E-Rakshak

About the Event E-Rakshak is a cybersecurity and innovation hackathon organized by Surat City Police in collaboration with NEXUS and NIT Surat. The event aims to inspire students to build impactful technological solutions that enhance digital safety, cybercrime prevention, forensic intelligence, and online security ecosystems. Participation is strictly limited to college students (UG and PG). Inter-college teams are not allowed — all team members must belong to the same institute Prize Pool:  Rs. 2,25,000/- Hackathon Structure Round 1 – Online CTF Challenge (20 June 2026) Participants will compete in a Capture-the-Flag cybersecurity challenge designed to test their skills in ethical hacking, digital investigations, and problem-solving. Teams scoring above the cutoff will advance to the prototype development phase. Round 2 – Prototype Development + Mentorship (1 July 2026 onward) Shortlisted teams will receive their problem statements and begin a 1-month guided mentorship period starting 1 July 2026 . During this phase, teams will work closely with assigned mentors to develop a functional prototype or proof-of-concept that addresses their chosen problem statement. Mentors will periodically evaluate progress based on predefined scoring criteria. Top-performing teams will be shortlisted for the final presentation round. Round 3 – Final Presentation at NIT Surat (1st Week of August 2026) Teams shortlisted from Round 2 will present their solutions offline at SVNIT Surat before a panel of experts from Surat City Police, academia, and industry. Each team must demonstrate their prototype, highlight its technical strengths, and explain its real-world impact. Final winners will be selected based on jury scoring. Important Dates Registrations open: 15 May 2026 Online CTF Round: 20 June 2026 Problem Statement Release + Mentoring: 1 July 2026 Final Round (Offline at SVNIT): 1st week of August 2026 Join E-Rakshak and contribute to building the future of cyber safety.