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Ankit Fadia is an Indian computer security and digital intelligence consultant. He has authored several books on computer security which have around 80,000 copies across the globe. Fadia is also cyber terrorism expert and is currently pursuing his Bachelors in computer science with specialization in Information Security at Stanford University .

Hacking claims

Fadia claims that when he was 14, he trashed the front page of an Indian magazine. He then sent an e-mail to the editor confessing to the hack, suggesting counter measures. At 15, his book on Ethical Hacking made him the youngest author to be published by Macmillan India.. He claims that in 2001, he discovered links between the Chinese government and the China Eagle Union, a hacker group responsible for defacing many U.S. web sites. He stated that the "long-term goal of the Chinese government is actually to take over the internet and control all parts of the internet".

As per his claims, in November 2001, Fadia was consulted by a classified intelligence agency for breaking an encrypted message which was believed to have been sent by one of Osama Bin Laden's men.. Many publications reported that Fadia is associatied with FBI or CIA, however, he himself denied this.

In April 2002, Rediff.com published an interview with Ankit Fadia. Anti-India Crew (AIC), a Pakistani hacker group noted for defacing Indian Government websites, rubbished the claims that Fadia had made in the interview. Fadia had claimed that his alert to a U.S. spy agency had prevented an attack by Pakistani hackers. However, he never divulged the name of the agency, citing security reasons. AIC and another Pakistani hacker group WFD defaced an Indian Government site, epfindia.gov.in, and "dedicated" it to Fadia in mock deference to his capabilities to hack or prevent hacking. AIC also said that it would be defacing the website of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), www.cbec.gov.in, within two days and challenged Fadia to prevent the attack by patching the vulnerable website. AIC maintained that Fadia should stop calling himself a hacker, if it succeeded in hacking the CBEC website. AIC kept its promise and defaced the CBEC website after two days. At another defaced website (bhelhyd.co.in), AIC termed the claims of Indian media about Ankit Fadia as "Bullshit".

Fadia's earlier site, Ankitfadia.com, was attacked in 2003, by a cracker who self-identified as SkriptKiddie. Fadia explained that he was using a private web server for hosting his website and they were responsible for the lack of security.

Fadia has also claimed that he works closely with the Government of Singapore. He has also conducted more than 100 lectures and workshops for companies, college students and several law enforcement agencies

In 2006, questions were raised about authenticity of Fadia's various claims at many discussion groups, forums, and mailing lists. This was triggered by a post titled "Ankit Fadia : The real picture". His critics pointed out that he had never developed any hacking technique, tool, or algorithm, and none of his tutorials or books had original content.

Published works

Fadia has authored six books on topics related to Computer Security, including:

• Network Security: A Hacker's Perspective
• The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking
• Hacking Mobile Phones

He claims that his books are being used as text books in computer security courses across South-East Asia. Many reviewers at Amazon.com said that he had copied outdated hacking tutorials from the Internet and compiled them into a book.

Future plans

In 2005, Fadia said that he is going to write a thriller on the lines of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress, which he hopes to make into a movie. He claimed that a production company has approached him with a blanket offer. He said that he was also planning a restaurant in Pune or Ahmedabad.

References

1. ^ "Spicy Spy". The Stanford Daily. 2003-11-21. Retrieved 2006-10-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "Indian hacker turns cyber cop". BBC News. 2002-04-17. Retrieved 2006-07-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "Ankit Fadia's new books". Chennai Online. 2006-01-27. Retrieved 2006-08-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "Cracking hacking". The Hindu. 2003-01-28. Retrieved 2006-08-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. Manoj Kumar (2003-04-13). "Teen hacker who is sought after by FBI". The Tribune, Chandigarh. Retrieved 2006-08-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. http://www.rediff.com/search/2002/apr/18ankit.htm
7. ^ K. Srinivas Reddy (2002-04-30). "Hacker threat to CBEC website". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
8. "The defaced version of bhelhyd.co.in". Retrieved 2006-11-21.
9. "Fighting fire with fire". Computer Times. 2003-08-06. Retrieved 2006-07-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "A post at FSF-Friends mailing list". Retrieved 2006-07-11.
11. "The Ethical Hacker: Ankit Fadia". Retrieved 2006-07-11.
12. Amazon.com reviews: The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking, Network Security: A Hacker's Perspective
13. "Young cyber security guru from USA". The Tribune, Chandigarh. 2005-09-12. Retrieved 2006-07-11.

External link

• Official website

• Living people
• Indian people