Terms and Conditions

The platform is operated by:

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED

Bayavu Hill
Kohima, Nagaland 797001
India

Email: info@nexuscipherguard.in
Phone: +91 8132872135

The platform may host hackathons and related programmes organised solely by NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA or jointly with universities, colleges, educational institutions, government organisations, companies, sponsors, communities and other partners.

Individual events may have additional rules, eligibility requirements and participation conditions.

By using the platform or participating in an event, you confirm that:

• You have read and understood these Terms;
• You agree to comply with these Terms;
• You agree to comply with the rules of the particular hackathon in which you participate;
• You will comply with applicable laws and regulations; and
• The information you provide to us is accurate and complete.

Where you are required to obtain parental or guardian consent, participation is conditional upon such consent being validly obtained.

If you are participating on behalf of an organisation, institution, team or other entity, you represent that you have authority to do so.

Each hackathon may have its own event-specific rules published on the relevant event page, registration form, participant handbook or other official communication.

Event-specific rules may specify:

• Eligibility;
• Age requirements;
• Registration deadlines;
• Team size;
• Challenge themes;
• Submission requirements;
• Technology restrictions;
• Judging criteria;
• Timelines;
• Prize structures;
• Mentoring arrangements;
• Venue requirements;
• Code of conduct requirements;
• Intellectual property rules; and
• Other conditions specific to that event.

Where an event-specific rule expressly conflicts with these general Terms, the event-specific rule will prevail only for that particular event and only to the extent of the conflict.

Eligibility is determined separately for each hackathon.

Unless an event page expressly states otherwise, the minimum eligibility requirements may include:

• Meeting the published age requirement;
• Meeting educational, professional or geographic requirements, where applicable;
• Providing accurate registration information;
• Complying with team requirements;
• Obtaining required parental or guardian consent where applicable; and
• Not being otherwise disqualified under the event rules.

Some events may be restricted to students, professionals, specific institutions, geographic regions or other defined groups.

Meeting the general platform requirements does not guarantee eligibility for any particular event.

Where an event permits participation by individuals under eighteen years of age, additional requirements may apply.

These may include:

• Verifiable parental or lawful guardian consent;
• Additional eligibility verification;
• Restrictions imposed by the event organiser or venue;
• Additional documentation; and
• Specific rules concerning photographs, recordings, travel, accommodation or prizes.

We may refuse or cancel participation where required consent or verification cannot be satisfactorily established.

Certain platform functions require an account.

You agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete information;
• Keep your information current;
• Maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials;
• Not share your account with another person;
• Not impersonate another person;
• Not create accounts for fraudulent or deceptive purposes; and
• Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access.

You are responsible for activity carried out through your account unless you can demonstrate that such activity occurred without your authorisation and despite reasonable security precautions on your part.

Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance into a hackathon.

We may:

• Accept or reject applications;
• Request additional information;
• Verify eligibility;
• Conduct screening;
• Place applicants on a waiting list;
• Limit participation based on available capacity; or
• Cancel an application where information is inaccurate or eligibility requirements are not met.

Applicants must provide truthful and complete information.

Providing false, misleading, fabricated or materially incomplete information may result in rejection, disqualification or termination of the relevant account.

Where an event permits team participation:

• Team size requirements will be specified by the event;
• A participant may join only the number of teams permitted by the event rules;
• Team members must accept their participation or invitation through the prescribed process;
• Participants are responsible for resolving internal team arrangements; and
• NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA is not responsible for private disputes between team members.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, each member of a team is responsible for complying with these Terms and the event-specific rules.

Participants must conduct themselves professionally and respectfully.

