There are many people around who are very enthusiastic about becoming a hacker. Hacking, unlike all other jobs, is an art. A person who is dedicated to the job achieves the hacking skills only after he lays a strong foundation for himself. It is not a overnight process. There are many people who claim themselves to be a Hacker but ultimately turn out to be script-kiddies. Hacking requires different mindset and intelligence from the rest hence there are just a few of them who are really capable of hacking.Himanshu Sharma is one of them. After breaking into many of the Pakistani websites and gaining knowledge, he is a ethical hacker now who works for the betterment of the web security. Aged just 18, Himanshu – Famously known as нα¢кєя, has already achieved fame for finding security loopholes in Apple,Google, Microsoft and Facebook. He has also helped Zaain Ul Abeedin to recover his Facebook fan page after it was taken over by another Hacker.

I managed to put forward a few to questions to him. Here is what he had to say:

1. When was the first time you started hacking? What inspired you to do so?

It was long back when i was in 9th grade. One of my friends told me that i am a zero in computers and can never learn anything. He bragged about his cousion who was a hacker and can control anyone’s PC from his house. My school life was not good as I had just a few friends. Rest just used to make fun of me, curse me, etc . To divert my mind I used to sit on computer browsing the internet, thats when I came across the term hacker, I read about their history did a lot of google search andKevin Mitnick was the name which inspired me. After reading about him and his history, all I wanted was to be someone like him.

 2. Did you start of as a black hat hacker or a white hat hacker?

Well, I started of as a blackhat i defaced a couple of sites but then slowly stopped doing it as i realised it was no use defacing the website and ruining the admin’s hardwork so,I started reporting vulnerabilities to webmasters only 10% of the admins used to reply back appreciating my work which made me happy so i went on doing it .

3. What are the common loopholes that you find in websites?

Most major loops are Admin login bypass, XSS, SQLi and weak file upload filters. More than 90% of the websites on internet are vulnerable to them.

4. How did you go about by regaining the Facebook fan page of the renowned singer Zaain Ul Abideen? Was it an easy task?

It was a really hard task .all i was told was that after the page was taken over, a youtube video link was posted by the hacker which was removed by him after the fans became suspicious.

After a lot of research i managed to get hold of the Youtube video link which turned out to be a Keylogger. I reversed it which took me to some of his fake accounts and then I found his real name and traced him down to his house  .

5. Have you ever worked for a software company as an adviser?

Not a software company but i work at FileIce LLC (www.fileice.net) as a Security Manager.  Its a good way to earn money online .

6. You managed to hack into India’s most renowned Hacker – Ankit Fadia. What is your opinion about him?

Ankit is a show off according to me.India’s most renowned hacker has the weakest security for his website.I hacked him because he deserves to be hacked moreover he announced live on a TV show that whoever hacks him will get a guranteed job from his side .But, ever since i hacked him he has been ignoring me.All his course material in AFCEH is outdated i would never recommend anyone that course.Truth about him can be read on attrition.org

7. Are the sites that use shared hosting more vulnerable as compared to those using VPS and Dedicated  Servers?

All of them are equally vulnerable. Nothing has 100% security but shared hosts are more targeted as attacking a shared server and hacking 600 sites hosted on it is more preffered for fame than hacking 1 dedicated server and defacing a single site hosted on it .

8. Are you part of a group or do you work alone?

I have a huge friend circle of hackers we all learn together and work together 

9. In the world of hacking, Who is your Role Model?

Kevin Mitnick - his story and movie was the one to inspire me . I am also a huge fan a Charlie Miller all his work and research papers are amazing .

10. Do you feel that Hackers in India do not get the credits and the fame they deserve?

Hackers in India are yet to be recognised by the people and the government. In India all everyone cares about is get good marks in academics and getting a good job. I have a few friends who are very skilled but companies reject them as they did not score well in their academics .Even when i went for admission in the university all they cared about was the score i got in Physics, Chemistry and Maths.

 11. You have made it into the “Hall of Fame” for companies like – Google, Microsoft, Facebook & Apple .What do you have to say about this marvellous achievement?

About my achievements, I am glad that I could help those companies strengthening their security.

 12. For the works that you have done in the recent past, you seem to have a large fan base. Any advice that you would like to give them?

My advice would be – be careful with what you download from internet, never click a suspicious link and if you are a webmaster always get your website pen-tested by a security expert   To the other Indian hackers I would say stop cyber war, instead of hacking other sites help improve the security of Indian websites. Hack to learn and do not learn to hack.