This 23YO Indian Hacker Makes Rs 90 Lakh Per Year While Saving Us From Vulnerabilities

Dhir Acharya - Dec 25, 2019

Doing good for the world and making good money at the same time, why not learn and become an ethical hacker?

The term ethical hacking has been around for a long time, in which ethical hackers help us strengthen security. And this northern India ethical hacker, at the age of 23, earns Rs 90 lakh per year while doing his job saving the internet from cybercriminals.

The man in question is Shivam Vashist, he is now working with HackerOne in San Francisco, which finds vulnerabilities on platforms that need fixing as well as offers bug bounties to those who share the vulnerabilities they find with the company.

Right now, HackerOne is associated with big clients such as Zomato, Starbucks, Twitter, Instagram, and Goldman Sachs, among other companies.

Vashist says that hacking allows him to come up with creative ways of tackling challenges as well as discovering vulnerabilities that no one else has found.

Talking about how he started ethical hacking, he said that his parents were worried about him becoming a hacker. But over time, they understood that working as an ethical hacker is legal and that it’s a viable career. His parents now support him and what he does.

In addition, Vashist shared about his working method, saying that he spends an average of 15 hours per week on hacking. Nevertheless, that amount of time may change sometimes, depending on his schedule. There are times when he works non-stop on one thing for days while other times he may not hack for weeks.

According to reports, the United States pays the highest bounties across the world with 19 percent, India ranks second with 10 percent. Vashist also thinks that every firm should have a bug bounty program of their own.

The hacker further shared about the digital goal of India and how the country can use some help from ethical hackers to strengthen security. He said that the country needs better cybersecurity awareness by teaching about security solutions as well as reaching out to ethical hackers. Right now, just a few firms in India have a bug bounty program, which means the adoption rate may rise in the coming years.