The Territorial Army, along with CyberPeace, has launched the third edition of Terrier Cyber Quest 2026 (TCQ 3.0), a national-level hackathon focused on cybersecurity, defence and digital threats.
The competition aims to bring together talent from educational institutions, industry, research organisations, government bodies and the Armed Forces. Participants will work on technology-based solutions to address emerging cybersecurity and national security challenges.
Three tracks for participants
This year’s competition will be held across three tracks.
Bug Hunting: Participants will identify security flaws in simulated critical infrastructure systems. The challenge will begin with an online Capture-the-Flag round, followed by a live final round.
AI Kavach: This track will focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Participants will develop solutions for detecting threats, identifying unusual activity and improving cyber defence.
Creators Challenge: Content creators, communicators and influencers can take part in this track. They will be asked to create digital campaigns on threats such as deepfakes, phishing, online scams and misinformation.
Check key dates
Registrations for Terrier Cyber Quest 2026 will remain open till August 31, 2026. The online shortlisting round will be held from September 1 to 10.
The Grand Finale is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from October 6 to 8, while the award ceremony will be held on October 9.
The hackathon gives students, technology enthusiasts and other participants a chance to showcase their skills and work on real-world cybersecurity challenges linked to national security.
