Ankit Fadia

Ankit Fadia was born in Delhi, India. At the age of 10, his parents gifted him a computer and he says he started taking an interest in hacking after a year of playing video games when he read a newspaper article on the subject.{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/search/2002/apr/18ankit.htm |title=Rediff Guide to the Net: Features: 16-year-old hacker Ankit Fadia outsmarts Kashmiri separatists |work=Rediff.com|date=18 April 2002 |access-date=26 February 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140112/jsp/graphiti/17757828.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122172830/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140112/jsp/graphiti/17757828.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 January 2014 |title=Success Decoded |work=The Telegraph|access-date=21 September 2014}} He soon started a website hackingtruths.box.sk where he wrote hacking tutorials.{{cite news | date = 17 April 2002 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1934874.stm | title = Indian hacker turns cyber cop | work = BBC News | access-date = 26 February 2013}}{{cite news | url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/04/19/stories/2003041901390700.htm | date = 19 April 2003 | title = E2 labs to combat cyber crime in Hyderabad | work = Business Line | access-date = 19 December 2006 }}{{cite news | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030413/cth1.htm | date = 13 April 2003 | author=Manoj Kumar | title = Teen hacker who is sought after by FBI | publisher = The Tribune, Chandigarh | access-date = 19 August 2006 }} He wrote his first book An Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking at 15 years old, becoming Macmillan's youngest published author. However, he was also accused of plagiarism. A security professional, who uses the handle @FakeAnkitFadia on Twitter, told The Sunday Guardian that The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking "was a little over 32% plagiarised from other security publications and websites."{{cite news |author=Suelette Dreyfus |date=5 August 2003 |title=Hacktivism through the eyes of an infiltrator |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/04/1059849331034.html |access-date=26 February 2013 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-07 |title=‘Ethical hacker Ankit Fadia is a fake’ |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207024031/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/ethical-hacker-ankit-fadia-is-a-fake |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=web.archive.org}}

Fadia graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Management Science and Engineering.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-17 |title=A clean hacker - The Hindu |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217121018/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/A-clean-hacker/article16839041.ece |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=web.archive.org}}

He continued to produce more books about computer security, and spoke at several seminars across schools and colleges in India.{{cite news | url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article497533.ece | title = Caught in the web | author = K. Jeshi | newspaper = The Hindu | date = 3 July 2010 | access-date = 1 March 2013 | location=Chennai, India}} In addition, he started providing his own computer security courses, such as the "Ankit Fadia Certified Ethical Hacker" programme.{{cite news | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070204/asp/calcutta/story_7327984.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208051625/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070204/asp/calcutta/story_7327984.asp | url-status=dead | archive-date=8 February 2007 |title=The inheritance of food | newspaper = The Telegraph |date= 4 February 2007 |access-date=1 March 2013 }}

In 2009, Fadia stated that he was working in New York as an Internet security expert for "prestigious companies".{{cite news | url = http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/11/16/stories/2009111650950300.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130501010452/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/11/16/stories/2009111650950300.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 1 May 2013 | title = How the hack he does it! | date = 16 November 2009 | access-date = 1 March 2013 | newspaper = The Hindu | location=Chennai, India}} Fadia also endorsed the Flying Machine jeans brand of Arvind Mills.{{cite news | url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-21/news/27587443_1_youth-icon-brand-ambassador-mtv-india | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120513152131/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-21/news/27587443_1_youth-icon-brand-ambassador-mtv-india | url-status = dead | archive-date = 13 May 2012 | title = Flying Machine endorsement: Ethical Hacker Fadia replaces Abhishek Bacchan | date = 21 October 2012 | access-date = 1 March 2013 | newspaper = The Economic Times | author = Ratna Bhushan }}

Fadia has been dismissed by security and cryptography enthusiasts as a 'faker' making tall claims, who attributed his success to the tech-illiterate media.{{cite news | url = http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/ethical-hacker-ankit-fadia-is-a-fake | title = Ethical hacker Ankit Fadia is a fake | date = 19 February 2012 | access-date = 26 February 2013 | newspaper = The Sunday Guardian | author = Shubhankar Adhikari | archive-date = 7 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211207024031/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/investigation/ethical-hacker-ankit-fadia-is-a-fake | url-status = dead }} Fadia has dismissed the critics who question his credibility as an expert, saying "If I had been fake, my growth would have stopped 10 years ago".{{cite news |author=Rana Siddiqui Zaman |date=22 January 2010 |title=A clean hacker |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/A-clean-hacker/article16839041.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217121018/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/A-clean-hacker/article16839041.ece |archive-date=Feb 17, 2024 |newspaper=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India}}

