Judgment over speed: CYBER KUSHTI 2026 hackathon challenges cybersecurity skills

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) hackathon, as the official parallel technical track of the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026). The competition is being conducted in collaboration with the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC Foundation) under the National Security Database (NSD) and will reward participants for correctly rejecting false findings and identifying genuine issues.

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Quick Revision

Prelims-testable facts

01The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon, on August 15, 2026.
02CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is designed to test and recognize human judgment in cybersecurity assessment, rather than detection speed.
03The competition is being conducted in collaboration with the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC Foundation) under the National Security Database (NSD), with CERT-In as the Knowledge Partner.
04Registration for CYBER KUSHTI 2026 opened on August 15th and will remain open until September 10, 2026.
05Participation in CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is free and open to students and independent researchers in teams of three.
06The competition will reward participants not only for identifying genuine issues but also for correctly rejecting false findings.

Trap alerts

Most people think CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is a conventional cybersecurity competition, but actually it's designed to assess the ability of participants to evaluate, prioritize, and defend cybersecurity decisions.
Most people think the competition focuses on vulnerability discovery, but actually it rewards participants for correctly rejecting false findings as well as identifying genuine issues.

Prelims Practice MCQs

Multiple statementsmedium

Consider the following statements regarding CYBER KUSHTI 2026: 1. CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon. 2. The hackathon is open to students and independent researchers in teams of five. 3. Registration for CYBER KUSHTI 2026 opened on August 1st, 2026. How many of the above statements are correct?

A.Only one
B.Only two
C.All three
D.None

CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is indeed a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon (FACT 1). However, the hackathon is open to students and independent researchers in teams of three (FACT 7), not five. Additionally, registration for CYBER KUSHTI 2026 opened on August 15th, 2026 (FACT 6), not August 1st, 2026.

Statement I & IIhard

Consider the following two statements: Statement-I: CYBER KUSHTI 2026 is a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon. Statement-II: The hackathon is designed to test and recognize human judgment in cybersecurity assessment. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

A.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
B.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct but Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
C.Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

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