National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) launches CYBER KUSHTI 2026 hackathon

Key facts

• The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and artificial intelligence hackathon, on 15 August 2026.
• CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is the official parallel technical track of the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026).
• The hackathon rewards participants for correctly rejecting false findings as well as identifying genuine security issues.
• The competition provides an identical imperfect Security Assessment Package to all teams, neutralizing the advantage of expensive security tooling.
• The hackathon consists of three rounds: The Akhada (online, 15 September 2026), The Dangal (online, 24 September 2026), and The Kesari (in person, 9 October 2026 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi).
• Registration is free and open to students and independent researchers in teams of three, from 15 August to 10 September 2026.
• The Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) Foundation is the collaborating body, and CERT-In is the Knowledge Partner.
• The hackathon was launched by Prof. (Dr.) M. M. Tripathi, Director General of NIELIT.