DSCI Excellence Awards 2025

Corporate Segment
Product Segment
Law Enforcement Segment
Awards Process
Why Nominate?
Important Dates
Nomination FAQs
Awards Partners
Corporate Segment
Objective

Recognition and Honour: Recognize, honour and reward organizations and individuals who have taken strategic, proactive and innovative security and privacy efforts to help the organization address real risks, build resilience, increase trustworthiness and create a conducive environment for doing business and thus enable the organization to harness data protection as a lever for business growth.

Elevate the Role of Security Function: Highlight the importance of security function and its contribution in the overall business ecosystem of an organization.

Awareness and Knowledge: Bring about awareness towards the need for information security and privacy within organizations and society at large.

 
Winners
DSCI Excellence Award for Best Security Practices in Organization
Critical Information Infrastructure
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
Energy Sector
NTPC Ltd.
Banking Sector
Union Bank of India
NBFCs and Small or Medium Financial Banks
Aavas Financiers Ltd.
Capital Markets
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
Digital Plus Organizations
Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd.
Automobile & Manufacturing Sector
Bharat Electronics Ltd.
IT-ITeS Sector (Large)
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
IT-ITeS Sector (Medium)
Latentview Analytics Ltd.
Global Capabilities Centres
TIAA GC
DSCI Excellence Award for Industry leaders
Women Security Leader of the Year
Dimple Santwan

Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd.

Priyamvadha Vembar

Bosch Global Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Privacy Leader of the Year
Samarth Saboo

Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

Security Leader of the Year
Rishi Rajpal

Concentrix Corporation
(IT/ITeS)

Ramesh Gurram

BSE Ltd.
(BFSI)

Nageshwaran Chinnadurai

TVS Group
(Manufacturing)

Visagan Subburayalu

Target Corporation
(GCC)

Vikas Yadav

Flipkart
(Digital Plus)

DSCI Excellence Award for Best Privacy Practices in Organization
PhonePe Ltd.
DSCI Excellence Award for Best Cyber Security Services Company
Indian Geography
eSec Forte Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Payatu Security Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
DSCI Excellence Award for Best Security Practices for Cyber Security Evangelists
Cyber Security Education and Research
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science
Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
Special Jury Recognition Award Categories
Greenko Group

Best Security Practices in Energy Sector

LTI Mindtree Ltd.

Best Security Practices in IT-ITeS Sector (Large)

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Special Jury Recognition for Consistent Performance

 
Finalists

Following are the finalists in different categories, listed in alphabetical order.

Best Security Practices in Banking Sector
  • Axis Bank Pvt. Ltd.
  • Bank of India
  • Union Bank of India
Best Security Practices in NBFCs and Small or Medium Financial Banks
  • Aavas Financiers Ltd.
  • SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd. (SBI Cards)
  • Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Best Security Practices in Capital Markets
  • BSE Ltd.
  • HDFC Securities Ltd.
  • National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
  • Paytm Money Ltd.
Best Security Practices in Digital Plus Organizations
  • Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd.
  • InMobi Technology Services Pvt. Ltd.
  • Resilient Innovation Pvt. Ltd. (BharatPe)
Best Security Practices in Critical Information Infrastructure
  • Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd.
  • NSE Clearing Ltd.
  • Unique Identification Authority of India
Best Security Practices in Global Capabilities Centers
  • Aramex International LLC
  • M&G Global Services
  • TIAA GC
Best Security Practices in Energy Sector
  • Adani Power Ltd.
  • Greenko Group
  • NTPC Ltd.
Best Security Practices in Automobile & Manufacturing Sector
  • Bharat Electronics Ltd.
  • Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd.
  • Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
Best Security Practices in IT-ITeS Sector (Large)
  • EXL Service
  • Infosys Ltd.
  • LTI Mindtree Ltd.
  • Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
Best Security Practices in IT-ITeS Sector (Medium)
  • Hughes Systique Pvt. Ltd.
  • Latentview Analytics Ltd.
  • Zensar Technologies

Security Leader of the Year

IT/ITeS Sector

  • Rajesh Kumar, EXL Service
  • Rishi Rajpal, Concentrix Corporation
  • Venkata Subba Raju Vathsavai, NTT DATA Business Solutions
  • Vijayakrishna Veeravalli, AGS Health


BFSI Sector

  • Anil Kuril, Union Bank of India
  • Dhananjay Khanna, SBI Cards
  • Kuldeep Pal, Bank of India
  • Ramesh Gurram, BSE Ltd.


