The FCRF Excellence Awards 2026 turned the spotlight on a distinguished group of individuals, organisations, technology innovators and hackathon achievers whose work represents the changing face of cybersecurity and cybercrime response in India. Spanning cyber policing, digital forensics, threat intelligence, cybersecurity engineering, ethical hacking, digital policing innovation and AI-driven security, the awards reflected a field in which technological capability must increasingly be matched by investigative skill, institutional readiness and continuous innovation.
The winners represent contributions from law enforcement, journalism, industry, forensic technology, cybersecurity companies and the wider security community. Alongside the award recipients, the tracker also recognises five hackathon winners drawn from academic, defence and cybersecurity backgrounds.
Cyber Policing Honours Those On The Investigative Frontline
Cyber policing emerged as one of the prominent areas of recognition at the awards.
Mohd Yaseen Kichloo, IPS was named a recipient of the FCRF Excellence Award in Cyber Policing, recognising the importance of leadership and policing capabilities in responding to crimes increasingly shaped by digital platforms, electronic evidence and technology.
The same honour, the FCRF Excellence Award in Cyber Policing, was also accorded to Saurabh Haritesh, bringing another law-enforcement professional into the group recognised for work in this crucial field.
Rohit Heera was likewise named for the FCRF Excellence Award in Cyber Policing, further expanding the awards’ recognition of professionals operating at the intersection of policing and the rapidly evolving cybercrime landscape.
Together, these awards underline a central reality of contemporary policing: cybercrime is no longer a specialised concern existing separately from conventional law enforcement. Digital trails, online financial transactions, mobile devices, social platforms and electronically stored evidence increasingly form part of everyday investigations, making cyber capability fundamental to modern police work.
Journalism, Investigation And Intelligence Recognised
The awards also acknowledged the role of professionals and organisations working outside conventional policing but contributing significantly to the broader cybercrime ecosystem.
Dr. Ram Kinkar Singh, Senior Special Correspondent, India Today, was selected for the FCRF Excellence Award in Cyber Journalism. His inclusion places cyber journalism alongside technical and investigative disciplines, recognising the role of reporting in bringing cybercrime, digital fraud, security risks and emerging technological challenges into the public conversation.
HDFC ERGO was named in the tracker under Corporate Investigation, reflecting the significance of investigative capabilities within the corporate environment, where fraud, digital misconduct and technology-related risks increasingly require specialised scrutiny.
In the field of intelligence, Resecurity received the FCRF Excellence Award in Threat Intelligence. Threat intelligence has become a critical component of contemporary cybersecurity, helping organisations understand malicious infrastructure, emerging attack patterns and the wider threat environment rather than responding only after an incident has occurred.
AI And Digital Forensics Take Their Place At The Centre
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly intertwined with cybersecurity, the awards also recognised innovation in AI-enabled security.
Binary Global Limited was named recipient of the FCRF Excellence Award in AI-Driven Security Innovation Award, placing emphasis on the growing role of artificial intelligence in the development of contemporary security capabilities.
Digital forensics, meanwhile, received substantial representation among the winners.
mH Service was selected for the FCRF Excellence Award in Cyber Forensics, a category that reflects the importance of extracting, preserving, examining and interpreting digital evidence during cyber and technology-enabled investigations.
4N6 Care Technologies was recognised with the FCRF Excellence Award in Digital Forensics Training & Capacity Development. The category brings attention not only to forensic tools and techniques, but also to the need to build a larger pool of professionals capable of using them effectively.
The awards tracker also names Prodiscover for the FCRF Excellence Award in Investigation Hub, adding another dimension to the recognition of investigative and forensic capabilities.
Digital Policing And Cybersecurity Innovation In Focus
The award programme extended further into the technologies and institutions supporting digital policing.
DITAC Punjab received the FCRF Excellence Award in Digital Policing Innovation, recognising innovation in a field where law-enforcement agencies are increasingly expected to integrate digital capabilities into investigations and operational processes.