You must not:

• Harass, threaten, intimidate or abuse another participant;
• Engage in discrimination or unlawful conduct;
• Disrupt an event;
• Misrepresent yourself or your affiliation;
• Attempt to manipulate judging or selection;
• Interfere with another team's participation;
• Access another participant's account or data without authorisation;
• Submit stolen or plagiarised work;
• Deliberately damage equipment or infrastructure;
• Engage in fraud or deception;
• Violate venue rules;
• Disclose confidential information belonging to another person without authorisation; or
• Engage in conduct reasonably likely to compromise the safety, integrity or reputation of the event.

Serious misconduct may result in immediate removal from an event.

Because NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA operates in the cybersecurity domain, some hackathons may involve security research, vulnerability discovery, penetration testing, exploitation or related technical activities.

Participants must strictly follow the scope and rules specified for the relevant challenge.

Unless expressly authorised by the applicable event rules, participants must not:

• Attack NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA's production infrastructure;
• Attack the hackathon platform;
• Attack another participant's infrastructure;
• Access data belonging to another person;
• Deploy malware;
• Conduct denial-of-service attacks;
• Conduct credential attacks against unauthorised systems;
• Exfiltrate personal or confidential information;
• Destroy or alter systems or data;
• Conduct social engineering against individuals;
• Attempt to bypass security controls outside the authorised scope; or
• Use a hackathon as a pretext for unauthorised security testing.

Any security testing conducted as part of an event must remain within the explicitly authorised scope.

A participant's technical ability does not constitute authorisation.

You must not attempt to:

• Circumvent authentication;
• Probe or scan the platform outside an expressly authorised programme;
• Exploit vulnerabilities;
• Reverse engineer security controls;
• Introduce malicious code;
• Interfere with platform availability;
• Circumvent rate limits or access controls;
• Manipulate application or judging data; or
• Gain unauthorised access to administrative functionality.

Suspected security vulnerabilities should be reported through the appropriate channel rather than exploited beyond what is necessary to demonstrate the issue.

Each hackathon may establish specific submission requirements.

A submission may include:

• Source code;
• Documentation;
• Presentations;
• Demonstrations;
• Videos;
• Design files;
• Repositories;
• Deployment URLs;
• Technical reports;
• Project descriptions; or
• Other materials specified by the event.

Participants are responsible for submitting their work before the applicable deadline.

Unless an event expressly permits otherwise, late submissions may be rejected.

Participants represent that their submissions are their own work or that they have obtained the necessary rights and permissions to use all third-party material included in the submission.

Participants must not:

• Plagiarise;
• Submit another person's work as their own;
• Purchase or commission a project and present it as their own;
• Falsify project results;
• Manipulate evaluation metrics;
• Misrepresent authorship;
• Use stolen source code without appropriate rights or attribution; or
• Otherwise engage in academic or competitive dishonesty.

Where an event permits the use of pre-existing code, templates, models, libraries, frameworks or other resources, participants must comply with the event rules and applicable licences.

Participants may use artificial intelligence systems, code assistants, libraries, frameworks, APIs and other third-party technologies only to the extent permitted by the relevant event rules.

Where disclosure is required by the event, participants must identify material use of such tools.

Participants remain responsible for:

• The accuracy of their submission;
• The legality of their submission;
• Licence compliance;
• Copyright compliance;
• Security of their implementation;
• Attribution requirements; and
• Any output generated by third-party systems.

Use of an AI system does not transfer responsibility for the resulting work to NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA.

Event-specific rules may prohibit or restrict particular AI tools, external services or pre-existing assets.

Unless the event-specific rules expressly provide otherwise, participants retain ownership of intellectual property rights in original work they create.

Nothing in these Terms automatically transfers ownership of a participant's project, source code, invention, design, copyright or other intellectual property to NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA.

Participants are responsible for ensuring that their submission does not infringe the intellectual property rights of another person or organisation.

By submitting a project, you grant NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA, its authorised judges, mentors, organisers and event partners a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to access, reproduce, display and use the submission solely as reasonably necessary to:

• Administer the hackathon;
• Evaluate the submission;
• Conduct judging;
• Provide mentoring;
• Verify compliance;
• Document the event;
• Announce results; and
• Promote the relevant hackathon and its outcomes.