In 2002, Fadia claimed that at the age of 17, he had defaced the website of an Indian magazine. Subsequently, he named the magazine as the Indian edition of CHIP magazine, and stated that the editor had offered him a job when informed about the defacement.{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/inside-account/article48684.ece | title=Inside Account | author = Priyadarshini Paitandy | date=14 September 2009 | access-date = 1 March 2013 | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu}} In 2012, the Forbes India executive editor Charles Assisi (who was editor of CHIP India at the time of the supposed incident), denied that such an incident ever took place after verifying with his predecessor and successor at the magazine as well.{{cite web|title=Ankit Fadia Revealed|url=http://forbesindia.com/article/beyond-business/ankit-fadia-revealed/34793/0|author=Charles Assissi|work=Forbes India|date=27 February 2013|access-date=27 February 2013|archive-date=23 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823013900/https://www.forbesindia.com/article/beyond-business/ankit-fadia-revealed/34793/0|url-status=dead}}

In a 2002 interview published on rediff.com, he stated that at the age of 16, he foiled an attempt by Kashmiri separatist hackers to deface an Indian website. He stated he gathered information about the attackers, eavesdropped on their online chat using one of their identities, and then mailed the transcript to a US spy organisation that had hired him.{{cite news | url = http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/27/nation/10276403&sec=nation | title = Teen helping adults fight 'bad guys' | author = M. Krishnamoorthy | newspaper = The Star | date = 27 February 2005 | access-date = 26 February 2013 }} He did not divulge the name of the organization he worked for, citing security reasons. The Pakistani hacker group Anti-India Crew (AIC) questioned Fadia's claims: along with WFD, the AIC hacked the Indian government website epfindia.gov.in, dedicating it to Fadia, mocking his capabilities.{{cite news | url= http://hindu.com/2002/04/28/stories/2002042800921000.htm | title=This hacker has a different message | author=K. Srinivas Reddy | date=28 April 2002 | access-date=26 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221233959/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/04/28/stories/2002042800921000.htm | archive-date=21 December 2008 | url-status=live | work= The Hindu | location=Chennai, India}} AIC also announced that it would be defacing the website of the CBEC within the next two days, and challenged Fadia to prevent it by patching the vulnerability but Fadia couldn't.{{cite news | url=http://hindu.com/2002/04/30/stories/2002043002271300.htm | title=Hacker threat to CBEC website | author=K. Srinivas Reddy | date=30 April 2002 | access-date=26 February 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081221234004/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/04/30/stories/2002043002271300.htm | archive-date=21 December 2008 | url-status=live | work=The Hindu | location=Chennai, India}}

In 2003, he claimed to have infiltrated a group of hackers and stated that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were paying "westerners" to deface Indian websites with anti-India or pro-Pakistan content.

His own website has been hacked multiple times. In 2009, he blamed the defacement on a vulnerability in the servers of his webhost net4india. Independent security experts contested his claim, stating that the problem was a loophole in his own website's code. His website was hacked by an Indian hacker Himanshu Sharma, where he accepted the challenge from Ankit Fadia.{{cite web|title=Is Ankit Fadia selling Viagra? |url=http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/dec/081209-ankit-fadia-hacker-hacked.htm |author=MiD DAY |date=8 December 2009 |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213004836/http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/dec/081209-ankit-fadia-hacker-hacked.htm |archive-date=13 December 2009 |url-status=live}} In 2012, his website was defaced twice by hackers. In the first instance, the hackers rubbished his claims and stated that he was fooling people.{{cite web | url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ankit-Fadia-s-Website-Suspended-After-Being-Defaced-by-Ganster-291673.shtml | title=Ankit Fadia's Website Suspended After Being Defaced | publisher = Softpedia | author = Eduard Kovacs | date = 12 September 2012 | access-date = 26 February 2013 }} Another hacker compromised it in response to a challenge that was issued by Fadia on the Tech Toyz show on CNBC-TV18.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a93qi17GqMU&feature=player_embedded |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/a93qi17GqMU |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=Tech Toyz Hacking Special Episode Part III|website=YouTube |date=10 August 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{Synthesis inline|date=March 2013}}

In 2012, DEF CON awarded him with the "Security Charlatan of the Year" award{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzvTwFwaYI&t=33m3s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/GIzvTwFwaYI |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=DEFCON 20: DC RECOGNIZE Awards|date=16 November 2012|via=YouTube|access-date=28 September 2015}}{{cbignore}} citing him to be a fraudster and his presentations outdated. The website attrition.org mentions him as a security charlatan and accuses him of plagiarism in his work.

