[SCAN 2026 Final Interview] IBarelyKnowHer: ⑱ Blockchain and Cryptography... A Diverse Team of Indian Security Experts

Members of the IBarelyKnowHer team. From the back left: Divy Jakhotiya, Uttkarsh Singh, Adrija Singh, Yuthran S. Source=IBarelyKnowHer
The world's first digital asset tracking competition, 'SCAN 2026', will take place on September 28 at 9 AM at Monaco Space in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

SCAN 2026, aimed at enhancing capabilities in digital asset cybersecurity and investigation, is organized by digital asset information company DAsset, with global blockchain data platform Chainalysis participating as a CTF (Capture The Flag) partner.

The final of SCAN 2026 will feature the top 20 teams from the preliminary round (a total of 416 teams, 754 participants).

conducted written interviews with teams composed of investigative agencies, security experts, and university students from around the world that advanced to the finals.

*The teams that advanced to the finals are as follows. (In alphabetical order)

0xfun / 1nf1n1ty / 67 / BITSkrieg / CertiScan / DeFiHackLabs / EDCCS / Funds Went to Kerning City / hello / IBarelyKnowHer / J0y_B0y / lazarus2026 / Lv1x / Project Sekai / T34M1 / Tardigrades / Tornado Cats / youtiaos / Upside Academia / Chaos of KAOS

1. Please introduce how the team was formed and the background and expertise of its members.

"Our university club has consistently achieved good results in cybersecurity competitions within India and has gradually made its presence felt on the international stage in recent years.

The club is filled with passionate individuals who want to achieve meaningful results. We are just doing our best to represent them.

Uttkarsh Singh (3rd year, Computer Science): Currently serving as the captain of the university club. He has participated in CTF competitions for the past two years and represented the school at the CyberQ international finals held in Abu Dhabi last year, where he placed second. He provides stable leadership and technical expertise to the team based on his deep interest in blockchain and cryptography.

Divy Jakhotiya (3rd year, Computer Science): One of the leaders of the club and informally coordinates within the team. This is his first time participating in an overseas offline final, but he possesses excellent capabilities in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) and broad threat intelligence. He plays a strong role in investigative problems conducted on-site.

Adrija Singh (3rd year, Electronics and Communication Engineering): The team's web security specialist. She has focused on web vulnerability attacks for the past two years and recently advanced to the finals of HackTheon Sejong held in Korea, where she ranked 20th in the junior category.

Yuthran S (2nd year, Computer Science): The youngest member of the team, he has been involved in CTF for just over a year. Like Divy, this is his first overseas offline final. He specializes in building autonomous and agent-based systems and has solid practical knowledge across all areas of CTF. He also has experience ranking 27th in the junior category at CODEGATE.

We believe that combining our different expertise creates the technical foundation and flexibility needed to maintain competitiveness in modern offline CTFs."

2. You advanced to the finals of SCAN 2026, which had 416 teams participating in the preliminaries. Please share your feelings about advancing to the finals and the most memorable moment from the preliminary process.

"We are very proud to be among the top 20 teams in the world.

We have been competing with some of the best cybersecurity teams globally for quite some time, and like other competitions, we aim to win while representing our school this time as well.

We are composed of undergraduate students in their 2nd and 3rd years, balancing our studies with participation in such competitions. Advancing to the finals is not just about having a good ranking; it is a testament to our passion for cybersecurity.

Our team regularly participates in various competitions together. I have always felt that there is something uniquely beautiful about staying up all night solving problems with my teammates. Few experiences can bond people as much as that. The same goes for this preliminary round.

We are not just here to participate. We are here to give our all and aim for victory."

3. What was the most challenging problem or situation you faced while solving the SCAN 2026 preliminary problems? Please explain how you approached and solved the problem.

"One of the biggest lessons learned from the preliminaries was the importance of collaboration and coordination among team members.

While we were solving problems quickly, our initial approach was not sufficiently systematic. Since tasks were not clearly assigned, multiple team members sometimes worked on the same problem simultaneously, leading to situations where we hindered each other's work.

This is an area we must improve before the offline finals. Our goal for the finals is for the entire team to operate like a well-oiled machine."

4. What tools, technologies, and analytical methods did you use for on-chain data analysis and tracking fund flows during the preliminaries? If you had any programs you developed or unique analysis methods, please share them as well.

"Our approach was relatively straightforward. However, we had one significant advantage: we had completed all necessary preparations in advance.

We built a collection of AI agent skills tailored to perform various types of on-chain investigations ahead of time.

Before the competition started, we had already completed testing of the entire system.

Thanks to this, once the preliminaries began, we could focus on analyzing and solving actual problems without wasting time creating new infrastructure or fixing errors."

5. Compared to other teams that advanced to the finals, what do you think is your team's greatest strength or differentiated problem-solving approach?

"I believe our greatest strength is our adaptability and high understanding of the team.

Above all, we are students. Learning new things and finding solutions to unfamiliar problems comes naturally to us. Coupled with our strong desire to achieve good results and win in competition, we believe we have a solid chance of winning.

All team members have years of CTF experience.

In CTF, it is common to encounter problems that do not have pre-documented or predetermined traditional solutions. In such situations, instead of following known methods, we must find our own ways to solve problems that have never been resolved before.

This ability is our team's greatest asset and will be a decisive strength when competing on the international stage."

6. What preparations are you making ahead of the finals on September 28?

"Leading up to September 28, our primary focus is refining our operational methods and teamwork for the actual offline event.

Tooling Preparation: We are building a system that can utilize each team member's abilities as efficiently as possible to maintain our competitive edge.

Case Study Reviews: We are analyzing recent real incidents and existing fund tracking techniques to ensure we have the fundamentals to respond to any type of problem that may arise.

Task Division: We are creating a system to clearly divide problems and tasks among team members to avoid hindering each other's work."

7. If you win first place in the finals and receive a prize, what would you like to do with it?

"Winning the grand prize would be a significant milestone for a team of undergraduate students like us.

We want to reinvest the prize money into our school's cybersecurity community to spread awareness about cybersecurity, which is our core goal.

The prize will be used to support active research activities, purchase hardware needed for security tool development, and provide practical hands-on cybersecurity education to other students.

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