Manufacturing Sector

  • Ambarish Kumar Singh, Godrej Enterprises Group
  • Dr. Jagannath Sahoo, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd.
  • Nageshwaran Chinnadurai, TVS Group


GCC Sector

  • Sheikh Javed Alam, TIAA Global Capabilities
  • Pragatheesh B, Vodafone GCC
  • Visagan Subburayalu, Target Corporation


Digital Plus Sector

  • Harsh Parikh, Tata Digital Pvt. Ltd.
  • Mohit Kumar, Zoomcar India Pvt. Ltd.
  • Vikas Yadav, Flipkart
Privacy Leader of the Year
  • Dr Bharat Saraf, PhonePe Ltd.
  • Samarth Saboo, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd.
  • Sundip (Sunny) Athwal , HCL Technologies
  • Tanin Chakraborty, Biocon Biologics
Woman Security Leader of the Year
  • Dimple Santwan, Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd.
  • Nagasai Deepthi C, ZF India Private Ltd.
  • Priyamvadha Vembar, Bosch Global Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
  • Vidya Jayaraman, AGS Health

Best Cyber Security Services Company in Indian Geography
  • NuSummit Cybersecurity
  • Payatu Security Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
  • eSec Forte Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Best Privacy Practices in Organization
  • HCL Technologies
  • PhonePe Ltd.
  • Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
  • Union Bank of India

Best Practices in Cyber Security Education and Research
  • Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
  • Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science
  • REVA University
  • Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
  • VIT-AP University
 
Jury for the Awards
Mr. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan
Mr. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan

CTO, Asia Healthcare Holdings

Mr. Narendra Nath
Mr. Narendra Nath

Joint Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat, Govt. of India

Mr. Nitin Chugh
Mr. Nitin Chugh

Deputy Managing Director & Head of Digital Banking & Transformation, State Bank of India

Ms. Rama Vedashree

Former CEO, DSCI

Categories Judged
  • Best Security Practices in Energy Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Critical Information Infrastructure
  • Best Security Practices in Automobile & Manufacturing Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Digital Plus Organizations
  • Best Security Practices in Banking Sector
  • Best Security Practices in NBFCs and Small or Medium Financial Banks
  • Best Security Practices in IT- ITeS Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Global Capability Centres
  • Best Security Practices in Capital Markets
Dr. Gulshan Rai
Dr. Gulshan Rai

Former National Cyber Security Coordinator of India

Mr. K. K. Singh
Mr. K. K. Singh

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India

Ms. Rama Vedashree

Former CEO, DSCI

Categories Judged
  • Security Leader of the Year
  • Woman Security Leader of the Year
  • Privacy Leader of the Year
  • Best Privacy Practices in Organization
  • Best Cyber Security Services Company in Indian Geography
  • Best Practices in Cyber Security Education and Research
 
Awards Categories
Category 1: Best Security Practices in Organization
  • Best Security Practices in Energy Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Critical Information Infrastructure
  • Best Security Practices in Automobile & Manufacturing Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Digital Plus Organizations
  • Best Security Practices in Banking Sector
  • Best Security Practices in NBFCs and Small or Medium Financial Banks
  • Best Security Practices in IT- ITeS Sector
  • Best Security Practices in Global Capability Centres
  • Best Security Practices in Capital Markets
Category 2: Industry Leaders of the Year
  • Security Leader of the Year
  • Privacy Leader of the Year
  • Woman Security Leader of the Year
Category 3:Best Cyber Security Services Company
  • Best Cyber Security Services Company in Indian Geography
Category 4: Best Privacy Practices in Organization
  • Best Privacy Practices in Organization
Category 5: Best Security Practices for Cyber Security Evangelists
  • Best Practices in Cyber Security Education and Research
 
Eligibility Criteria

Best Security Practices in Energy Sector

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be an energy sector organization operating in India (Petroleum, Oil & Gas, Power - Coal, Nuclear, Renewable sources of energy [Hydro, Solar, wind, etc.]), and directly working in generation, transmission, or distribution of energy.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.