During September 2015, his official Facebook page posted a certificate which claimed that Fadia was appointed as the brand ambassador for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, the Digital India Initiative. The government had then announced that it would pluck out young tech entrepreneurs to be its brand ambassadors which included the ilk of Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart, Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl and Micromax's Rahul Sharma.{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/ankit-fadia-claims-to-be-appointed-brand-ambassador-of-digital-india-government-denies-3671967.html|title=Ankit Fadia: Claims to be appointed brand ambassador of Digital India, Government denies|date=29 September 2015}} According to a report in India Today, government sources said there is "No such move to appoint a brand ambassador as reported".{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/delhi/story/ankit-fadia-not-a-digital-india-ambassador-clarifies-government-265341-2015-09-29|title=Govt tries to clarify Ankit Fadia not a Digital India ambassador, adds to confusion|date=29 September 2015}}

In 2008 he started a television show on MTV India called MTV What the Hack!, which he co-hosted with José Covaco. In October 2009 MTV India announced the launch of Fadia's new TV show on MTV, where Fadia gave tips on how to make use of the Internet, and answered people's questions.{{cite web |url= http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_from-this-diwali-mtv-will-be-more-than-just-music_1298240 |title= From this Diwali, MTV will be more than just music – Money – DNA |work= Daily News and Analysis |date=12 October 2009 |access-date= 8 January 2012}} Internet users could email their problems to MTV India, and Fadia gave them a solution on the show.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtvindia.com/news/news.php?id=3419|title=VJs, Music, Videos, Blogs, Games, Wallpapers, Interviews, Performances, Shows, Fun and more|publisher=MTV India|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121015512/http://www.mtvindia.com/news/news.php?id=3419|archive-date=21 November 2009}}

In 2012, Dell India partnered with Ankit Fadia to create a series of nearly 50 videos, each of one minute duration, to show tips and tricks for the use of computers and mobile phones. These videos were shown on the Dell India Facebook page with an average of one video per week. People also had the opportunity to ask tech queries of Fadia on topics like photography, video making, music composing, navigation assistance, gaming, messaging and others.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news/dell-india-in-association-with-ankit-fadia-presents-unzipped-by-dell-and-ankit-fadia-5555289971_1.html |title=Dell India in association with Ankit Fadia presents "Unzipped: By Dell and Ankit Fadia |publisher=India Infoline News Service |access-date=21 September 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://efytimes.com/e1/95718/Dell-India-In-Association-With-Ankit-Fadia-Presents-Unzipped-By-Dell-And-Ankit-Fadia |title=Dell India in association with Ankit Fadia presents "Unzipped: By Dell and Ankit Fadia |publisher=EFYTimes.com |access-date=21 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205230534/http://efytimes.com/e1/95718/Dell-India-In-Association-With-Ankit-Fadia-Presents-Unzipped-By-Dell-And-Ankit-Fadia |archive-date=5 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}

In 2013, Ankit Fadia started the YouTube show Geek on the Loose, in collaboration with PING networks, where he shared technology-related tips, tricks and apps.{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Short-cuts-for-the-tech-savvy/2013/07/18/article1688412.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205114626/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Short-cuts-for-the-tech-savvy/2013/07/18/article1688412.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 February 2015 |title=Short-cuts for the tech savvy |work=The New Indian Express |access-date=21 September 2012}} The show was based on situations mentioned in his book FASTER: 100 Ways To Improve Your Digital Life.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/books/ankit-fadia-aims-at-stretching-technology-limits/article1-1108564.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107233826/http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/books/ankit-fadia-aims-at-stretching-technology-limits/article1-1108564.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 November 2013 |title=Ankit Fadia aims at stretching technology limits |work=Hindustan Times|access-date=21 September 2012}}

• IT Youth Award from the Singapore Computer Society (2005){{cite web|url=https://www.scs.org.sg/news_centre/Press%20Release%202012/Press%20Release_IT%20Leader%20Awards%202012.pdf |title=Media Release IT Leader Awards 2012 |publisher=Singapore Computer Society |access-date=23 September 2014}}
• Global Ambassador for Cyber Security (National Telecom Awards 2011)[http://www.cmaievents.com/awardees2011.php The CMAI 5th National Awards]. Cmaievents.com (8 June 2011). Retrieved 2 August 2013.
• Global Shaper, World Economic Forum{{cite web |url=http://www.globalshapers.org/shapers/ankit-fadia |title=Ankit Fadia{{!}}World Economic Forum: Global Shapers |publisher=World Economic Forum |access-date=23 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205121332/http://www.globalshapers.org/shapers/ankit-fadia |archive-date=5 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}

Apart from aforementioned positive endorsements, Fadia's fabricated hacking claims garnered him some negative criticism too. He was awarded the DEF CON 20 Security Charlatan of the year award.{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/758921/ankit-fadias-biggest-hack-getting-modi-government-to-make-him-a-brand-ambassador|title=Ankit Fadia's biggest hack: Getting Modi government to make him a brand ambassador|last=Daniyal|first=Shoaib|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US|access-date=26 February 2019}}[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=128306 Clarification on Appointment of Brand Ambassadors]. Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, 29 September 2015.

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Category:1985 births

Category:Living people

Category:Indian technology writers

Category:Delhi Public School alumni

Category:Hackers