PNB Launches Cybersecurity Hackathon “Code Against Malware”

In an effort to combat the rising menace of cybercrime, Punjab National Bank (PNB), nation’s leading public sector bank, has launched its first Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024-25 with the theme “Code Against Malware”.

This hackathon is aimed to bring together innovators, researchers, and academicians from across India to address the growing threat of malware and strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity defences. By bringing together the brightest minds, PNB also highlights the need for collaboration between the financial sector, research institutions, and tech innovators to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats.

The PNB Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024-25, running in online mode for students, researchers, and academicians from academic institutions, research organisations, and the technology community, both individually and in teams.

The key focus areas of this hackathon include intelligence-powered malware detection and removal, real-time threat monitoring and mitigation, ransomware resilience solutions, and next-generation antivirus tools and attack surface management.

Participants are required to develop a robust cybersecurity framework for the banking sector with state-of-the-art solutions that can detect, mitigate, and prevent malware attacks. In addition to prizes worth up to Rs 11 lakhs, winners will have the opportunity to solve critical cybersecurity challenges with real-world implications and deploy their successful solutions in live environments with PNB.

As the banking sector continues to accelerate its digital transformation journey, PNB remains at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation, continuously implementing advanced technologies to protect customer data and sensitive financial information.

The PNB Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024-25 is being held under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance and is in line with the Department of Financial Services (DFS) directive for Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to host annual hackathons.