Not Eligible for this Category

  • Organizations that may act as suppliers for companies working in this sector, or may indirectly work to enable the companies working in this sector, are not eligible in this category.
Best Security Practices in Critical Information Infrastructure

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be an organization providing services in the following sectors from the critical infrastructure sectors identified by National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) –
    • Telecom
    • Transport
    • Strategic & Public Enterprises
    • Government
    • Healthcare
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.

Not Eligible for this Category

Applicants belonging to the below mentioned sectors are not eligible for this category and must apply in their respective categories (separate categories have been defined for these as part of the Awards). Duplicate submission is not allowed.

  • Banking
  • Insurance
  • Power & Energy sector
  • Financial Services (NBFCs)
Best Security Practices in Automobile and Manufacturing Sector

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be an Automobile or any Manufacturing sector public/private organization in India.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of five years in India.
  • Applicant should have the manufacturing plants/facilities based in India.
  • The products manufactured by the applicant should be consumed at least in the Indian market.
Best Security Practices in Digital Plus Organizations

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a registered organization in India providing aggregator/platform services for delivery, E-commerce, online shopping etc.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been providing services in India for a minimum of one year.
Best Security Practices in Banking Sector

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a banking company operating in India and should be a Private Sector Bank or Public Sector Banks or Payments Bank (PB) as declared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.
Best Security Practices in NBFCs and Small or Medium Financial Banks

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFCs) as declared by RBI and should be operating in India.
  • Applicant must be a Small Finance Bank (SFB)/ Regional Rural Bank (RRB)/ Local Area Bank (LAB)/ State Cooperative Banks (StCBs)/ District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) declared by RBI/ NABARD and should be operating in India.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.
Best Security Practices in IT-ITeS Sector

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be an organization from IT-ITeS sector operating in India.
  • Applicant would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.
Best Security Practices in Global Capability Centres

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a Global Capability Centre operating in India.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.
Best Security Practices in Capital Markets

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a capital market company registered in India, providing services such as buying/selling of stocks, bonds, currencies, and other financial assets, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.

Security Leader of the Year

Eligibility Criteria

  • Individual must have been performing leadership roles (fulltime) in security for an organization as a CISO/ CSO/ VP/ Director/ Security head or equivalent.
  • Individuals nominating for ‘Privacy Leader of the Year’ or ‘Women Security Leader of the Year’ category cannot nominate in this category.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
Woman Security Leader of the Year

Eligibility Criteria

  • Women practitioners in cyber security working for an organization as a CISO/ Security Specialist/CSO/ VP/ Director/ Security head or equivalent.
  • Individuals nominating for ‘Privacy Leader of the Year’ or ‘Security Leader of the Year’ category cannot nominate in this category.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
Privacy Leader of the Year

Eligibility Criteria

  • Individual must be in a leadership role in privacy.
  • Individual should be from private or public sector in India.
  • Individual for whom privacy management comprises at least 25% of his / her role.
  • Individuals nominating for ‘Security Leader of the Year’ or ‘Women Security Leader of the Year’ category cannot nominate in this category.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.

Best Cyber Security Services Company in Indian Geography

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a cyber security services company operating in India and providing cyber security services to organizations primarily in India.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more nominations.
  • Applicant must have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.

Not Eligible for this Category

  • Applicants with security product as a service are not eligible to apply to this category as separate category is provided for the same.

Best Privacy Practices in Organization

Eligibility Criteria

  • The applicant must be an organization or entity that handles and processes personal data of individuals or entities as a part of its core services.
  • The applicant should have been operating for a minimum of one year in India.
  • Application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives 3 or more nominations.

*NOTE – Best Privacy Practices by Data Processors and Best Privacy Practices by Data Fiduciaries are merged into a single category.

Best Practices in Cyber Security Education and Research

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a recognized university/college/institute and should have been offering:
    • Cyber security/ information security course/degree approved/accredited by any central/state/deemed university in India
    • Involved in research and development of cyber security technologies in India.
  • The course/degree should be functional for at least two years.
  • Your application would be eligible for evaluation only if this award category receives three or more different nominations.

