Ankit Fadia - MTV Youth Icon 2008 Awards

[fundoo]

"MTV Youth Icon 2008 Awards" declared; Ankit Fadia becomes the
youngest winner of the award

Submitted by newsdesk on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 15:21
World renowned Cyber Security expert 23 years old lad from Mumbai is
declared as "MTV Youth Icon 2008" today. He is one of the eight
winners (the others are Rahul Mishra, Sarath Babu, MC Marykom,
Mangesh Hadawale, Blaaze, Nitish Mishra & Ishita Khanna) off the
total 30 nominees. These 30 were shortlisted out of 8000 entries
received from across India. And seven are finally declared as
winners. Ankit Fadia is one of them. The poll was conducted through
an online and SMS voting process. These seven winners are the
youngsters who've followed their hearts and have made a difference
to the world we live in. These are the youth who made a difference
to others. They may not be a super achievers, but, made a
difference, says the MTV website.

The award is a platform created expressly for the youth to identify
their new-age role-models. The award celebrates the heroes of the
young India. The past winners of the MTV Youth Icon awards include
Anil Ambani, Rahul Dravid, Shah Rukh Khan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Orkut.com etc.

This years Pepsi and MTV Youth Icons are young people who have made
a difference.

Commenting on being chosen for the award Ankit Fadia said, "I am
truly delighted on winning the award. Through this award I hope to
connect with the youth of India and inspire them to be more aware
and alert about Cyber Security. Today's youth are the future of this
Country and they can play an instrumental role in ensuring a safe
tomorrow. Cyber Security will increasingly play a greater role in
avoiding any terror threats in the future and the youth of this
Country can ensure that, just by being alert and informed."

A child genius, he's a cyber security Guru at the age when most
people have graduated says MTV on its website
www.mtvyouthicon. in.com. Ankit Fadia started hacking at the age of
12 when he was gifted a new computer by his parents. He soon became
an expert with it and started his own site giving tutorials. This
was an instant success and got as many as 40,000 registered members.
His first hack was at the age of 13 on the Chip India magazines
website. For 2 days anyone who went on the website saw his photo. On
the 3rd day he sent Chip an e-mail telling them their problems and
how to fix them for fear of being thrown in jail by them. Instead
the magazine offered him a job!

The success of his website and his expertise in hacking encouraged
him to write a book on hacking. The tutorials were compiled into a
book, when he was 14. Little did he know that this book would become
a worldwide bestseller having sold three millions of copies. His
books were soon translated into 11 languages and outsourced to the
U.S. At the age of 16 years after the Sept. 11th attacks, he cracked
an encrypted email sent by the Al-Qaeda terrorist network for a
classified intelligence agency. Fadia was successful in that
assignment.

Although Ankit had now moved to the other side of law; i.e. from
unethical hacking to ethical hacking.

In India where hacking is still considered as an abuse and people
still talk about hacking in a hush hush tone. Fadia, the world
renowned Cyber Security Expert was consulted by Navi Mumbai Police
Department to trace the terror email sent just a few minutes before
the Gujarat serial blasts. He also helped Mumbai police in 26/11
blast case. Ankit has put his own security at risk and has always
come forward time and again to share his information and knowledge
with the authorities to help them catch the cyber criminals. Ankit
Fadia has been regularly consulted by security agencies across the
globe for breaking encrypted messages sent by unsocial elements. He
is involved in numerous classified projects pertaining to
International Security and Computer Networks.

Some of the security agencies who consult him include Singapore
Police, Inland Revenue Authority (Singapore), Inland Revenue Board
(Malaysia), Ministry of Defense (Singapore), NISER (Malaysia),
Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of Home
Affairs (Singapore), Monetary Authority of Singapore, Multimedia
Super Corridor (Malaysia), Indian Police, Central Forensics
Laboratory (Delhi), Kerala Police, Goa Police, Andhra Pradesh Police
Department, Andhra Pradesh Forensics Laboratory (Delhi), Pune Police.

These days Ankit is busy with his new initiative of making masses
aware of Cyber Crime/Terrorism. Fadia says, "We are living in times
where terrorism, AK47s, Hand grenades, Bomb blasts etc. are the
words which are now common in the dictionaries of even school going
kids and to an extent we all try to protect ourselves in some way or
the other against these attacks. But we are still more or less
ignorant or unaware about Cyber Terrorism. We are conveniently
ignoring the fact that the Cyber Terrorism is far more powerful,
within a few minutes; a single computer intrusion is capable of
causing losses amounting to millions of dollars."

"Globally, there's been a tremendous rise in cyber crime; almost a
ten fold rise in last 5 years. We must not forget recent cases in
Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts where criminals hacked into wi-fi
systems of individuals to send terror mails. And still most users
continue to remain oblivious to the threat posed by computer
criminals, espionage, identity theft, privacy invasion, and cyber
terrorism." says Ankit.

