Chandigarh University's Computer Science Engineering Students Develop AI-Powered Platform to Detect Fraudulent Apps

CSE students win ₹3 lakh at CyberShield Hackathon for this Generative AI innovation to combat fraudulent apps & banking malware services

CHANDIGARH, India, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chandigarh University's Computer Science Engineering (CSE) students have once again proven their brilliance on the national stage by securing second position in the national-level CyberShield Hackathon, organized by Bank of India in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad to solve AI, cybersecurity and banking-fraud challenges, winning a prize of Rs 3 lakh by providing innovative solution for harnessing Generative AI for automated reverse engineering, static and dynamic analysis and risk scoring of fraudulent mobile applications (APKs) and malware.

The Chandigarh University's 'Team Fi', comprising of four third-year students of Bachelor of Engineering-CSE (IBM-Cyber Security) Danish Verma, Rahul Jaluthria, Varun Gupta and Avneet Kaur secured second position in the hackathon which attracted over 3000 team registrations from universities and higher educational institutions across India.

Among the 72 shortlisted teams, involving 232 participants, which presented their solutions and prototypes at CyberShield Hackathon in IIT Hyderabad, Team Fi of Chandigarh University – representing the Centre for Privacy and Security in Emerging Technologies (CPSET) at Chandigarh University's Apex Institute of Technology-Computer Science Engineering (AIT-CSE) – was among the nine teams which advanced to the final round for first problem statement – harnessing Generative AI for automated reverse engineering, static and dynamic analysis, and risk scoring of fraudulent mobile applications (APKs) and malware.

Chandigarh University's team secured the runner-up position in the CyberShield Hackathon with the prize money of Rs 3 lakh by building an AI-powered cybersecurity platform designed to assist in the analysis and investigation of suspicious Android applications.

 "Our approach was to build an agentic AI infrastructure around this problem, moving beyond a conventional automated analysis pipeline and exploring how autonomous AI agents could coordinate different stages of cybersecurity analysis. Without going too deep into the technical implementation, our goal was to rethink how AI could be applied to a traditionally complex and highly manual cybersecurity workflow. So, the AI-powered cybersecurity platform built by our team automates several aspects of application security assessment and uses intelligent analysis to identify potentially malicious or suspicious behaviour, evaluate associated risks and generate meaningful insights for cybersecurity professionals. By bringing different stages of Android security investigation into a unified workflow, this project aimed to reduce manual effort, improve the consistency of analysis and help security teams investigate potential threats more efficiently while maintaining an evidence-driven approach," said Team Fi's Danish Verma.

"The on-site evaluation of the solution given by the participating teams was done by an impressive panel of judges and experts from diverse backgrounds and organisations including EY, C-DAC, McKinsey, Bank of India, and IIT Hyderabad. After the final evaluation, Team Fi secured 2nd place nationally in problem statement 1 to win Rs 3 lakh prize. For our team, Rs 3 lakh prize was more than just a monetary award. It was a tangible recognition of the work, experimentation and persistence that went into building our solution and taking it through every stage of the competition. Starting from an idea and seeing it survive four rounds of online evaluation, a national-level shortlist, an on-site technical evaluation and finally the last round at IIT Hyderabad made the achievement especially meaningful. The problem statement gives our team an opportunity to look at cybersecurity through a different lens and explore what could happen when agentic AI is designed around real-world security problems. Presenting that vision to experts from EY, C-DAC, McKinsey, Bank of India and IIT Hyderabad, and ultimately being recognised among the top solutions, reinforced our belief that ambitious ideas are worth pursuing when you are willing to keep building, testing and improving them," he added.

Congratulating CU students on their achievement, Deepinder Singh Sandhu, Senior Managing Director, Chandigarh University said, "We are very proud of these students for their dedication, expertise and collaborative spirit for pushing the boundaries of innovation and making meaningful contributions to the advancement of cybersecurity solutions in banking. Chandigarh University remains dedicated to offering top-tier educational experiences, supporting its mission to cultivate knowledgeable, skilled, and innovative engineers who will contribute significantly to their respective fields and society at large. The University's state-of-the-art infrastructure and highly qualified teaching staff enrich the students with practical experiences and theoretical learning. Additionally, the university regularly organizes various competitions and programs to enable students to showcase their talents and continue their educational journey."

Sandhu said the Chandigarh University has launched Centre for Privacy and Security in Emerging Technologies (CPSET) Lab at AIT-CSE for strengthening research, innovation, and hands-on learning in the areas of cybersecurity, privacy, and emerging technologies. "As per National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal Data, around 28 lakh cyber frauds were reported in the year 2025, amounting to 22,931 crore rupees. The launch of this Centre of Excellence reflects Chandigarh University's commitment to learning, innovation and building a stronger cybersecurity community. At CPSET, we continue to create opportunities that encourage students to learn, explore, and grow in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity. As cybersecurity is revolutionizing the world in almost every industry and domain and is advancing at an unprecedented pace, large number of skilled resources with an in-depth understanding of underlying technologies as well as the domain will be required to build the necessary foundations and innovate. And in fact, it is expected by 2026, this industry would be at $352.25 billion business value. In line with this pressing industry need, Chandigarh University AIT has collaborated with one of the best companies in field of cybersecurity, IBM to offer advanced industry-oriented program of Bachelor of Engineering in Internet of Things as a four-year undergraduate program that familiarizes students with the diverse aspects of the cybersecurity ecosystem in functional as well as operational domains. During the tenure of this program, students develop an understanding of the trending abstract models for cybersecurity and apply them to real world, industry-based applications," he added.

About Chandigarh University

Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC.

Website address: https://www.cuchd.in/