Not all hackers are bad – Meet Ahsan Tahir, a 13 year old smart kid from Karachi, Pakistan, who is putting his hacking skills in helping big tech companies like Google, Microsoft and Uber to overcome the vulnerabilities they have in their systems.
Ahsan is an ‘ethical hacker’ and aims to play a major role in firming cyber security. He hacks and finds bugs, which is a commendable job as it helps the websites to fix and strengthen their security. In return, he is awarded with cash and appreciations as expected.
$300 from @Gogo! Thanks. 😚#BugCrowd #BugBounty <3 pic.twitter.com/bbz7KAFyop
— Ahsan Tahir (@AhsanTahirAT) February 7, 2017
This young techie is a self-taught cyber security researcher and consultant, who started to learn hacking at the very tender age of 10 and by the year he hit 12, he was already serving many websites in finding and fixing their bugs.
$400 from LocalTapiola 😍 on @Hacker0x01, thanks! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/h7d4diSUaq
— Ahsan Tahir (@AhsanTahirAT) February 13, 2017
His initial sources of learning ‘Hacking’ was Youtube, online lessons, blogs and experimenting on his own, but now he’s hanging out with programmers to learn more and polish his skills so that he can serve the tech industry better.
This little yet smart hacker got motivated and triggered at the same time, when his own website was hacked by someone in his search of finding bugs. “That’s when I decided to find bugs in my own website,” He then found a site “that told me I can hack into different companies to find bugs and they will pay me — or appreciate me — so I started [doing] that.” Tahir in his interview with NBC News.
“Hackers like Ahsan are literally the next generation of cyber security defenders, and the future of the internet relies on them having an easy on-ramp into security as a career,” Casey Ellis, founder and CEO of Bugcrowd, told NBC News. “Digital natives make very good hackers, and the power this group represents to companies trying to safeguard their businesses and users is immense.”
As all the big names of tech industry offer Bug Bounty Program in which the hackers serve them by finding bugs in their systems, in exchange of bucks, amount ranges from $50 to $350,000, depending on how critical the bug is. This job is encouraging for coders and programmers who take interest in hacking and rather than falling into wrong hands, they can utilize their skills to make cyber world safer.
While the kids of his age are busy playing games, Tahir is wholeheartedly devoted towards his passion and job of hacking and cyber security. He bought iphone 7 from the cash reward he received from one of websites he found bugs in, and hopes to buy a car next when he catches a big bug in a big site.
However, Ahsan Tahir isn’t the only teen hacker kid from Pakistan who gained international recognition. Muhammad Shahzad, a 14 year old hacker made it to Google’s Hall of Fame, back in the mid of 2016, when he pointed out several security vulnerabilities in one of Google’s acquisitions.
Source: NBC News