The emphasis on policing innovation sits alongside recognition for organisations working in specialised areas of cybersecurity.
CyberSmithSECURE Pvt Limited was selected for the FCRF Excellence Award for Cyber Auditing, highlighting the importance of identifying vulnerabilities, evaluating controls and examining whether systems and organisations are adequately prepared against cyber risk.
Macksofy Technologies Pvt Ltd received the FCRF Excellence for Ethical Hacking, recognising a discipline that uses authorised security testing to identify weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them.
Cybersecurity Engineering And Readiness Earn Recognition
The awards also recognised the engineering and preparedness dimensions of cybersecurity.
Sanskriti Grover was named recipient of the FCRF Excellence Award for Cybersecurity Engineering, giving individual recognition to a domain that sits at the heart of designing and strengthening secure technological systems.
Defhawk was recognised under the category Cyber Readiness Simulation Platform. The inclusion of a cyber-readiness simulation category highlights the importance of preparing organisations not merely through policies and theoretical plans, but through environments in which cyber incidents and response scenarios can be tested.
Starlight Data Solutions received the FCRF Excellence Award for Cybersecurity, a broader recognition within a roster that otherwise spans highly specialised security disciplines.
Taken together, these winners show the breadth of the cybersecurity ecosystem. Effective cyber defence today depends on much more than preventing a network intrusion. It encompasses investigation, intelligence, auditing, forensic capability, engineering, simulation, policing, training and the ability to communicate cyber risks effectively.
Hackathon Winners Showcase The Next Generation Of Cyber Talent
A particularly important part of the recognition programme was the hackathon, which placed emerging talent and practical problem-solving alongside professional excellence.
The FCRF tracker names Aryan Hundia of VIT Vellore among the hackathon winners. He was joined by Lt. Abhinav Mehrotra of MCTE, Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, bringing a defence technology dimension to the group of achievers.
The remaining hackathon winners were Sundeep Kumar of CCOSW, HQ Eastern Command; Akash Budhrani of CCOSW, HQ Eastern Command; and Dev Singh of FCRF. The tracker identifies all five as hackathon winners but does not assign individual ranks or separate award titles to them.
Their recognition is significant because hackathons occupy a distinctive place within the cybersecurity community. They move participants away from purely theoretical knowledge and towards practical problem-solving, requiring them to analyse challenges, develop ideas and apply technical skills under demanding conditions.
By recognising participants from VIT Vellore, MCTE Mhow, CCOSW at HQ Eastern Command and FCRF, the hackathon also demonstrated the range of institutions contributing to the development of cybersecurity talent.
A Recognition Of The Entire Cybersecurity Ecosystem
The FCRF Excellence Awards 2026 ultimately present a picture of cybersecurity as a deeply interconnected discipline.
Mohd Yaseen Kichloo, IPS; HDFC ERGO; Dr. Ram Kinkar Singh; Binary Global Limited; Resecurity; Saurabh Haritesh; mH Service; Prodiscover; 4N6 Care Technologies; Rohit Heera; DITAC Punjab; CyberSmithSECURE Pvt Limited; Macksofy Technologies Pvt Ltd; Sanskriti Grover; Defhawk; and Starlight Data Solutions represent the award recipients and organisations recorded in the winners section of the tracker.
Alongside them, hackathon winners Aryan Hundia, Lt. Abhinav Mehrotra, Sundeep Kumar, Akash Budhrani and Dev Singh represent another vital part of the cybersecurity landscape: the people developing and demonstrating the practical skills that will be needed to address the next generation of threats.
What connects these varied recognitions is a common purpose. Cybersecurity is increasingly defined not by any single technology or institution, but by the combined strength of investigators, police officers, forensic specialists, engineers, intelligence professionals, journalists, companies and emerging talent.
The FCRF Excellence Awards 2026 celebrate that wider ecosystem, recognising those contributing to the capabilities required to investigate cybercrime, strengthen digital security and prepare institutions for a future in which technology will remain both an extraordinary opportunity and an increasingly demanding security challenge.