Not Eligible for this Category

  • Organizations providing cyber security training or certifications are not eligible.
  • Private companies involved in R&D of cyber security technologies are not eligible.

*NOTE – Cyber Security Education and Cyber Security Academic Research are merged into a single category

Product Segment
Winners
Security Product Company of the Year
miniOrange Security Software Pvt. Ltd.
Innovation Box - The Most Innovative Product of the Year
Ravenmail
 
Finalists

Following are the finalists in different categories, listed in alphabetical order.

  • miniOrange Security Software Pvt. Ltd.
  • SISA
  • Vehere Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

  • Neural Defend
  • Ravenmail
  • SecureDApp
 
Jury for the Awards
Dr. Sanjay Bahl

Director General, Cert-in

Mr. Rajesh Thapar

CISO, NSE

Mr. Shyam Penumaka

Partner, Dallas Venture Capital

Mr. Suhas Devaraju

Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Warburg Pincus

Mr. Randhir Singh

Vice President -IT and Head of Enterprise Technology & Information Security, Fareportal

 
Awards Categories
Category 1: Product Company of the Year
Category 2: Innovation Box – Most Innovative Product of the Year
 
Evaluation Process

The Indian industry is riding high on the wave of entrepreneurial traction in the niche domain of cyber security and security product development with numerous security product companies emerging in the last few years. Though, currently at a nascent stage, these organizations are enjoying robust sales traction and moving forward with the concern of being recognized in the global world.

In order to provide impetus to the growth of Indian cyber security market, DSCI, is working towards contributing and building a favorable ecosystem for growth-led, sustainable business segments of security product & services companies in the country. Many initiatives and activities have been undertaken by DSCI to encourage indigenous product development, proving platform to the start-ups to connect with the key stakeholders of the ecosystem. With an intent to provide more impetus to these organizations, DSCI has launched Excellence awards for Product companies, which is comprised of two categories ‘Product Company of the Year’ and ‘Innovation Box - Most Innovative Product of the Year’.

The objective of this initiative is to recognize, honor and reward organizations who come up with innovative product ideas, and emerging companies to address real risks, build resilience, increase trustworthiness and create a conducive environment for businesses; thus, enabling organizations harness security as a lever for business growth.

The initiative is an attempt to provide support to product companies in various aspects by bringing these new players nearer to established security leaders, innovators other stakeholders on a common platform for idea sharing, guidance and collaboration.

 
Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

  • An organization which has developed Information Security Product(s) can apply.
  • The organization should be incorporated as a private limited company (as defined in the Companies Act, 2013) or registered as a partnership firm (registered under section 59 of the Partnership Act, 1932) or a limited liability partnership (under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008) in India.
  • Product (mentioned in the nomination form) should be designed and developed in India.
  • IPR/Patents, if any, should be owned by the Indian entity.
  • An organization that has won this award (DSCI) earlier is not eligible to apply.
  • A Company nominating any product for ‘DSCI Innovation Box’ category in this year cannot nominate in this category.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Innovative Security/Privacy Products which should not have violated/breached/ copied any idea/ concept/product already copyright or patent can be nominated.
  • The organization should be incorporated as a private limited company (as defined in the Companies Act, 2013) or registered as a partnership firm (registered under section 59 of the Partnership Act, 1932) or a limited liability partnership (under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008) in India.
  • Organization nominating in Innovation Box should have an annual turnover not exceeding Rs. 25 crores for any of the financial years since its incorporation.
  • Organization nominating in Innovation Box should be in existence and operations for less than 5 years from the Date - 30 August 2025.
  • The product should have been designed and developed in India.
  • For the nominated products if there is any IPR/Patents registered, it should be owned by the Indian entity.
  • An organization that has won this award earlier is not eligible to apply.
Law Enforcement Segment

If you are interested to apply under the Law Enforcement Segment,
please write to us at cyberlab@dsci.in

Objective
  • India Cyber Cop of the Year: To recognize and honour a police officer who has done the most outstanding work in investigating a cybercrime case.
  • Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies: To recognize and honour a state police/police agency for the efforts made in overall capacity building through workforce development, investigation and digital forensics capability development, skill enhancement through trainings & workshops, etc.
  • Excellence in Capacity Building in Cybercrimes, Cyber laws & Digital Forensics by Academia: To recognize the efforts made by Academic Institutions in overall capacity building through in-house faculty members or collaborating with other agencies to develop & enhance the digital forensics capabilities & skill enhancement through training & workshops.
  • Award for Pioneering Digital Forensics Capabilities by Government Institutions: To recognize the efforts made by government forensic laboratories that have made significant strides in building or leveraging advanced digital forensic tools & techniques for digital investigations and contribute to the overall capability building in the field of digital forensics.
 
