Cybersecurity competition tests real-world threat skills

IIT Bombay’s Trust Lab concluded the grand finale of its national-level cybersecurity competition, Capture The Flag (CTF), at the institute’s Powai campus. The event brought together some of the country’s emerging cybersecurity talent for a day-long contest designed around real-world digital threat scenarios.

The competition was organised at a time when India faces a growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, with industry estimates indicating that nearly 50 per cent of cybersecurity roles remain unfilled. Against this backdrop, the initiative aimed to strengthen the national talent pipeline by offering participants hands-on exposure to practical security challenges.

A Capture The Flag competition tests participants’ abilities to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in simulated systems to uncover “flags”, which serve as proof of successful attacks. The IIT Bombay Trust Lab CTF featured challenges across cryptography, web exploitation, reverse engineering and other technical domains, reflecting the skills required to counter contemporary cyber threats.

The event drew 480 teams from engineering colleges, technology universities and cybersecurity clubs across the country. Participants competed individually or in teams of two. Based on their performance in the preliminary rounds, 50 teams were shortlisted for the on-campus finale, where they faced progressively complex challenges developed by researchers at IIT Bombay’s Trust Lab.

IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare said CTF competitions are widely recognised as an effective way to build practical cybersecurity capabilities. He noted that such contests require participants to apply skills across multiple domains, including application security, digital forensics and system exploitation, which are critical for addressing threats such as online fraud, phishing and ransomware. With India’s digital ecosystem expanding rapidly, he said the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals has become increasingly urgent.

At the conclusion of the competition, Team ‘Gingers’ secured first place, followed by Team ‘Chatpata Vada Paav’ in second and Team ‘Daalbaatichurma’ in third. All three teams represented IIT Roorkee. Team ‘fl4g0rD13’ from IIT Madras finished fourth, while Team ‘Deathwing’ from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune, placed fifth.

A special mention was awarded to Shriyansh Gupta from Team ‘JEE is Tuff’ for his performance. Notably, he is a Class 11 student from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Delhi, and competed alongside undergraduate students from leading technical institutions.

Prof. G. Sivakumar, Principal Investigator of Trust Lab, said the competition helped bridge the gap between academic learning and industry requirements by encouraging participants to think like real-world adversaries. Mukul Joshi, Program Director of Trust Lab, added that growing interest from industry in similar challenges reflects the relevance of such platforms in upskilling both students and professionals.