Ankit has launched training programs nationally with his partners
Reliance and IMT Ghaziabad to train Cyber Security Professionals and
help India fight against Cyber Terrorism. Ankit is currently busy
training CEO's & COO's worldwide on Computer Security concerns and
solutions. He's also tied up with OOH Media, India's largest out-of-
home television company to provide tips on Internet and Cyber
Security to common masses through their network of over 4900 screens
in more than 22 cities across India.

Ankit is an author of 14 publications which include The Unofficial
Guide to Ethical Hacking, Network Security: A Hacker's
Perspective, "The Ethical Hacking Guide to Corporate
Security", "Hacking Mobile Phones", "Email Hacking, Windows
Hacking", "Google Hacking", "Intrusion Alert, Encryption", "Tips and
Tricks on Linux", "Computer Forensics", "Software Hacking", "Little
Genius: The Ankit Fadia Way", "Cracking Admissions in Colleges
Abroad".

Ankit today is a widely recognized Ethical Hacker, Computer Security
Expert and Cyber Terrorism guru. Written 14 bestselling books,
delivered more than 1000 talks in 25 countries, received 45 awards,
provides certification courses on Computer Security in India &
China, is writing a script for a movie, runs his own consulting
company and is a senior at Stanford University. His work has touched
& influenced the cyber lives of millions of individuals and
organizations worldwide.

th attacks, he cracked an encrypted email sent by the Al-Qaeda
terrorist network for a classified intelligence agency. Fadia was
successful in that assignment.
Although Ankit had now moved to the other side of law; i.e. from
unethical hacking to ethical hacking.

In India where hacking is still considered as an abuse and people
still talk about hacking in a hush hush tone. Fadia, the world
renowned Cyber Security Expert was consulted by Navi Mumbai Police
Department to trace the terror email sent just a few minutes before
the Gujarat serial blasts. He also helped Mumbai police in 26/11
blast case. Ankit has put his own security at risk and has always
come forward time and again to share his information and knowledge
with the authorities to help them catch the cyber criminals. Ankit
Fadia has been regularly consulted by security agencies across the
globe for breaking encrypted messages sent by unsocial elements. He
is involved in numerous classified projects pertaining to
International Security and Computer Networks.

Some of the security agencies who consult him include Singapore
Police, Inland Revenue Authority (Singapore), Inland Revenue Board
(Malaysia), Ministry of Defense (Singapore), NISER (Malaysia),
Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of Home
Affairs (Singapore), Monetary Authority of Singapore, Multimedia
Super Corridor (Malaysia), Indian Police, Central Forensics
Laboratory (Delhi), Kerala Police, Goa Police, Andhra Pradesh Police
Department, Andhra Pradesh Forensics Laboratory (Delhi), Pune Police.

These days Ankit is busy with his new initiative of making masses
aware of Cyber Crime/Terrorism. Fadia says, "We are living in times
where terrorism, AK47s, Hand grenades, Bomb blasts etc. are the
words which are now common in the dictionaries of even school going
kids and to an extent we all try to protect ourselves in some way or
the other against these attacks. But we are still more or less
ignorant or unaware about Cyber Terrorism. We are conveniently
ignoring the fact that the Cyber Terrorism is far more powerful,
within a few minutes; a single computer intrusion is capable of
causing losses amounting to millions of dollars."

"Globally, there's been a tremendous rise in cyber crime; almost a
ten fold rise in last 5 years. We must not forget recent cases in
Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts where criminals hacked into wi-fi
systems of individuals to send terror mails. And still most users
continue to remain oblivious to the threat posed by computer
criminals, espionage, identity theft, privacy invasion, and cyber
terrorism." says Ankit.

Ankit has launched training programs nationally with his partners
Reliance and IMT Ghaziabad to train Cyber Security Professionals and
help India fight against Cyber Terrorism. Ankit is currently busy
training CEO's & COO's worldwide on Computer Security concerns and
solutions. He's also tied up with OOH Media, India's largest out-of-
home television company to provide tips on Internet and Cyber
Security to common masses through their network of over 4900 screens
in more than 22 cities across India.

Ankit is an author of 14 publications which include The Unofficial
Guide to Ethical Hacking, Network Security: A Hacker's
Perspective, "The Ethical Hacking Guide to Corporate
Security", "Hacking Mobile Phones", "Email Hacking, Windows
Hacking", "Google Hacking", "Intrusion Alert, Encryption", "Tips and
Tricks on Linux", "Computer Forensics", "Software Hacking", "Little
Genius: The Ankit Fadia Way", "Cracking Admissions in Colleges
Abroad".

Ankit today is a widely recognized Ethical Hacker, Computer Security
Expert and Cyber Terrorism guru. Written 14 bestselling books,
delivered more than 1000 talks in 25 countries, received 45 awards,
provides certification courses on Computer Security in India &
China, is writing a script for a movie, runs his own consulting
company and is a senior at Stanford University. His work has touched
& influenced the cyber lives of millions of individuals and
organizations worldwide.