HacKP is an annual international Hackathon conducted by the Kerala Police Cyberdome to develop solutions that would actually help the scene of cybercrime investigation in Kerala in real-life usage. This edition of the hackathon focussed on developing a single application aimed at patrolling and monitoring the Dark Web for criminal activities and frauds.

Out of 400+ participants from around the world, the core team for development was finalized to be a team of 28 via the process of elimination based on contribution in various departments. In the end, our finalized team of 25 alongside about 20 mentors went on to develop the cyber patrolling software product named Grapnel 1.0 which has won the grant of 10 Lakh INR from Kerala Chief Minister Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan for further development. This product was launched by dignitaries such as the Chief Minister, the ADGP Mr. Manoj Abraham, State Police Chief & DGP Mr.Anil Kant alongside various others and has been claimed to be the first product in India to focus on the issue, alongside being a product that is only available currently in a handful of countries right now. This will continue further development as a government project for the Kerala Police with the 25 member team that won, as the core development team behind the project.

VIT Student Eric Brian Anil-18MIS1030 was involved with Product Management, was the lead of the UI/UX team setting the entire design system for the application, and was also a part of the front-end web development team and documentation team. Alongside this, the Logo he designed and the scheme he set was chosen as the official brand identity of the product. For his contributions towards this initial phase, he also received a Special Jury Award besides the grant.

Congratulations to the team on winning this special award !!!