements 24/30 and Writing 55/75. Oral examination: 127/150, comprising Listening 60/75 and Speaking 67/75. Total 278.5/330; grade Gut (good). Examination date: 31 August 2024. Issued 17 September 2024.
Captain of the Hungarian CyberSecurity Team #
I joined the Hungarian team in 2022 and became captain in August 2024. Alongside coordinating cooperation, and keeping information moving between players, I coordinate with coaches and watchdogs, while also continuing to solve challenges and manage infrastructure. My 2025 competition note describes that combination of technical work and communication. By 2026 I had competed in five consecutive ECSC editions: Vienna, Hamar, Turin, Warsaw and Bochum.
- 4th
Hungarian CyberSecurity Challenge 2024 #
Fourth in the junior category, completing three consecutive years among the top five after third-place finishes in 2022 and 2023. Later in 2024 I became captain of the Hungarian team and competed at ECSC in Turin. This was also the first year when I had to juggle university studies with this CTF competition, as I had started my Computer Science BSc at ELTE in September 2023.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma awarded to David Imolai for fourth place in the junior category of the Hungarian Cyber Security Challenge 2024 IT security competition. Budapest, 2024.
- 42nd
Hack The Box University CTF 2023 #
Team ELTE finished forty-second out of 955 teams at Hack The Box’s “Brains & Bytes” University CTF, solving 12 of 22 challenges for 3,525 points during 8–10 December.
Text of certificate
Certificate of Participation. University CTF: Brains & Bytes. Username: David Imolai. Team: ELTE. Team rank: 42nd out of 955 teams. Solved challenges: 12/22. Total points: 3,525. CTF dates: 8–10 December 2023.
European CyberSecurity Challenge 2023 #
My second year representing Hungary, with the team finishing twenty-fourth of 28 countries. A bootcamp in Vienna preceded the event, combining talks and practical CTF training with work alongside teams from other countries. The Hungarian team also had its own bootcamp, and in-house CTF, to prepare for the international event.
- Third
Hungarian CyberSecurity Challenge 2023 #
My second consecutive third place in the junior category at the national competition. While last year had a larger focus on Linux boxes, this year had a larger batch of traditional (crypto, web, pwn) challenges. HCSC also feeds into selection and preparation for the Hungarian ECSC team: the organiser’s overview describes the individual online contest and subsequent team training. Later that year I represented Hungary at ECSC in Hamar, Norway.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma awarded to David Imolai for third place in the junior category of the Hungarian Cyber Security Challenge 2023 IT security competition. Budapest, 3 August 2023.
European CyberSecurity Challenge 2022 #
My first ECSC, representing Hungary after third place in the junior category of the national qualifier. We finished twenty-first of 28 countries in Vienna. This was the first year that Hungary sent a national team to ECSC, for which the Hungarian CyberSecurity Team was founded.
- Third
Hungarian CyberSecurity Challenge 2022 #
Third place in the junior category began my route into the Hungarian national team. The contest is a jeopardy CTF involving web security, cryptography, pwn, forensic investigation of virtual machines among other challenges. This was the first year that the contest was held as an individual competition rather than in teams. After the national qualifier, I represented Hungary at ECSC in Vienna that September.
English translation of Certificate
Diploma awarded to David Imolai for third place in the junior category of the Hungarian Cyber Security Challenge 2022 IT security competition.