Army organises ‘Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0’ seminar-cum-workshop on Cyber-security threats

The Indian Army organised the second edition of ‘Sainya Ranakshetram’ under the aegis of HQ Army Training Command (ARTRAC) from October 2022 to January 2023. Sainya Ranakshetram, a Hackathon, aims to seek operational solutions to cyber challenges and jumpstart the development time for innovative solutions in the Cyber Security domain.  

Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Manoj Pande facilitated the prize winners of the event during a virtual function on January 17, the Indian Defence Ministry stated. The event aimed to identify indigenous talent in niche domains whilst providing a platform to enhance the training standards in the domains of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ ML), Security Software Coding, Cyber Deterrence and Electro Magnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO).  

Sub-events focussing on different cybersecurity aspects

While participation in Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0 was open to all Indian nationals under the individual and team categories, the event was divided into four sub-events to cater to the varying aspects of Cyber Threat Analysis-

Secure Software Coding: Organised with an aim to identify talent capable of undertaking cyber security requirements, especially in software code whilst engaging with academia in the field of securing software programs, the event was won by Aravindha Hariharan M, a Cyber Security enthusiast from Coimbatore.   

ESMO- Customised Indian Army-Specific Stack for Wi-Fi 6: The sub-event aimed to seek a solution to the implementation of an Indian Army-specific version of a secure Wi-Fi stack in order to increase the levels of security in military communication. Commandant of Army HQ Computer Centre Colonel Nishant Rathee bagged the top spot in this category. Meanwhile, Suryasaradhi Balarkan, currently working with L&T, was declared the runner-up while Tanisha Joshi, pursuing PhD in Dark Energy secured the 3rd position in the event.  

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning- NLP Processing and Decoding of Radio Intercepts: Aimed at the creation of an Al stack to address translation and decryption of multilingual radio transmissions, the sub-event was won by a 15-year-old student, Mithil Salunkhe, currently studying in class 10 of Gyan Mata Vidya Vihar school of Maharashtra. Meanwhile, a B Tech (CS) graduate, Prashant Kumar Singh bagged the second position. The third position was taken by an officer of the Indian Navy, Commander Sushant Saraswat who is currently posted in HQ Eastern Naval Command.  

Cyber Deterrence- Capture the Flag (CTF): Organised as a seven-stage cyber security exploitation challenge, the event was aimed at identifying talent for the enhancement of existing Cyber Security setup. Shaksham Jaiswal, BE (CS) from Hyderabad’s MVSR Engineering College won the sub-event. Notably, Jaiswal possesses more than 15 core qualifications in the field and is now working as a freelancer.  

Meanwhile, the second spot under the sub-event was taken by Prince Kumar Patel presently pursuing BE (IT) at Pune’s Army Institute of Technology (AIT). Hardeep Singh, a graduate of BCA from Bikaner’s Maharaja Ganga Singh University won the third prize.  

According to the Indian Ministry of Defence, Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0 served as a Cyber Threat Seminar cum Workshop that “facilitated engagement with the intrinsic talent at levels of individuals, academia and organisations leading to the identification of suitable talent in the field of Cyber Security both within the Defence forces and in the civil academia.” The identification of talent via the seminar may now be utilised for focussed engagement to ensure fast-track development of cyber security tools and techniques.