August 7, 2026
Phase I: Authentication & Systems Validation
Venue
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru
Reporting Time: 12:00 PM IST
Authentication Window
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Systems Validation
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
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InCTF is a multi-month, beginner-friendly ethical hacking programme with training, Capture The Flag contests, and a national-level final championship.
Learn from Team bi0s, build real skills, win prizes, and get recognized through InCTF's national cybersecurity platform.
FINALS BRIEFING LIVE: AUG 7-9, 2026
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Finals schedule
August 7-9, 2026, with finals action concentrated on August 8.
Venues
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru on August 7 and 8. MLR Convention Centre, JP Nagar, on August 9.
AI policy
AI assistants, generative models, and remote help are prohibited during the CTF finals.
Operation Overview
What is InCTF?
InCTF is a national-level ethical hacking championship run by Team bi0s in association with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and the Amrita Center for Cyber Security. The programme is designed for college students and professionals who want to learn, compete, and grow in cybersecurity.
Started in 2010, InCTF has reached over 1,000+ university students across India from 25 states through its contest and training ecosystem.
Key Highlights
Multi-month, world-class programme.
Beginner-friendly learning path with room for advanced participation.
Organized by Team bi0s and supported by Amrita's cybersecurity ecosystem.
"Learn, compete, and grow in cybersecurity."
Rewards & Outcomes
Prizes, Perks & Career Outcomes
InCTF is not only a competition; it is also a learning and recognition platform for cybersecurity talent.
Prizes
Top performers receive exciting prizes and exclusive InCTF goodies to celebrate their achievements.
Certificates & Training
Participants receive certificates, and top performers get access to exclusive online cybersecurity training following the contest.
Recognition
Stand out to top recruiters. We discover recruitment partners and offer exclusive internship opportunities with our sponsor organizations this year.
Our Sponsors
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Co-Powered By
Supported By
Organizing Partner
Community Partner
Event Schedule
InCTF Finals Schedule
The three-day finals overview is below, followed by the full conference agenda for Sunday, 9 August 2026 at MLR Convention Centre, Bengaluru.
August 8, 2026
Phase II: Investigation (CTF Finals)
Venue
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru
The main competition day
Operative Check-In & Breakfast
08:30 AM
Mission Briefing
09:00 AM
Investigation (CTF) Begins
10:00 AM
Lunch
Around 01:00 PM
Refreshments
04:00 PM
Investigation (CTF) Ends
06:00 PM
Dinner
Around 07:00 PM
August 9, 2026
Phase III: Conference, Keynotes & Prize Distribution
Venue
MLR Convention Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka
Sunday conference programme from 08:30 AM to 04:00 PM
Transport
Transport from Amrita University will begin at 8:00 AM.
Registration & Networking
08:30 AM - 09:30 AM
Inaugural Ceremony
09:30 AM - 10:35 AM
Tea Break & Networking
10:35 AM - 10:45 AM
Technical Sessions
10:50 AM - 01:00 PM
Lunch & Networking
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Technical Sessions
02:10 PM - 03:00 PM
Closing Ceremony & Prize Distribution
03:10 PM - 04:00 PM
AI Usage Policy
AI assistants, generative models, locally hosted LLMs, remote helpers, and other non-official solution services are prohibited during the CTF finals.
Venue Summary
August 7 and 8 take place at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru. August 9 moves to MLR Convention Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka for the conference and prize distribution.
Conference Day Timeline
Sunday, 9 August 2026
Keynotes, technical talks, networking windows, and the grand prize distribution at MLR Convention Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Venue
MLR Convention Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka
Time Slot
08:30 AM - 09:30 AM
Registration & Networking
Check in, collect the conference kit, and connect with finalists, recruiters, sponsors, and cybersecurity professionals before the sessions begin.
Time Slot
09:30 AM - 10:35 AM
Inaugural Ceremony
Opening addresses, keynote remarks, memento presentation, and the official group photograph launch the conference day.
