New Delhi: India: The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) has launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon designed to test how participants assess, prioritise and defend security decisions rather than simply identify vulnerabilities.
The competition was launched on August 15, 2026, by Prof. (Dr.) M. M. Tripathi, Director General of NIELIT and Vice Chancellor of NIELIT Deemed to be University. It is being conducted as the official parallel technical track of the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026), in collaboration with the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC Foundation) under the National Security Database (NSD), with CERT-In as the Knowledge Partner.
Registration opened on August 15 and will remain open until September 10, 2026. Participation is free and available to students and independent researchers competing in teams of three.
Rather than following the conventional Capture The Flag format, CYBER KUSHTI will give every team the same deliberately imperfect security assessment package. The material will include AI-generated findings, static analysis results, dependency and secrets scans, architecture documentation, source code and application logs.
The challenge will contain a mix of genuine, duplicated and false findings, while some real vulnerabilities will be left out. Teams must produce a corrected and prioritised assessment and explain the reasoning behind their decisions. The format therefore places importance on recognising what should be trusted, what should be rejected and which issues require attention first.
The competition will take place across three rounds. The first, The Akhada, is scheduled online for September 15, with 50 teams advancing. The Dangal, the second online round, will be held on September 24, selecting 10 finalist teams. The final, The Kesari, will take place in person on October 9 at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
During the final, automated analysis of the assessment material will be displayed alongside team presentations, allowing participants and delegates to compare machine-generated analysis with human judgement.
The winning team will receive the title “Cyber Kesari 2026” and the traditional Gada, while the two runners-up will receive the titles “Rustam” and “Pahalwan.” Participants will also receive certificates and recognition credits based on their progress.
All activities will be conducted in controlled environments, with participants prohibited from interacting with live systems, third-party infrastructure or public infrastructure.
Source: This article is based on an official press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
Press Release: Press Information Bureau
