The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) felicitated winners of the Cyber Security Grand Challenge 2.0, a programme to strengthen national cyber security capability and build expertise in critical technology areas. The event, presided over by S. Krishnan, Secretary at MeitY, marked the end of a staged innovation competition launched in January 2025 on the MyGov platform. The combined prize pool was Rs 68.5 mn for the competition overall.

The grand winners comprised three start?ups. Cambrian Skillsda Technologies and Consultancy Services LLP (CSTCS) won for securing next?generation biometric systems, Crypsis was declared first runner?up for clone and fake app mitigation, and Ziriz.ai was second runner?up for API security. The winning team received a trophy and Rs 10 mn in prize money, while the first and second runners?up received Rs five mn and Rs two point five mn respectively.

The challenge covered six critical domains: API security, data security, wearable device security and privacy, clone and fake app mitigation, artificial intelligence for threat detection and incident response, and securing next?generation biometric systems. Intellectual property rights for developed solutions remained with the respective start?ups. At the idea stage thirty?six start?ups received Rs zero point five mn each, and the competition proceeded through staged evaluations with structured mentorship.

During the minimum viable product stage start?ups received further technical and business mentorship and 18 teams were funded to develop prototypes, after which 18 were awarded Rs one mn each to progress to the final product stage. Five teams received Rs two point five mn each in the final product stage, and the go?to?market evaluation considered commercial readiness and scalability before selecting the three grand winners. S. Krishnan said the challenge had followed a rigorous evaluation process and reaffirmed MeitY's commitment to indigenisation in cyber security.