- Opening Video & Invocation
- Welcome Address
- University Address - Dr. Sudhir Patnaik, Professor & Centre Director, Corporate and Industry Relations, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
- Industry Address - Prashant Deo, CTO & Global Head of Security Tools and Engineering, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
- Industry Address - Veronica Fernandez, Talent Acquisition Director - India, NielsenIQ (NIQ)
- Chief Guest Keynote - Jayashree Naik, Vice President & Advisor, KAS Cyber Ventures
- Memento Presentation
- Group Photograph
Time Slot
10:35 AM - 10:45 AM
Tea Break & Networking
A short refreshment break for speaker interactions, hallway discussions, and sponsor conversations.
Time Slot
10:50 AM - 11:30 AM
Attack Surface Management in a Post-Mythos World Swarmed with Frontier AI LLMs
Santosh Mishra, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
A practical look at how AI is reshaping attack surface management and what teams need to secure rapidly expanding enterprise environments.
Time Slot
11:35 AM - 12:15 PM
Decoding the Invisible: A Hacker's Path Through Hardware Security and HAM Radio
Sanjay NS, Product Security Engineer, Honeywell
A walkthrough of hardware security research, embedded systems, HAM radio, and offensive techniques that surface in real-world assessments.
Time Slot
12:15 PM - 01:00 PM
LLM Security
Dr. Kumaran U., Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Amrita School of Computing, Bengaluru Campus
Threats, vulnerabilities, and defensive patterns for building and operating secure large language model systems.
Time Slot
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Lunch & Networking
Lunch with time to meet the finalist community, industry leaders, sponsors, and recruiters.
Time Slot
02:10 PM - 02:35 PM
Connecting the Dots: From Flags to Production
Suraj Kumar, Antibot & Reverse Engineer, NielsenIQ (NIQ)
How CTF problem-solving maps to production-grade cybersecurity work, from reverse engineering to applied incident response and defence.
Time Slot
02:35 PM - 03:00 PM
Monetise Your CTF Skills
Ayubali Beleri, Product Security Engineer, NielsenIQ (NIQ)
Career paths and security disciplines where competitive CTF experience translates directly into professional impact.
Time Slot
03:10 PM - 04:00 PM
Closing Ceremony & Prize Distribution
Winners are announced, prizes are presented, and the conference concludes with the Vote of Thanks and National Anthem.
Finals Rulebook
CTF Rules And Guidelines For the Finals
CTF Rules & Guidelines
- CCTV Surveillance: The event venue is under CCTV surveillance throughout the competition.
- Organizer Instructions: Participants must comply with all instructions and announcements issued by the organizers. The organizers reserve the right to modify, add, or remove rules and procedures at any time. The organizers' decision shall be final in all matters relating to the competition.
- Scope of Attack: Participants may interact only with systems, services, and resources explicitly designated as part of the competition. Any attempt to access, attack, interfere with, or otherwise interact with the event infrastructure, scoring platform, competition network, or any other out-of-scope systems is strictly prohibited.
- Service Disruption: Denial-of-Service (DoS), Distributed DoS (DDoS), resource exhaustion, or any activity intended to disrupt the competition environment is strictly prohibited.
- Fair Play: Flag sharing, unauthorized collaboration, impersonation, physical tampering, or any attempt to gain an unfair advantage is prohibited.
- Competition Environment: Participants must use only the systems and resources provided or explicitly approved by the organizers. Participants must not attempt to bypass, disable, interfere with, or circumvent the intended configuration, operation, or security measures of the competition environment.
- Personal Devices: Personal smartphones and any other unauthorized communication or computing devices are not permitted inside the competition area unless explicitly authorized by the organizers.
- Official Assistance: If you encounter a technical issue or require any official hint, clarification, or solution script, contact the organizers directly. Assistance from any other source is prohibited.
- Prohibited Assistance: Participants must not use:
- Any AI assistant, large language model, or generative AI service.
- Any locally hosted or offline AI/LLM.
- Remote assistance from any individual.
- Any external service that provides solutions or assistance beyond what is officially provided by the organizers.
