New Delhi: India has initiated a national cybersecurity competition aimed at expanding domestic capability in developing practical, deployable security tools. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in partnership with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and C-DAC Hyderabad, launched the Cyber Security Innovation Challenge (CSIC) 1.0 on 24 November 2025 in New Delhi.
Introduced under the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) programme, the challenge seeks to address rising cyber risks across critical sectors. Officials at the event noted that as the country’s digital footprint broadens, the need for skilled professionals capable of building indigenous defence technologies has become more urgent. The launch also included the release of the CSIC concept video, website, rule book and registration platform.
MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said the initiative is designed to strengthen both threat awareness and India’s technical response capabilities. DSCI CEO Vinayak Godse outlined the five-stage structure of the competition, built around domain-specific problem statements covering BFSI, telecom, healthcare, mobile security, cryptography and emerging technologies. He said the format aims to help participants apply research-driven thinking and move from concept development to early-stage product design.
Academic leaders including Prof V Kamakoti of IIT Madras and Prof Sukumar Nandi of IIT Guwahati said the problem statements were curated jointly by MeitY, C-DAC, DSCI and 50 ISEA institutions to reflect national priorities in cybersecurity. Officials from the National Security Council Secretariat and CERT-In emphasised that the initiative aligns with broader efforts to build proactive defence mechanisms and reduce reliance on external technologies.
The challenge is open to students and researchers across India, with selected teams receiving mentorship and technical guidance through each stage of development. Full details are available on the official CSIC portal.
