NIELIT launches CYBER KUSHTI 2026 hackathon
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NIELIT, under MeitY, launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026 on 15 August 2026. It is a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon that tests judgment rather than speed. Teams get the same flawed security report, with false, duplicate and genuine findings, and must correct and rank it. CERT-In is the Knowledge Partner; the final is on 9 October 2026.
- Launched
- 15 Aug 2026
- Organiser
- NIELIT, Ministry of Electronics and IT
- Knowledge Partner
- CERT-In
- Partners
- ISAC Foundation, National Security Database (NSD)
- Teams
- students and researchers, teams of three, free entry
- Rounds
- Akhada (15 Sep), Dangal (24 Sep), Kesari final (9 Oct)
CYBER KUSHTI 2026: what happened?
Machines now throw up security alerts faster than any team can read them. The hard skill is deciding which alerts are real and which to fix first. This hackathon tries to test exactly that.
- Each team gets an identical Security Assessment Package with AI-generated findings, scans, code and logs.
- Some findings are false or duplicated, and some real flaws are left out on purpose.
- Teams score for spotting real issues and for rejecting false ones.
- Fifty teams go from Round 1 to Round 2; ten finalists reach the final.
- The winner gets the title “Cyber Kesari 2026” and a traditional gada.
What is NIELIT?
- An autonomous scientific society of MeitY working on skills in electronics and IT.
- It has 56 centres and is a Deemed to be University with its main campus at Ropar (Punjab).
- The final is part of the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026).
Why does CYBER KUSHTI 2026 matter?
- Cyber security: Builds human judgment to check machine-made findings.
- Equity: Same material for all teams cuts the edge of costly tools.
What can Prelims ask on CYBER KUSHTI 2026?
- CYBER KUSHTI 2026: by NIELIT (MeitY); CERT-In is Knowledge Partner.
- CERT-In: national agency for cyber incident response, under MeitY.
How to use this in Mains
- As per PIB (2026-08-16): NIELIT (MeitY) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon that scores judgment rather than detection speed.
- Hackathons find and train cyber talent.
Quotable data pointNIELIT (MeitY) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon that scores judgment rather than detection speed.
PIB: MeitY: CYBER KUSHTI 2026, 16 Aug 2026
Exam angle
Prelims: CERT-In.
Practice MCQs
Original practice questions (not PYQs).
CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity hackathon, was launched by
Answer (b) & explanation
PIB (MeitY), 16 Aug 2026.
Questions students ask about this
What is CYBER KUSHTI 2026?
A national cybersecurity and AI hackathon launched by NIELIT on 15 August 2026.
How is it different from other hackathons?
It rewards judgment: correcting and ranking a flawed security report, including rejecting false findings.
Who can take part?
Students and independent researchers in teams of three; entry is free.
Keep studying
Go deeper
Official source: PIB: MeitY: CYBER KUSHTI 2026, 16 Aug 2026
facts from cited sources only; faculty review pending