Why in news
- The Territorial Army launched 'Terrier Cyber Quest 2026' in collaboration with CyberPeace to build indigenous cybersecurity and AI defence solutions.
Information
- TCQ 3.0 is a national-level military hackathon designed to source technological innovations from academia, defence personnel, research institutions, and industry.
- The competition is structured into three specific operational tracks: Bug Hunting (CTF qualifier and live critical infrastructure vulnerability testing), AI Kavach (predictive threat intelligence and anomaly detection), and Creators Challenge (countering deepfakes and digital misinformation).
- The initiative aims to address emerging threats across grey-zone warfare and information domain challenges.
- Final sandbox evaluations focus on simulated critical infrastructure protection.
Key terms
Territorial Army
An auxiliary military organisation of the Indian Army that provides part-time military training to civilian volunteers for national defence support.
Capture-the-Flag (CTF)
A cybersecurity competition where participants identify security vulnerabilities in software or simulated networks to retrieve hidden strings or codes.
Prelims facts
- TCQ 3.0 is conducted by the Territorial Army to source solutions for critical infrastructure defence and deepfake detection.
Mains discussion
- Discuss the emerging threats posed by grey-zone warfare and the need for indigenous civilian-military cybersecurity frameworks.
Source: PIB English