Eligibility

  • Open to: Students and Entrepreneurs.

  • Team Size: 1 to 3 members per team.

  • Knowledge Level: Open to all aspiring cybersecurity professionals looking to showcase their skills in ethical hacking and digital defense.

Project and Submission Requirements

Teams must select and complete challenges from the following categories. Each submission must include:

  1. Project Documentation: A detailed report explaining the methodology, tools used, and the security findings.

  2. Code/Solution: Link to a GitHub repository or a zip file containing the secured application, detection scripts, or system designs.

  3. Video Demo (Optional but Recommended): A 2-3 minute video walking through your solution or how you tackled a specific challenge.

Submission Deliverables per Challenge:

  • Web Security: A secured version of the app + a vulnerability report.

  • CTF: Captured flags and a brief write-up of the exploitation process.

  • Incident Response: An attack vector analysis and a recovery plan.

  • AI Detection: The detection logic/model and a performance summary.

  • Cloud Hunt: A list of identified misconfigurations and proposed IAM/API fixes.

Prizes

  • Winner: Official recognition as the HackFest Champion + Top Performer Certificate.

  • Participation: All eligible participants will receive a Participation Certificate to showcase their involvement and skills.

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Projects will be evaluated by a panel of experts based on the following:

  • Innovation: How creative and forward-thinking is the proposed solution?

  • Execution: Does the solution actually fix the vulnerability or detect the threat effectively?

  • Technical Accuracy: Is the security logic sound and aligned with industry best practices?

  • Impact: How well does the solution protect the system or improve the overall security posture?

  • Speed & Accuracy (CTF only): Points are weighted based on the difficulty of the flags captured and the time taken.

Important Dates (Timeline)

  • Registration: Feb 12 – Feb 20, 2026

  • Squad Formation: Feb 20 – Mar 5, 2026

  • Attack Rounds (The Hackathon): Mar 5 – Mar 14, 2026

  • Judging: Mar 14 (20:23 - 22:30)

  • Final Results: Mar 14 (22:31 - 23:00)