Where a project is selected as a finalist, winner or featured project, additional publicity may occur in accordance with the event-specific rules.

This licence does not transfer ownership of the underlying intellectual property.

Participants should not submit confidential or commercially sensitive information unless the event expressly provides appropriate confidentiality arrangements.

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA will not be responsible for protecting information that:

• Was publicly available before submission;
• Becomes publicly available without breach of an obligation owed by us;
• Was lawfully known to us before submission;
• Is independently developed without reference to the confidential information; or
• Must be disclosed under applicable law or legal process.

Participants should carefully consider whether a project contains trade secrets or patent-sensitive information before publicly demonstrating or submitting it.

Participants may use third-party libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, models, assets and other resources where permitted by the event.

Participants must comply with the applicable licence, terms of service and attribution requirements.

A participant is responsible for obtaining necessary permissions.

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA does not guarantee that any third-party resource is suitable, secure, available or legally usable for a particular project.

Each hackathon will have its own judging criteria and evaluation process.

Criteria may include:

• Technical quality;
• Innovation;
• Originality;
• Security;
• Practicality;
• Impact;
• User experience;
• Scalability;
• Presentation;
• Implementation quality; and
• Other event-specific factors.

Judges may request demonstrations, explanations or additional information.

Subject to applicable law, the organisers' determination concerning judging, ranking, finalist selection and winners will be final.

Where an obvious administrative or calculation error is identified, the organisers may correct it.

Judges, mentors, organisers and participants should disclose material conflicts of interest where reasonably relevant.

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA may replace or recuse a judge, mentor or evaluator where it considers such action appropriate to preserve the integrity of the event.

Participants must not improperly influence judges, mentors or organisers.

Attempting to influence judging through bribery, coercion, deception, harassment or other improper means may result in immediate disqualification.

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA may disqualify a participant or team where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have:

• Violated these Terms;
• Violated event-specific rules;
• Submitted fraudulent information;
• Engaged in plagiarism;
• Cheated;
• Manipulated judging;
• Breached applicable law;
• Engaged in unauthorised security activity;
• Compromised another participant's data or systems;
• Engaged in serious misconduct; or
• Otherwise acted in a manner that materially undermines the integrity or safety of the event.

Where practicable, we may provide an opportunity for the participant to respond to an allegation before a final decision.

Immediate action may be taken where necessary to protect participants, systems, evidence or the integrity of the event.

Where prizes are offered, the relevant event page or official event rules will specify:

• Prize categories;
• Prize amounts or descriptions;
• Eligibility;
• Winner selection;
• Conditions for receiving prizes;
• Required documentation; and
• Applicable timelines.

Prize information may be subject to change before the event.

We may substitute a prize with another prize of comparable value where reasonably necessary.

Prizes may be subject to applicable taxation, withholding, verification or other legal requirements.

Participants are responsible for providing accurate information required for prize distribution.

We do not guarantee that a prize will be delivered where a winner fails to satisfy applicable eligibility, verification or documentation requirements.

We may modify:

• Event schedules;
• Venues;
• Challenge descriptions;
• Submission deadlines;
• Judging arrangements;
• Mentors;
• Judges;
• Partners;
• Prize structures; or
• Other event arrangements

where reasonably necessary.

We will endeavour to communicate material changes through appropriate channels.

We reserve the right to postpone, suspend or cancel an event where reasonably necessary, including because of:

• Force majeure;
• Government restrictions;
• Public safety concerns;
• Venue unavailability;
• Technical failures;
• Security incidents;
• Insufficient participation;
• Partner or sponsor circumstances;
• Natural disasters;
• Civil disturbances;
• Health emergencies; or
• Other circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

Where an event is cancelled or materially postponed, we will make reasonable efforts to notify registered participants.

