Are you passionate about cybersecurity and ready to test your skills against real-world challenges? Then the NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathon 2024 is the perfect opportunity for you! This exciting national competition, organized by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) in collaboration with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), is India’s first VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing) exercise designed to identify and nurture the next generation of ethical hackers.
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About the NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathon 2024
NCIIPC in collaboration with AICTE is conducting India’s first national-level VAPT exercise opening up the opportunity for all technical colleges and universities in India to participate in a challenge specially designed to resemble and mimic the real-world CII entities. The objective of this challenge is to create a talented pool of ethical hackers/pen testers to find vulnerabilities in the systems of critical information infrastructure.
Eligibility Criteria
This hackathon will be open for students from the HEIs and they can either participate individually or as a team (2 to 6). The individual or teams can have 1 to 2 mentors (optional) for this hackathon.
Students
Students can look forward to a gamified version of the VAPT challenges. They will be tested on a broad range of challenges of varying levels of design and difficulty. This will allow students of all range of abilities and experiences to participate and engage.
First-timers, and those not well equipped with the appropriate skill sets would find it challenging and yet a very new experience –opening their minds and horizons to the possibilities in cyberspace.
Veterans and those experienced in capturing the flag domains would find similarity and ease of navigation, yet the challenges are designed to test the most well-versed of the lot. So for everyone, this challenge will be one to look out for.
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India: The World’s Technology Engine
Among its many strengths, India has one that makes it one of the most promising countries in the world today. As the world searches for young talent and looks towards an increasingly integrated digital ecosystem- India is fast becoming the technology hub of the world.
What is Critical Information Infrastructure- the key fundamentals of any country’s digital ecosystem? CII includes any computer systems whose destruction would have debilitating effects on its national security, economy, public safety and public health.
Whether it is vast servers and databases storing the country’s key national data, its banks with systems responsible for thousands of transactions every day, power plants key to the country’s energy security, or its telecom networks which integrate systems and networks across the country- the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre(NCIIPC), a unit of NTRO, plays a key role as the national nodal body protecting all CII in the country. A part of its mandate is to undertake activities for developing and enabling the growth of skills working closely with academia et al for the protection of CII.
While the Internet has made information available to all, it has also created dangers- in the form of cyber attackers—across the world in the form of espionage and cyber attacks. Whereas in Espionage- innocuous users- both individuals and organisations are unaware of the prying eyes of adversaries- who ultimately seek to steal valuable national data, On the other hand, cyber attacks, can cause disruption, confusion and panic among the victims of attack, not to mention serious supply chain disruptions affecting the country.
Vulnerability Assessment And Penetration Testing
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing aka VAPT plays a key role in monitoring the health of the Critical Information Infrastructure systems. This is the exercise that allows the tester to probe within the systems to understand the gaps that attackers could potentially exploit to breach the cybersecurity defence perimeter.
VAPT professionals need to search systems for vulnerabilities – looking deeply into the networks and devices across the entire architecture; finding through detailed analysis potential vulnerabilities and once found, finding ways to inform the infrastructure owners who then work towards finding ways to patch these vulnerabilities.
VAPT is a highly sought-after skill that requires a combination of technical understanding, creativity and determination to persist. One should be able to wear the thinking hat of an attacker but with the intent to do good.
Crowdsourcing of Ethical Hackers
With the above challenge in mind, NCIIPC in partnership with AICTE has decided to undertake a program for the crowdsourcing of ethical hackers from around the country.
These ethical hackers would need to have the technical skills, be willing to learn the global best practices, do deep research and study and last of all innovative with new ideas – it is with such a diverse and talented pool that such a program would succeed. Once vetted for credibility and skill, in coordination with CII management these ethical hackers would be given the opportunity to conduct VAPT exercises at CII entities.
How does one set up such a pool- democratically and giving everyone the opportunity to be part of it?
Well coming soon is the NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathlon 2024.
This will be India’s first national-level VAPT exercise opening up the opportunity for all technical colleges and universities in India to participate in a challenge specially designed to resemble and mimic real-world CII entities.
Schedule and Timeline
The competition will be conducted in two phases- Stage I- will be a Jeopardy-style competition that will be held from March 15-17th, 2024 where Top 25 teams and 100 individuals will be shortlisted and invited to Stage II which will be an in-person final round to be held from April 2-4th,2024.
Mentorship
During the course of the competition, the participants will have an opportunity not only to challenge and test themselves but continually learn. Through on-portal training resources and specially designed mentorship programs, all the students will stand to gain no matter which level they are starting out at.
Prizes
Winners from the hackathon will be rewarded with the prize money and later enrolled as Pentesters for CII by NCIIPC. They will be formally invited for real VAPT exercises with the provision of remuneration up to Rs. 10 Lakh for each exercise.
Top teams and individuals in the competition will be rewarded with cash prizes. In addition, the top 10 teams and top 40 individuals (subject to due vetting) will be recognised to be part of the pool of ethical hackers to be enlisted for VAPT exercises in 2024.
Contact Details
hackathon[at]aicte-india.org
Contact Number: +911129581240
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How To Apply?
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FAQ
What is the NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathon 2024?
The NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathon is India’s first national VAPT challenge, designed to simulate real-world scenarios and identify skilled ethical hackers and penetration testers.
What are the benefits of participating Of NCIIPC-AICTE Pentathon ?
Win Cash Prizes: Showcase your talent and compete for exciting cash prizes.
Gain Mentorship: Learn from experienced professionals in the field of cybersecurity.
Boost Your Skills: Develop and refine your VAPT skills through real-world challenges.
Launch Your Career: Stand out to potential employers by demonstrating your expertise.
