Cyber Policy & Strategy Challenge

A high-stakes simulation of an international cyber crisis, this track immerses participants in one of the largest and most complex scenarios of its kind. Teams will need to craft and execute strategies and policies, navigating critical trade-offs under intense time pressure while competing against the ingenuity of other groups.

Participants will face a simulated environment that challenges their expertise in foreign policy, cybersecurity, and crisis management, pushing them to demonstrate their ability to lead decisively. Success in this track will crown the most capable team as the next potential leaders in Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy and declare them the winners of the challenge.

Competition Phases

Registration

Teams can consist of 1–5 members.

Participants must provide detailed profiles and respond to three subjective and two objective questions.

Based on the submitted profiles and answers, 50 teams will advance to the elimination round.

Elimination

Teams will tackle scenario-based questions designed to test their ability to analyze and respond to simulated organizational cyberattacks.

The top 10–12 teams will qualify for the Grand Finale based on their performance in these assessments.

Grand Finale

The Grand Finale will be an in-person event divided into two stages:

Stage 1 (Semi-Final) –

Teams will represent different countries and work on a simulated cyber crisis scenario.

They will have 8 hours to develop a policy-based solution, which includes a comprehensive report and a one-page dossier.

Submissions will be presented to the jury, and the top 5 teams will advance to the final round.

Stage 2 (Finale) –

Teams will receive updated developments related to the initial scenario.

Each team will represent their assigned country (allocated via a card draw) and must adapt their solutions accordingly.

A revised report and dossier will be submitted and presented to the jury. The best-performing teams will be declared the winners.

Guidelines

Main Guidelines

Edit Content

All participants must join the slack channel, link to join will be provided on dashboard
All submissions must be original and unpublished work of the author/s and should not have been submitted, accepted or published elsewhere.
Co-authorship of entries among individuals from the same or different institutions is allowed. Multiple entries by the same authors are not allowed.
Drafts will pass through internal committee team review and acceptance will be subject to the report of the committee review team.
Submissions not meeting the requirements mentioned will not be reviewed
The Internal Committee reserves the rights to accept and reject the submissions at any stage of the review. The decision of the organisers regarding selection of the papers shall be final.
Requests for in-absentia presentations shall not be entertained.
Submission must be accompanied with a short bio of the author/s (It should include name of the author/s, occupation, designation & name of the institution, email id, mobile phone no and contact address, title of the paper). The bio should be in a separate document.
The copyright for all entries shall vest with the organisers who herewith reserve the right to modify the contributions as per the requirements of necessity.

Policy Structure Guidelines

Edit Content

Policy Title: A short and simple title apt with the body of the submission.
Introduction
- Statement of Problem: A concise statement of the problem/issue which the policy seeks to deal with. Participants can formulate a policy on any issue under the themes provided.
- Objectives: Participants are required to provide the objectives which the policy seeks to achieve.
Framework (Mainbody)
- Stakeholder: A brief note on the stakeholders associated with the policy I.e which sections of the society will be affected by the policy.
- Strategy: This part lays down the plan of the action which refers to the detailed procedures that will be recommended in order to carry out the intent of the policy. In this portion, participants have to specify how they intend to implement the policy I.e. what are the measures they deem to be suitable to carry out the policy. It is necessary that instead of broad/abstract steps, the specific measures must be mentioned by the participants which they would deem to be suitable.
- Viability of the Policy: In this portion, the participants would have to analyse the feasibility of the policy from a legal, social, and economic perspective.
Conclusion

Submission Guidelines

Edit Content

Do’s & Don'ts

Do’s	Don'ts
Prepare original documents Refer to legally recognised statutes and legislations Policy framework to reflect the ideology of the team Respect the ideas and work of other team members Maintain a decorum of discipline and etiquettes	Violate any guideline Disrespect jury and other team members Quote independent unpublished researches Violate the timeline and format for the submissions Copy works of other team members Silently assist other teams from same institution