Pinaka CTF

Overview: Decode. Exploit. Investigate. Conquer. PINAKA CTF 2026 is a national-level cybersecurity Capture The Flag competition organized by National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Chennai Campus. Inspired by the legendary Pinaka, the competition is designed to challenge participants across offensive security, digital forensics, intelligence, and advanced cybersecurity problem-solving. Whether you are a student building your first CTF skills, an experienced security enthusiast, a researcher, or a cybersecurity professional, PINAKA CTF 2026 provides a platform to test your technical knowledge against practical security challenges. Challenge Domains: Participants can expect challenges across: Web Exploitation Digital Forensics OSINT Cryptography Reverse Engineering Binary Exploitation Network Security Steganography Miscellaneous / Advanced Security Challenges Challenges will vary in difficulty and may require participants to combine knowledge from multiple domains. Competition Process: The competition will be conducted in two stages: Round 1 · Online Qualification: The first stage will be conducted online and will be open to registered teams. Participants will solve a series of cybersecurity challenges covering multiple domains. Teams will be ranked based on their performance during the qualification round. The highest-performing teams will qualify for the offline Grand Finale at NFSU Chennai Campus. Round 2 · Offline Grand Finale: Qualified teams will compete at the NFSU Chennai Campus in an intensive, on-site cybersecurity competition. The Grand Finale may include multiple competition formats such as: Jeopardy-style challenges · Solve independent challenges across different security domains. King of the Hill · Defend your infrastructure while attacking and compromising opponents' systems. Case Study-based challenges · Investigate realistic cybersecurity scenarios and derive technical findings and solutions. The final competition structure, challenge distribution, scoring mechanism, and timings will be communicated to qualified teams before the finale. Eligibility: PINAKA CTF 2026 is open to: Undergraduate and postgraduate students Cybersecurity enthusiasts Researchers Security professionals CTF players and independent learners Participants from colleges, universities, and organizations across India Participants are encouraged to register as teams. Team size and registration requirements will be specified on the official registration portal. Rules: All participants must complete the registration process within the specified registration period. Participants must provide accurate information during registration. Teams must operate using only the accounts and infrastructure assigned to them during the competition. Sharing flags, challenge solutions, credentials, or other competition-specific information with other teams is prohibited. Attacking the competition infrastructure outside the explicitly authorized scope is prohibited. Denial-of-service attacks, destructive activity, infrastructure disruption, or attempts to compromise competition services outside the intended challenge environment are strictly prohibited. Participants must not attempt to interfere with, modify, or disrupt another team's competition environment except where explicitly permitted by a challenge. Automated tools and scripts may be used where permitted by the challenge rules. Any activity intended to disrupt competition infrastructure is prohibited. Participants must follow instructions issued by the organizers, administrators, and technical team. Any form of cheating, impersonation, unauthorized collaboration, or exploitation of competition infrastructure may result in disqualification. Organizers reserve the right to investigate suspicious activity and take appropriate action where competition integrity is compromised. The organizers' decision regarding rule violations, scoring disputes, and disqualification will be final. Competition Format: PINAKA CTF 2026 combines different styles of cybersecurity competition to evaluate both technical depth and practical problem-solving. Online Qualification → Team Ranking → Grand Finale Qualification → Offline Final The Grand Finale will feature a combination of Jeopardy, King of the Hill, and Case Study-based challenges, subject to the final competition design. What Participants Can Expect: Practical cybersecurity challenges Multiple security domains Real-world investigation scenarios Offensive and defensive security concepts Digital forensic investigations Intelligence and OSINT challenges Competitive team-based gameplay On-site cybersecurity competition experience Opportunities to interact with fellow cybersecurity enthusiasts and professionals Why Participate?: PINAKA CTF 2026 provides participants with an opportunity to: Test their cybersecurity skills in a competitive environment Apply theoretical knowledge to practical security problems Develop offensive security and investigative capabilities Strengthen CTF and problem-solving skills Collaborate with teammates under time pressure Compete with cybersecurity talent from across India Gain exposure to realistic security scenarios Important Note: Detailed information regarding registration deadlines, team size, qualification criteria, schedules, venue arrangements, prizes, scoring, challenge infrastructure, and Grand Finale instructions will be communicated through the official event channels and registration portal. Participants are advised to regularly check official communications for updates.