Anand Prakash
{{Short description|Indian ethical hacker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anand Prakash
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| caption = Founder & CEO of @PingSafe
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| birth_place = Rajasthan, India
| occupation = Ethical hacker
| education = B.Tech Computer Science in VIT
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Anand Prakash is an Indian ethical hacker and entrepreneur{{cite news |last1=|first1= |title=Indian techie discovers Uber bug, bags Rs 4.6 lakh reward |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/Sep/16/indian-techie-discovers-uber-bug-bags-rs-46-lakh-reward-2034549.html |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The New Indian Express |date=16 September 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-02-06 |title=Not an IITian, This Bengaluru Techie Sold his Company for USD 100 Million, Inspiring Tale of Anand Prakash |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/education/not-an-iitian-this-bengaluru-techie-sold-his-company-for-usd-100-million-inspiring-tale-of-anand-prakash-article-107445251 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Times Now |language=en}} from Rajasthan.{{cite news |title=Hackers for good: How Anand Prakash rescued Facebook |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/Security-culture/2016/1003/Hackers-for-good-How-Anand-Prakash-rescued-Facebook |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Christian Science Monitor}}{{cite news |last1=Laik |first1=Rohan |title=The Bounty Hunter: This 22-year-old Flipkart employee is worth Rs 1.3 crore! he is also the co founder of vedantu|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/the-bounty-hunter-this-22-year-old-flipkart-employee-is-worth-rs-1-3-crore/articleshow/51357926.cms |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=The Economic Times |date=11 March 2016}} He is the Founder & CEO of PingSafe, which SentinelOne acquired for over $100 million.{{cite news |last1=Haranas |first1=Mark |title=SentinelOne Buys PingSafe To 'Redefine Cloud Security' |url=https://www.crn.com/news/security/2024/sentinelone-buys-pingsafe-to-redefine-cloud-security |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=CRN}}{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Manish |title=SentinelOne acquires Peak XV-backed PingSafe for over $100 million |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/07/sentinelone-acquires-peak-xv-backed-pingsafe-for-over-100-million/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=TechCrunch |date=8 January 2024}} He was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 2017 Asia list.{{cite news |title=30 Under 30 Asia 2017: Enterprise Technology |url=https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-asia/2017/enterprise-technology/#22ca1a41699e |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Forbes |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Shaikh |first1=Shadma |title=Bengaluru boy finds Facebook bug, gets $15,000 for it |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/090316/bengaluru-youth-finds-facebook-bug-gets-15-000-for-it.html |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Deccan Chronicle |date=9 March 2016 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=US company buys Bengaluru cybersecurity startup PingSafe for $100million |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/us-company-buys-bengaluru-cybersecurity-startup-pingsafe-for-100million/articleshow/106677271.cms |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=Times of India |date=11 January 2024}}
Early life and education
Prakash was born in Bhadra,{{cite news |last1=Doshi |first1=Vidhi |title=Meet the bughunters: the hackers in India protecting your data |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/02/meet-the-bughunters-the-hackers-in-india-protecting-your-facebook-profile |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=1 April 2016}} Rajasthan, India.{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Tanaya |title=This Engineer Earned Rs. 1.2 Crore from Finding Software Bugs in Facebook and Twitter |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/44752/anand-prakash-ethical-hacking/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The Better India |date=20 February 2016}}{{cite news |title=Not an IITian, This Bengaluru Techie Sold his Company for USD 100 Million, Inspiring Tale of Anand Prakash |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/education/not-an-iitian-this-bengaluru-techie-sold-his-company-for-usd-100-million-inspiring-tale-of-anand-prakash-article-107445251 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Times Now |date=6 February 2024 |language=en}} He studied B.Tech Computer Science at Vellore Institute of Technology.{{cite news |title=Meet Anand Prakash — a white hat hacker who's earned bug bounties from Facebook, Twitter, and Uber |url=https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/meet-anand-prakash-a-white-hat-hacker-whos-earned-bug-bounties-from-facebook-twitter-and-uber-74e30d709b97/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Free Code Camp |date=25 February 2018 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Notable Alumni |url=https://chennai.vit.ac.in/computer-science-engineering-chennai/scse-notable-alumni/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Vellore Institute of Technology}}