Where an event is conducted at a physical venue, participants must comply with:

• Venue rules;
• Security requirements;
• Identification requirements;
• Health and safety requirements;
• Organiser instructions; and
• Applicable laws.

Participants may be denied entry or removed from a venue for security, safety or conduct reasons.

Participants are responsible for their personal belongings unless expressly stated otherwise.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA is not responsible for:

• Travel arrangements;
• Visa requirements;
• Accommodation;
• Transportation;
• Personal expenses;
• Travel delays;
• Lost baggage; or
• Other travel-related matters.

Where travel or accommodation is officially provided or arranged by NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA or an event partner, separate terms may apply.

Hackathons may be photographed, recorded, livestreamed or otherwise documented.

Where required by applicable law, appropriate notice or consent will be obtained.

Event media may be used for:

• Event documentation;
• News and reporting;
• Organisational records;
• Promotional material;
• Social media;
• Website content;
• Future event promotion; and
• Other legitimate event-related purposes.

If you have a concern regarding the use of identifiable event media, contact the organisers.

Participants must not photograph, record or publish another person's private or confidential information without appropriate permission.

The platform may contain:

• Text;
• Graphics;
• Logos;
• Photographs;
• Videos;
• Software;
• Designs;
• Documentation;
• Event information; and
• Other content.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, platform content is owned by or licensed to NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA.

You may access and use the platform for its intended purpose.

You must not reproduce, redistribute, modify, sell, publicly exploit or commercially use platform content without appropriate permission.

The NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA name, trademarks, logos, branding, platform design and related intellectual property are owned by or licensed to NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA.

Nothing in these Terms grants you ownership of such intellectual property.

You must not use our branding in a manner that:

• Suggests endorsement where none exists;
• Creates confusion regarding affiliation;
• Misrepresents a partnership;
• Damages our reputation; or
• Violates applicable law.

The platform may integrate with or link to third-party services.

These may include:

• GitHub;
• Google services;
• Communication platforms;
• Cloud infrastructure;
• Payment providers;
• Social networks;
• Analytics services; or
• Other external platforms.

Third-party services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

We are not responsible for the availability, security, functionality or practices of third-party services.

We aim to maintain reliable platform availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.

The platform may occasionally be unavailable because of:

• Maintenance;
• Updates;
• Technical failures;
• Security incidents;
• Infrastructure failures;
• Network problems;
• Third-party service failures; or
• Other circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

We may modify, suspend or discontinue portions of the platform where reasonably necessary.

You must not use the platform to:

• Commit unlawful acts;
• Distribute malware;
• Conduct unauthorised security testing;
• Attempt unauthorised access;
• Harvest personal data;
• Spam users;
• Impersonate another person;
• Defraud users or organisers;
• Manipulate applications;
• Manipulate judging or voting;
• Circumvent technical controls;
• Interfere with platform availability;
• Upload unlawful material;
• Infringe intellectual property rights;
• Harass or threaten others; or
• Facilitate any activity prohibited by applicable law.

We may suspend or terminate access to an account where:

• These Terms are violated;
• Event rules are violated;
• Fraud is suspected;
• Security is threatened;
• The account is being used unlawfully; or
• Continued access would materially threaten the platform, event or other users.

You may request deletion of your account by contacting us.

Account termination does not automatically extinguish obligations or rights that accrued before termination.

Provisions that by their nature should survive termination, including intellectual property, confidentiality, liability, dispute resolution and applicable payment obligations, will continue to apply.

Our processing of personal data is governed by our Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy forms part of the overall framework governing your use of the platform.

Where the processing of personal data requires separate consent under applicable law, such consent will be obtained separately where necessary.

Privacy Policy:
https://hackathon.nexuscipherguard.in/privacy-policy

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the platform and event services are provided on an “as available” basis.

We do not guarantee that:

• The platform will always be available;
• The platform will be completely error-free;
• Every event will proceed exactly as originally announced;
• A participant will be selected;
• A project will win a prize;
• A particular outcome will result from participation; or
• Third-party services will remain available.

