Meet Odisha’s Young Ethical Hacker

Phulbani: Odisha has an ethical hacker and he is all of 15! Somya Ranjan Sahoo has helped the Government of Liberia in nabbing criminals, who hacked their official website and loot the government exchequer.

Soumya is a Class-X at Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir in Phulbani.

Using the lockdown period gainfully, he devoured every detail on cybersecurity that he could lay his hands on and gained expertise in the process.

“Upon getting my number, the Government of Liberis contacted me on WhatsApp. Then they gave me links to the websites. Based on the information provided by the Liberian Government, I used my skills to investigate the issue and solved it. I provided digital evidence to the Liberian Government, following which, their website was corrected,” said Soumya.

The Government of Liberia rewarded him with US$30,000 and a citation.

“Along with my studies, I also devoted time to learn programming, computer skills, and ethical hacking. I want to become an Intelligence Officer,” said Soumya, who lives with his parents at Jagannath Sahi in Phulbani.