CYBER KUSHTI to test human judgment in cybersecurity

New Delhi

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) hackathon designed to test human judgment in security assessments.

The competition has been introduced as the track of the National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026). It is being organised in collaboration with the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC Foundation) under the National Security Database, with CERT-In serving as the knowledge partner.

Registration opened on August 15 and will remain open until September 10. Participation is free, with the competition open to students and independent researchers competing in teams of three.

Unlike conventional cybersecurity contests that focus on vulnerability hunting or Capture The Flag challenges, CYBER KUSHTI 2026 will assess participants on how they evaluate, verify and prioritize security risks. Organisers said the format responds to the need for professionals who can distinguish genuine threats from false positives generated by automated tools.

All teams will receive a Security Assessment Package. It will contain AI-generated findings, source code, application logs, architecture documents, static analysis reports, dependency scans and secrets scans.

The package will intentionally include genuine, false and duplicated findings, while leaving out real vulnerabilities. Teams must identify these shortcomings and produce a prioritized security assessment.

Participants will have to explain and defend their decisions, making analytical reasoning central to the competition. The initiative highlights the importance of human oversight as AI-powered cybersecurity tools become common.