New Delhi, 5th February, 2024: The Cyber for HER hackathon, bringing together 70 teams from across nine states in India, comprising of more than 150 women aged 18-23 to compete and test their cybersecurity skills was successfully held at the Scope Convention Centre in Delhi.

Supported by the British High Commission, New Delhi, sponsored by Rubrik and delivered in collaboration between EY and DSCI, the initiative aimed to enable aspiring young women in cyber and support the development of a more diverse cyber security workforce in India and beyond.

The Cyber for HER Hackathon was formally inaugurated by distinguished guests, notably, Ms. Christina Scott, Deputy British High Commissioner to India; Mr. Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Ms. Sundari Nanda, Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

The winning teams are ‘Team Fallen Order’ who clinched the winner title, ‘Team Tech Titans’ as 1st runner up and ‘Team Arthasutra’ as 2nd runner up who received a winning prize of INR 2,00,000, INR 1,50,000 and INR 70,000 respectively. The challenge saw pan India participation where young female students travelled from states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Haryana. Participants competed in a jeopardy-style Capture the Flag (CTF), tackling technical challenges in cybersecurity domains such as Reverse Engineering, Mobile Security, Digital Forensics, Web Application Security, Exploitation, and Hardware Security.

The hackathon was executed in two phases. In the first phase, participants showcased their creativity and understanding by designing non-technical cyber awareness materials on themes such as Cyber Awareness, Digital Hygiene, and Privacy Awareness. The phase saw over 1,300 registrations, reflecting the enthusiasm and dedication of participants with 550+ submissions. From these submissions, 200 participants were shortlisted for the second live hackathon phase.

Dominic Gillan, First Secretary – Cyber, British High Commission, New Delhi, said, “Improving diversity in cyber security is a goal for both the UK and India. Diverse teams provide more creativity, innovation, and solutions to cyber security problems. The British High Commission is proud to support the Cyber for HER Hackathon, as part of our India-UK cyber collaboration. To see over 150 young women from across India join us in Delhi to compete in the final phase was inspiring. Well done to all those who took part in both phases and many congratulations to the winners.”

Vinayak Godse, CEO, DSCI, said, “It was indeed heartwarming to witness the enthusiasm and participation of women candidates from all corners of the country. We would like to congratulate all the participants and not just the winners for making their way from tier II, tier III and small cities to compete. Cyber for HER was conceptualised to encourage more young women into the industry and provide an opportunity to explore cyber security careers. We would like to thank the British High Commission for supporting this campaign and partnering with us through the India-UK Cyber Programme.”