The Indian Army's Territorial Army, in collaboration with CyberPeace, has launched Terrier Cyber Quest 2026 (TCQ 3.0), a national-level hackathon aimed at developing innovative solutions to contemporary defence, cybersecurity, and information-domain challenges. This third edition of the competition seeks to bring together technical talent from academia, industry, research institutions, government organizations, and the Armed Forces, focusing on emerging areas including Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, threat mitigation, and digital awareness while encouraging development of indigenous solutions relevant to national security.
The competition is structured across three distinct tracks: Bug Hunting involves a cybersecurity challenge commencing with an online Capture-the-Flag (CTF) qualifier and culminating in an in-person live sandbox finale where participants identify and document vulnerabilities in simulated critical infrastructure environments; AI Kavach focuses on AI and machine-learning based solutions for predictive threat intelligence, automated defence mechanisms, and anomaly detection; and Creators Challenge is a digital media and storytelling competition for content creators, communicators, and influencers to develop impactful awareness campaigns addressing threats such as deepfakes, phishing, online scams, and misinformation.
Registration for the competition remains open until 31 August 2026, with the online shortlisting phase scheduled from 1 to 10 September 2026. The Grand Finale will be held in New Delhi from 6 to 8 October 2026, followed by the award ceremony on 9 October 2026. The initiative builds on previous editions of the competition and is positioned under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorative framework.