Winners
Category 1: India Cyber Cop of the Year
Shri. Deepak Pednekar

Police Inspector, Cyber Crime Police Station, Ribandar, Goa

Category 2: Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies
Madhya Pradesh Police - State Cyber Headquarters, Bhopal
Category 3: Excellence in Capacity Building in Cybercrimes, Cyber Laws & Digital Forensics by Academia
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology  (NIELIT), New Delhi
Category 4: Award for Pioneering Digital Forensics Capabilities by Government Institutions
National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat
Special Jury Recognition Award Categories
Meghalaya - North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA)

Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies

 
Finalists

Following are the finalists in different categories, listed in alphabetical order (Not in the order of ranking).

  • Shri. Deepak Pednekar, Police Inspector, Cyber Crime Police Station, Ribandar, Goa
  • Mrs. Soma Maity, Police Inspector, Cyber Police Station, Kolkata
  • Shri. Yogesh Kumar B C, Police Inspector, Cyber Crime Division, CID Karnataka

  • Goa Police - Cyber Crime Police Station, Ribandar
  • Madhya Pradesh Police - State Cyber Headquarters, Bhopal
  • Meghalaya - North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA)
  • Kerala Police - Cyber Division

  • National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), New Delhi
  • Rajiv Gandhi National Cyber Law Centre (RGNCLC), NLIU, Bhopal
  • Rashtriya Raksha University, Gujarat

  • Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Pune, Maharashtra
  • Directorate of Forensics Services, Himachal Pradesh
  • National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat
 
Jury for the Awards
Mr. Pratap Reddy IPS

Former Director General of Police, Internal Security Division, Karnataka

Mr. Vakul Sharma

Advocate, Supreme Court

Mr. S. K. Bhalla

Secretary, Northeastern Council, Shillong (Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region)

Mr. Krishna Sastry Pendyala

Partner at Ernst & Young (Former Scientist, GEQD)

 
Award Categories
Category 1: India Cyber Cop of the Year
Category 2: Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies
Category 3: Excellence in Capacity Building in Cybercrimes, Cyber laws & Digital Forensics by Academia
Category 4: Award for Pioneering Digital Forensics Capabilities by Government Institutions
 
Eligibility Criteria

India Cyber Cop of the Year

Eligibility Criteria

  • Each state police organization/investigation agency can send a maximum of five entries (cases). Self-nominations are also accepted provided they are endorsed and sent through the proper channel of the state police/ investigation agency thereby ensuring that not more than five entries are received from a state/agency.
  • Only one officer should be nominated for each nomination, i.e., a state /investigation agency can nominate only 5 officers for five different cases.
  • Investigation done by any state police organization in the country, including the city police, National Investigation Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, etc. will be considered.
  • Cases should be of importance or sensitive nature:
    • Cases which have the potential to impact the usage of Information Technology strategically by central & state governments, industry/industries, or services availed by citizens (including impact on the adoption of e-governance applications/ E-Commerce/social media by Governments/Organisations/citizens).
    • or those which have caused public concern / created curiosity amongst the common citizen(s).
  • The investigating team should have made use of electronic and technology-based tools to solve the case.
  • Cases investigated & finalized without invoking IT Act, 2000 (Amended 2008) will NOT be considered for the award evaluation process.
  • Cases in which investigation is completed, and Final Report is submitted to the court or those closed for other reasons, during the period - 24th September 2024 to 23rd September 2025 - will be considered, irrespective of the year of registration. However, due weightage will be given for speedy and expeditious investigation. Also, the cases that were investigated effectively within the limits of available resources. Cases ended up with Conviction during the above period may also be nominated.
  • No under-investigation cases should be sent for nomination.
  • Since investigation is a team effort, organizations must nominate one person representing the team (of and above the rank of Police Inspector), who has participated in the investigation, and who has contributed critically and substantially to the success of the investigation. The entry should clearly bring out the role played by the officer nominated. Officers associated with the investigation in a supervisory or advisory capacity should not be nominated for the Award.
  • The winner of the India Cyber Cop of the Year 2024 Award will not be eligible for this year’s award. All other past participants including finalists may participate this year.

Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies

Eligibility Criteria

  • The nomination must only be sent by State / UT Police (eg., Karnataka Police, Haryana Police, Chandigarh Police, etc.) or City Commissionerate (eg., Pune police, Kolkata Police) or Investigation/intelligence Agencies working under State/central government (eg., CBI, NIA, Income tax department, etc.) or state/central police training academies.
  • The winner of the Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies 2024 Award will not be eligible for this year’s award. All other past participants including finalists may participate this year.

Excellence in Capacity Building in Cybercrimes, Cyber laws & Digital Forensics by Academia.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Any Academia/University/Institution/College include affiliation with recognized higher education accreditation bodies in India, such as NAAC, NBA, BCI, MCI, DCI, PCI, UGC, AICTE and other autonomous bodies under the Government of India (IIT, NIT etc.,).
  • Any Academia/University/Institution/College situated in India that offers special courses & organizes programs on Cybercrimes, Cyber Law & Digital Forensics.
  • The winner of the Excellence in Capacity Building in Cybercrimes, Cyber Laws & Digital Forensics by Academia 2024 Award will not be eligible for this year’s award. All other past participants including finalists may participate this year.

Award for Pioneering Digital Forensics Capabilities by Government Institutions

Eligibility Criteria

  • Any Government forensic laboratory providing digital forensics services to law enforcement and other institutions. The laboratory should be recognized under the a. Indian Evidence Act & CrPC or b. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 and BNSS 2023 or c. Information Technology, 2000.
  • The winner of the Award for Pioneering Digital Forensics Capabilities by Government Institutions 2024 will not be eligible for this year’s award. All other past participants including finalists may participate this year.
Awards Process
Corporate Segment

Nominations for corporate and product segment in DSCI Excellence Awards 2025 will be online. Consolidation of all nomination forms and other information received from various organizations will be done by DSCI and our process partner PwC.

The evaluation process for DSCI Excellence Awards 2025 will be as follows:

Level
I
DSCI and PwC will conduct the first level of screening after receiving nominations based on the quality and completeness of the responses provided in the respective nomination forms.
Level
II
DSCI and PwC may seek additional information / artefacts from shortlisted nominations and if required, may also conduct interviews and subsequently shortlist three finalists in each category.
Level
III
The jury will evaluate the finalists and decide the winner in each category
 
Innovation Box

Evaluation Process

Level
I
DSCI and award’s Process Partner will do first level of screening after receiving the nominations based on the quality and completeness of the responses provided in the respective nomination forms.
Level
II
DSCI and Process Partner may seek additional information / artefacts from the shortlisted nominations and if required, may also conduct interviews and subsequently shortlist finalists.
Level
III
The winner will be identified based on the Jury evaluation coupled with the votes from audience based on the presentation by shortlisted contestants during the Innovation Box challenge at AISS 2025. A weighted marking scheme would be used to compute the final scores to identify the winner.

Please find below the weightage scheme:

Panel Scores (70%)
+
Audience Poll(30%)
=
Winner
Why Nominate?

Because you have nothing to lose but a lot to gain!

Appreciation and Recognition works as a catalyst which inspires us to perform better and push our boundaries to attain even better heights. Grab this opportunity to be known among the diversified cyber security fraternity and get opportunities galore!