Nothing in these Terms excludes a guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA, its directors, officers, employees, organisers, contractors and authorised representatives will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential losses arising from:

• Use of the platform;
• Inability to access the platform;
• Participation in an event;
• Disqualification;
• Changes to an event;
• Cancellation or postponement;
• Loss of opportunity;
• Loss of anticipated prize or benefit;
• Loss of data;
• Third-party services; or
• Other matters arising from participation,

except to the extent such liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for matters that cannot legally be limited or excluded under applicable law.

Participants are responsible for their own:

• Devices;
• Internet connectivity;
• Software;
• Accounts;
• Credentials;
• Submissions;
• Third-party licences;
• Intellectual property rights;
• Travel arrangements;
• Personal belongings; and
• Compliance with applicable law.

Participants should maintain appropriate backups of their work.

We are not responsible for a participant's failure to maintain a copy of a project or submission.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA and its directors, officers, employees and authorised representatives from claims, losses, liabilities, damages and reasonable expenses arising from:

• Your material breach of these Terms;
• Your unlawful conduct;
• Your infringement of third-party intellectual property rights;
• Your misuse of the platform;
• Your unauthorised security activity; or
• Your submission of material that you did not have the right to submit.

This provision does not require you to indemnify us for losses caused by our own unlawful conduct or liability that cannot legally be transferred to you.

We will not be responsible for delay or failure to perform an obligation where such delay or failure results from circumstances reasonably beyond our control.

Such circumstances may include:

• Natural disasters;
• War;
• Terrorism;
• Civil unrest;
• Government action;
• Epidemics or pandemics;
• Infrastructure failures;
• Major cyber incidents;
• Internet outages;
• Power failures;
• Telecommunications failures;
• Labour disruptions; or
• Other events beyond reasonable control.

We may communicate with participants through:

• Email;
• The platform;
• Official event pages;
• Registered contact details;
• Messaging services;
• Announcements at an event; or
• Other reasonable communication channels.

Participants are responsible for monitoring the contact details associated with their registration.

We are not responsible for missed communications caused by inaccurate contact information, spam filtering or failure to monitor official communications.

If you have a complaint or dispute relating to the platform or an event, please contact us first at:

info@nexuscipherguard.in

We will make reasonable efforts to resolve the matter amicably.

Nothing in this clause prevents a person from exercising any statutory right or remedy that cannot legally be waived.

These Terms are governed by the laws of India.

Subject to applicable law, courts having competent jurisdiction at Kohima, Nagaland, India shall have jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the platform.

Where mandatory law requires a dispute to be heard elsewhere or provides a different dispute-resolution mechanism, that requirement will prevail.

We may amend these Terms from time to time.

Changes may be made to reflect:

• New platform functionality;
• New event formats;
• Changes in law;
• Security requirements;
• Operational changes;
• Changes in event administration; or
• Other legitimate business requirements.

The updated version will be published on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date.

Material changes may be communicated through appropriate channels where reasonably necessary.

Your continued use of the platform after the effective date of an updated version constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable where legally possible.

The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce that provision in the future.

Any waiver must be made expressly.

These Terms, together with:

• The Privacy Policy;
• Applicable event-specific rules;
• Official event announcements;
• Registration conditions; and
• Other documents expressly incorporated into these Terms

constitute the agreement governing your use of the platform and participation in the relevant event, subject to applicable law.

You may not transfer or assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent where such consent is legally required.

We may transfer or assign our rights and obligations in connection with a restructuring, merger, acquisition, sale of assets or similar corporate transaction, subject to applicable law.

For questions concerning these Terms, please contact:

NEXUSCIPHERGUARD INDIA (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED

Bayavu Hill
Kohima, Nagaland 797001
India

Email: info@nexuscipherguard.in
Phone: +91 8132872135

Hackathon Platform:
https://hackathon.nexuscipherguard.in/