- Permitted Resources: Publicly available documentation, blogs, write-ups, official manuals, and other publicly available reference materials may be used unless explicitly restricted for a specific challenge.
- Solution Verification: Participants must be prepared to explain or demonstrate any solve upon request. The organizers reserve the right to invalidate any solve that cannot be satisfactorily verified.
- Confidentiality: Participants must not publicly discuss, publish, distribute, livestream, or otherwise disclose any flags, exploits, challenge solutions, or write-ups until the organizers officially announce the conclusion of the competition.
- Conduct & Responsibility: Participants are responsible for their assigned accounts and the proper use of the provided equipment. Any misconduct, harassment, misuse of equipment, or behavior detrimental to the integrity or fairness of the competition may result in penalties or disqualification.
- Participation: By participating in the competition, participants acknowledge and consent to the monitoring, verification, and security measures deemed necessary by the organizers to ensure the integrity and fairness of the event.
Finals / Important Information
Important Information
What finalists need to know before arriving on site.
AI usage policy: AI assistants, generative models, local or offline LLMs, remote helpers, and external solution services are prohibited during the CTF finals.
Accommodation is not provided. General transport is also not provided, except for the transport between Amrita University and the MLR Convention Centre on August 9.
Yes. Certificates will be distributed during the closing ceremony, and all finalists will receive them.
August 7 and 8 will be held at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru. August 9 will be held at MLR Convention Centre, JP Nagar, Bengaluru.
If you encounter a technical issue or need an official hint, clarification, or solution script, contact the organizers directly.
Yes. Outstanding teams may receive referrals from team bi0s to cybersecurity organizations.
No. Any AI assistant, generative model, locally hosted offline LLM, remote helper, or external solution service is prohibited during the CTF finals.
Each participant must bring their own individual bonafide certificate. A single certificate for the entire team will not be accepted. Submission of an individual bonafide certificate is mandatory for every participant.
Masterclass / Training
InCTF Training & Learning
InCTF provides comprehensive training-related content, including a live training schedule and a rich repository of learning resources.
Participants can master cybersecurity fundamentals through public resources and guided material both before and during the active competition cycle.
Training Features
Extensive Platform Ecosystem
Training and learning resources are readily available through dedicated InCTF pages and linked educational platforms.
Writeups
Participants can revise key concepts and techniques using detailed solution writeups.
Current Edition Materials
Access specialized session materials, guides, and specific training resources tailored for the current edition of the championship.
Knowledge Base
Resources to Level Up
Training Videos / Learning Content
Use the training schedule and linked learning resources already exposed by InCTF.
[ View Training ] Conference Speakers
Conference Speakers
Industry leaders, keynote guests, and technical session speakers joining the InCTF Finals 2026 conference on 9 August.
Prashant Deo
09:30 AM - 10:35 AM
CTO & Global Head of Security Tools and Engineering
Industry Address
Veronica Fernandez
09:30 AM - 10:35 AM
Talent Acquisition Director - India
Industry Address
Santosh Mishra
10:50 AM - 11:30 AM
Senior Cybersecurity Consultant
Attack Surface Management in a Post-Mythos World Swarmed with Frontier AI LLMs
Sanjay NS
11:35 AM - 12:15 PM
Product Security Engineer
Decoding the Invisible: A Hacker's Path Through Hardware Security and HAM Radio
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Dr. Kumaran U.
12:15 PM - 01:00 PM
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
LLM Security
Suraj Kumar
02:10 PM - 02:35 PM
Antibot & Reverse Engineer
Connecting the Dots: From Flags to Production
Ayubali Beleri
02:35 PM - 03:00 PM
Product Security Engineer
Monetise Your CTF Skills
Mission Control
Mission Command
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Top-ranked multi-disciplinary research university driving innovation.
Team bi0s
India's No.1 ranked CTF hacking team and pioneering research group.
Amrita Center for Cyber Security
Dedicated research hub building indigenous cybersecurity capabilities.
Network
Partners & Supporters
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