Recognition:

Gain recognition in the Industry and the larger Security & Privacy community

Opportunity:

Join the league of industry leaders who have won the awards in previous editions

Competitive edge:

Outshine your peers by validation from experts*

Trust:

Enhance the ‘Trust’ factor to make clients feel secure about the level of service expected

Outreach:

Build a prospective customer base with the Excellence Awards symbolizing the extent of your potential

Credibility:

Start-ups find it challenging to establish recognition and credibility in the marketplace early; DSCI Excellence Awards can help overcome the first barrier

Motivation:

Worked hard on products or solutions? Help lift team morale by gaining recognition for combined efforts

Overall, it’s a great experience – be a part of this learning and derive immense value.

*Organizations and Individuals compete against other nominees in their specific category

Important Dates
Opening calls for Nomination
13th August 2025
Last date of submission
7th October 2025
Jury Briefing
12th November 2025
17th November 2025
Excellence Awards Ceremony
5th December 2025
Nomination FAQs

Corresponding eligibility criteria are mentioned in each category. Applicants are requested to carefully read the eligibility criteria before filling the application for respective category.

Yes, an organization or an individual can send their nominations for this year as well even if participated or won in the previous years. (Except explicitly mention in the particular eligibility criteria)

Yes, the categories have been revised this year. Few categories have been eliminated, few remain same, and few others have been newly introduced. We recommend that you take a few minutes to explore all the categories and their eligibility criteria for this year to understand in which category you may apply.

Applying for all the categories in the corporate segment are online.

Your nomination will be discarded and the details which were provided during registration and downloading of the form would be erased from the database after the submission window is closed. Request you to please submit your filled nomination forms before the last date.

In the downloaded nomination forms, there is a provision for attaching the required documents. Request you to please use the space provided in nomination form itself and don’t attach supporting artefacts during or on the submission link.

Guidelines for attaching the documents, wherever required, is mentioned at the same place. Please read the guidelines carefully before attaching and/or uploading the documents.

We request the respondents to limit their responses to the prescribed word limit. Keeping the answers succinct makes it easier for the evaluators. The evaluators reserve the right to discard any information that stretches beyond word limit.

There would be both objective as well as subjective questions.

No question in the form is mandatory to answer. The nominator has full right and choice to answer or skip any of the questions. Though, during evaluation one can lose on some points if their competitor has given the answer to a particular question and they have not! Some questions in the nomination forms might not carry any weightage and could be for informational purpose only.

The awards are open for all organizations and individuals who are eligible to participate as per the eligibility criteria mentioned for each category. Its not necessary for the Organizations applying for the Awards in the corporate segment to be a DSCI Corporate Member. Contact awards team at awards@dsci.in for more details

Kindly note that there is no fee to apply for any of the Award categories.

Each award category has different parameters for evaluation. These parameters will be used to shortlist the finalist and ultimately, to decide the winner. These parameters have been decided using prior experience and consultation. However, these will not be made public.

Nomination forms for corporate segment can only be submitted online on the submission link provided on DSCI website, whereas for LEA segment one will need to submit the duly filled nomination form through e-mail to awards@dsci.in in either word or pdf format or send hard copies to DSCI office address.

Resubmitting your nomination form is not suggested as if duplicate nomination forms with the same name are received, the form submitted first will be considered for evaluation. It is recommended that organizations separately send updated information and artefacts via email to DSCI at awards@dsci.in, while referring the nominations submitted earlier, or first get their wrong/incomplete submitted nomination form deleted from the database by informing through email at awards@dsci.in and then resubmit their updated nomination form. Individuals may resubmit their completely filled nomination forms till the last date.

Consolidation of all the nomination forms and other information received from various organizations will be done by DSCI Excellence Awards Process partner (PwC). Both DSCI and PwC shall take due care that confidential information is shared only with the designated stakeholders for evaluation purposes only.

Nomination pre-screening will be done by DSCI and PwC to shortlist the finalists in each category after a due diligence. All the shortlisted nominations’ cases would be presented by DSCI and PwC to Jury in a Jury briefing meeting, to justify their shortlisting. An eminent jury panel will then decide the winners in each category.

All the shortlisted organizations and individuals will be contacted and informed that their entries got shortlisted; relevant details would be shared thereof.

Winners will be announced at Nasscom-DSCI Annual Information Security Summit 2025 on 5th December, 2025. All the shortlisted nominations will be sent an invite to represent their organization / represent themselves at the Awards Ceremony.

Awards Partners
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Process Partner
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