Ethical hacker earns a place in the Apple hall of fame
COMPUTER WIZ SHOWS FIRMS WHERE THEY ARE VULNERABLE
A LEICESTER student has been using his free time to “ethically hack” the likes of Google and Apple.
For the past year, computer science student Prabhjot Dunglay has been working freelance as a “bug bounty hunter”
By posing as a hacker probing for weaknesses in companies’ online defences, the resourceful 22-yearold is helping to safeguard customers’ data.
University of Leicester student Prabhjot, from India, said: “I was inspired to go into cyber security because there have been a lot of data leaks in the past two to three years.
“I had my placement year last year, and I learned a lot about how to identify these leaks in websites.
“So I decided I would use my knowledge to identify them, and let the companies know where the leak is.”
Prabhjot employs “penetration testing”, which highlights points at which domains are vulnerable to hackers.
He then informs the company of the vulnerability, which can then be fixed, often helping to secure the data of many customers.
Most recently, Prabhjot said he uncovered a leak in Apple, for which he was acknowledged in their “hall of fame’”.
He added: “Some hackers will find the data leak and sell that data for a lot of money on the black market.
“Instead of hacking into companies and selling the data, I want to help them to secure themselves.”
As well as Apple, he has helped Google, Dell, Surveymonkey, Currencycloud and Sprout Social. Most companies will pay “bounty hunters” for informing them of these leaks, although at the moment it is a freelance role for Prabhjot.
He said: “I am looking for a fulltime job in cyber security and penetration testing. But with the coronavirus situation, it’s really hard.”
Prabhjot hopes to inspire other young people to get into computer science and cyber security.
He said: “I want to help youngsters to get into it, and the motivation to pursue it. There is a shortage of cyber security professionals, but also a boom in the market because of recent data leaks.”