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Cyber for HER - Hackathon Empowering Women in Cyber Security
Like many nations, India faces a critical shortage of cyber security professionals. Significant progress has been made in acknowledging the value of cyber skills in India; however, resilience against escalating cyber threats and challenges requires a diverse workforce across all areas of the cyber security domain, including technical, policy, and strategic spheres. There is a significant shortfall of women in India's cyber security workforce, underscoring the urgent need for gender diversity in the industry.
To enhance inclusivity in cyber security education and to further support cyber workforce development, this initiative, supported by the British High Commission, New Delhi, and sponsored by Rubrik, aims to empower aspiring young women to break through societal norms, supporting them in attaining better opportunities in the cyber sector.
The Hackathon will take place in two phases, with the first phase being virtual, focussing on creating non-technical cyber awareness materials. The second phase will be an in-person round where participants will compete solving technical challenges.
Who Can Participate?
Gender:
Open for females only
Age Group:
18 - 23
Region:
Pan India
Note: Participants who qualify for phase two in Delhi are expected to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.
Key Outcomes
Increase cyber security engagement and empower the next generation of female cyber security professionals.
Raise awareness for the growing need and value of cyber security skills in India.
Provide access to female leaders in technology from both the UK and India.
Increase cyber security engagement and accessibility for young aspiring women of India between the ages of 18 and 23.
Prize Money
The top three winning teams will receive the following prizes, divided equally among team members.
1st Place: INR 2,00,000
2nd Place: INR 1,50,000
3rd Place: INR 70,000
All those who qualify for phase two will receive a certificate of participation.
Important Dates
Registration Dates: from 20 November 2024until all spots filled
Phase one (virtual): 25th November 2024 to 15th January 2025
Phase two invites distributed: January 2025
Phase two (in-person): 28th January 2025
Hackathon Phases
Phase One: Screening Round (virtual)
Last Date for submission: 15th January 2025
Live
This phase of the hackathon will be open to all female students of the qualifying age.
- Download the phase one problem statements and mail your submissions at hackathon@dsci.in
- The first phase will include non-technical challenges, for example, creating awareness materials for your college or university: videos and content for social media platforms.
- Each problem statement will require you to develop your submission in a recommended format such as artwork/video/presentation/word document, etc.
- Your submissions will be judged by a panel of cyber security experts, and if shortlisted, you will be invited to phase two.
- Upto 200 participants will be invited to phase two .
- More information on the challenges will be supplied once you complete your registration.
Phase Two: Final Round in New Delhi (in-person)
Phase two (in-person): 28th January 2025
The second phase will be a one- day in-person event where teams will compete in technical challenges to score points and win prizes.
The final score and winning teams will be determined based on the following criteria:
- Leaderboard: 65%
- Score awarded by jury: 25%
- Audience Score: 10%
The jury will award scores to teams based on their technical presentation and the quality of their submissions.
Scoring criteria will be published nearer to the date of the event.
Registrations Closed
Note: Registration will be valid only upon post submission of phase one problem statements.
Instructions for Participants
- Qualifying participants from phase one will be invited to the one-day in-person event.
- The event will include technical challenges focusing on topics such as: Reverse Engineering, Mobile Security, Digital Forensics, Web Application Security, Cyber Exploitation, and Hardware Security.
- You can register as an individual or as a team (of up to 3).
- Only one registration per person or team is allowed.
- All fields in the registration form must be completed with care, and a valid student identification document is required to complete your registration.
- You are requested to bring your own laptop to the in-person event.
- Travel costs and any accommodation costs for the phase two in-person event will be the responsibility of the participants. Refreshments and lunch will be provided as part of the phase two event.
- Accommodation may be provided for participants with accessibility issues subject to case-by-case assessment and review. Please provide the appropriate information when registering where requested.
- Mail your submissions at hackathon@dsci.in
Prize Sponsor
Rubrik, founded on January 27, 2014, by Bipul Sinha, Arvind Jain, Arvind Nithra Kashyap, and Soham Mazumdar, has rapidly grown from a startup to a leader in cyber security, focusing on cyber recovery and resilience. Over the past decade, Rubrik has redefined traditional backup and recovery by transforming it into a critical component of data security, essential for every organisation. The company’s innovative architecture, which integrates data and application metadata across cloud environments, allows for the application of artificial intelligence to enhance data security and ensure resilience against cyber attacks.
Rubrik’s journey began in a small room at Lightspeed Ventures, where the founders signed their seed financing papers. Despite the daunting odds against startup success, Rubrik has thrived, achieving $785 million in subscription annual recurring revenue as of January 31, 2024, and serving over 6,100 customers worldwide, with a workforce of more than 3,500 employees. On April 25, 2024, Rubrik reached a significant milestone by going public, continuing its focus on delivering value to customers and shareholders.
Rubrik’s success is built on its core value of innovation, which has enabled the company to outpace the industry in both data protection and cyber security. The company’s focus on hiring top talent, including women in tech, is exemplified by the recent recruitment of Shrishti Chiraniya from NIT Jamshedpur, who secured a record-breaking annual package of Rs 1.23 crore.
In an era where cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and widespread, Anneka Gupta, Rubrik's Chief Product Office, advocates for a shift from mere prevention to comprehensive cyber resilience. Rubrik emphasizes the need for organisations to adopt a three-pronged strategy: maintaining uncompromisable data copies, monitoring emerging threats, and establishing a robust recovery plan. This approach ensures that when cyber-attacks occur, their impact on business operations is minimized, allowing organisations to recover quickly and effectively.
Rubrik’s journey from a small startup to a global cyber security leader highlights its commitment to innovation, resilience, and strategic growth, with India remaining a central pillar of its success.
Privacy Notice
The Data Security Council of India (DSCI), with the support of The British High Commission New Delhi, is organising a Hackathon Challenge for young women to enhance inclusivity in cyber security education, and to support workforce development. To register your interest in the hackathon, DSCI, Traboda, and IMPACT PSD Pvt Ltd will collect details about your Name, Age, Student ID, Email ID, Contact Number, Institute Name, City and Address, to process your interest in the hackathon. We may also contact you regarding this hackathon and other activities and/or event(s) we organise in the future.
Should you need your data deleted at any point in time post the hackathon, please send an email to info@dsci.in, and we shall purge your data.
Please refer to the DSCI Privacy Policy and Traboda Privacy Policy.
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