| Participants | Freshers Graduates |
| Program Type | Competition(Job Offer+Prizes) |
| Job Role | Top Performers will get TCS Ninja, Digital Offers |
| Qualification | B.E/B.Tech/M.E/M.Tech/BCA/MCA/BSc/MSc |
| Batch | 2026 |
| Experience | Freshers |
| Cash prizes | Rs. 5 Lakhs |
| Competition Location | Virtual (Online) |
| Last Date | 01 December 2025 |
TCS HackQuest 2025 : Detailed Eligibility :
Educational Qualification :
- The Contest is open to students (enrolled in any recognized college /university / academic institute) in India who will be graduating in the academic year 2026, with any of the following degrees:
- Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech)
- Bachelor of Engineering (B.E)
- Master of Technology (M. Tech)
- Master of Engineering (M.E.)
- Bachelor of Computer Applications (B.C.A.)
- Master of Computer Applications (M.C.A.)
- Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. / B.S.)
- Master of Science (M.Sc. / M.S.)
- TCS reserves the right to take necessary steps and seek any relevant documents to verify the eligibility of the participants mentioned above.
- The contest will be considered void if participation in the contest and/or conducting the contest is prohibited by the rules of contest.
Participants :
- Participants can take part in the contest only as an Individual. Team/Group participation is NOT allowed.
- TCS reserves the right to assess each participant’s eligibility and compliance with the rules at any point during the validity of the contest. Participants must promptly respond with any necessary evidence to verify their eligibility and/or compliance upon TCS’ request. TCS reserves the right to refuse entry to any participant and shall not be obliged to provide any explanations thereof.
- There are no participation/registration/submission/contest related fees. However, expenses, if any, arising from an individual’s participation in the contest shall be borne by that individual. TCS will not sponsor or reimburse any such expenses.
TCS HackQuest 2025 Prizes :
- The top performing participants who clear Round 3 may stand a chance to receive ‘Ninja or Digital or Prime’ provisional job offers subject to interview process and other selection criteria as per TCS’ sole discretion and policies in effect.
- While some of the toppers of round 2 will be invited for an in person Round 3, the top ten (10) participants from Round 3 shall be awarded at the Grand Finale ceremony and have a chance to interact with TCS leadership.
- Total prizes worth up to INR 5 Lakhs are given to the top performing participants.
- Certification of merit will be awarded to all top performing participants.
- Exceptional performers will be given a chance to work with TCS Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence.
TCS HackQuest Contest Rounds 2025 :
- The contest will be conducted in three rounds. The first round (“Round 1”) is an online ‘Capture the Flag’ competition where all participants can take part and they will be shortlisted for next rounds basis qualification.
- Participants shortlisted after ‘Round 1’ will move to the second round (“Round 2”), which will be online and shall be proctored remotely. Participants will have to keep their camera switched ‘ON’ during the entire period of the ‘Round 2’
- Third and Final round will be conducted in person at TCS premises. The details of which will be intimated to the qualified participants.
Round 1 :
- This will be an online challenge-based test where the participants would be required to log on to an online application with a set of challenge statements.
- These tests will require the participants to demonstrate their ethical hacking skills and their specific competency in security challenges.
- The set of challenge statements will be presented in three (3) categories
- Beginner level challenges
- Intermediate level challenges
- Expert level challenges
- Round 1 will be for six (6) hour duration during which all the participants are required to use their skills and solve the challenge statement(s) (according to the category chosen) and submit the flags captured in the online portal.
- The submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Flags captured.
- Quality of report submitted.
- Approach followed for capturing the flags
N.B: The participants are encouraged to attempt all challenges across all categories and demonstrate their ability to handle different scenarios. The URL of the application will be shared before the contest begins.
Round 2 :
- Participants selected from ‘Round 1’ will be eligible to participate in ‘Round 2.’ Round 2 will be conducted in a remote environment and will be proctored by the TCS team.
- Activity 1: Penetration testing on hosted challenges.
- The participant would be provided with the hosted challenge statements which he/she is expected to solve by using his/her intuitive skills. Challenge statements in this round might require expertise in the following areas as well:
- System exploitation
- Vulnerabilities in AI/ML based applications
- Penetration testing of web applications
- Mobile security
- Digital forensics
- Threat hunting
- Incident response
- Source code analysis
- Security operation center scenarios
- Scoring will be based on the flags captured by the participants in the above-mentioned topics.
- The details of duration, mode of proctoring will be communicated to the participants who clear the round.
- The participant would be provided with the hosted challenge statements which he/she is expected to solve by using his/her intuitive skills. Challenge statements in this round might require expertise in the following areas as well:
Round 3 :
- In person Round within TCS campus (3-4 hours)
- A select list of shortlisted participants will be invited for an in-person/ live third round and they will have to battle it out for a spot in the Top 10 ethical hackers in HackQuest Season X. In this round, participants will be required to explain their approach to solving challenge statement(s) and answer the queries posed by the jury panel, then and there.
- Participants trained in the below security domains will have an added advantage while participating in the contest:
- Application security
- Network security
- Java/J2EE, PHP, Python. GO
- Information security and risk management
- Ethical hacking
- AI red teaming
- Data Analytics/Data Science
- AI/ML security
- Digital forensics
- Threat hunting
- Malware Analysis/Reverse Engineering
- Any security specific certification like Security+, OSCP, CEH, ISO 27001, etc.
How to Apply for TCS HackQuest 2025?
All interested and eligible participants can register for the contest with the given below link and must have a valid CT/DT ID on or before 01 December 2025. To create a valid CT/DT ID, the participant will have to log in to TCS’ NextStep Portal, click on Register, fill in the fields and submit.
NOTE : TCS NextStep reference ID (CT/DT number) is mandatory for participating in the contest.
For more details : https://hackquest.tcsapps.com/
To register for contest : https://hackquest.tcsapps.com/register
TCS Next Step (To create valid CT/DT ID) : https://nextstep.tcsapps.com/indiacampus/#/