Career
He started his career in 2014 as a security engineer at Flipkart.{{cite news |title=Meet Anand Prakash, one of India's best known 'white hat hackers' |url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/meet-anand-prakash-one-of-indias-best-known-white-hat-hacker-4336577.html |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=Firstpost |date=7 February 2018 |language=en-us}}{{cite news |title=INTERVIEW: This Indian Hacker Has Earned ₹2.2 Crore By Finding Bugs In Facebook, Twitter, And Other websites |url=https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/interview-this-indian-hacker-has-earned-2-2-crore-by-finding-b_in_5c10807ce4b081d497d644e0 |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=HuffPost |date=7 March 2017 |language=en}} After this, in 2016, he started a red teaming startup named AppSecure.{{cite news |title=This is where we are in Dubai: A local's guide from millennials and Gen Z |url=https://gulfnews.com/friday/art-people/this-is-where-we-are-in-dubai-a-locals-guide-from-millennials-and-gen-z-1.1710319576020 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Gulf News |date=18 March 2024 |language=en}} Then, in 2021, another company named PingSafe was established, which was acquired in 2024 by American cyber security company SentinelOne for over $100 million.{{cite news |last1=McDowell |first1=Steve |title=SentinelOne Expands Unified Security Offerings With PingSafe Acquisition |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemcdowell/2024/01/03/sentinelone-expands-unified-security-offerings-with-pingsafe-acquisition/?sh=6857d8f32ba9 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Forbes |language=en}}{{cite news |title=NYSE-listed SentinelOne acquires Bangalore-based startup PingSafe |url=https://www.business-standard.com/companies/start-ups/nyse-listed-sentinelone-acquires-bangalore-based-startup-pingsafe-124011000274_1.html |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Business Standard}}
Notable works
- He found a bug in 2016 on Facebook{{cite news |last1=Waugh |first1=Rob |title=Hacker could get into ANY Facebook account using simple password trick |url=https://metro.co.uk/2016/03/08/hacker-could-get-into-any-facebook-account-using-simple-password-trick-5740875/ |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=Metro |date=8 March 2016 |language=en}} which allowed the takeover of any account.{{cite news |last1=Brandom |first1=Russell |title=Facebook paid $15,000 to close a bug that could unlock any user's account |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/8/11179926/facebook-account-security-flaw-bug-bounty-payout |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The Verge |date=8 March 2016 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Bengaluru Techie Rewarded $15000 By Facebook For Finding A Bug |url=https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/bengaluru-techie-rewarded-15000-by-facebook-for-finding-a-bug_n_9414428 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=HuffPost |date=9 March 2016 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Titcomb |first1=James |title=Hacker reveals how he could take over any Facebook account and change its password |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/03/08/hacker-reveals-how-he-could-log-in-to-any-facebook-account-and-c/ |access-date=3 April 2024 |work=Telegraph |date=8 March 2016}}
- He discovered a bug in Uber in 2017 that allowed anyone to take Uber rides for free.{{cite news |last1=Conger |first1=Kate |title=Researcher finds bug that allowed free Uber rides |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/04/researcher-finds-bug-that-allows-free-uber-rides/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=TechCrunch |date=4 March 2017}}
- In 2018, he found a security flaw in Tinder, after which he was given a reward of {{INRConvert|4|l|lk=l}}.{{cite news |title=This hacker was rewarded ₹4 lakh by Tinder and Facebook |url=https://www.gqindia.com/content/tinder-facebook-anand-prakash-4-lakh |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=GQ India |date=23 February 2018 |language=en-IN}}
- In 2019, he found a bug in Uber, after which he was given a reward of $5500.{{cite news |title=Indian Researcher Gets Rs 4.6 Lakh Reward For Discovering Bug In Uber App |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indian-researcher-anand-prakash-discovers-uber-bug-gets-rs-4-6-lakh-reward-2101595 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=NDTV}}
- In April 2023, he found a "security flaw" in LinkedIn that could have led to deletion of any posts.{{cite news |title=Indian researcher spots security flaw in LinkedIn |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/indian-researcher-spots-security-flaw-linkedin/article66759122.ece |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The Hindu |date=20 April 2023 |language=en-IN}}
References
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Category:Indian technology writers
Category:People from Rajasthan