He is just a 15-years-old student who at this tender age has not just become a cyber expert but also helped the African nation Liberia catch hackers and earned their gratitude and reward!

Meet Soumya Ranjan Sahoo, of Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir in Phulbani district, Odisha who is a student of Class X and as a cyber expert at this small age earned accolades from the Government of Liberia. The reason being that as an ethical hacker he helped this African country catch a hacker who looted the Government exchequer by sneaking into the official website of the Ministry of Finance and Development.

During the lockdown, when Sahoo had spare time, he used it to garner knowledge about the cyber world. Later, while working for an Indian company dealing with cyber solutions he was assigned to a find solution to hacking of the Liberian Ministry of Finance website.

He tracked the hacker down successfully and provided digital evidence to the Liberian Government. Following this, the African nation has made changes and corrections in the website.

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This good work done by Soumya helped the Liberian Government to catch and proceed against the hacker legally. For this he was given a reward of 30,000 US dollars. Besides this, he was given a citation and a lucrative job offer.

However, for Soumya, his goal is different. He wants to become an intelligence officer in India.

Talking to the media he said: “Apart from my day-to-day studies, I also practice programming, ethical hacking and other computer works. I want to assist the government in cyber investigation. I have an ambition to be an officer in the Intelligence Bureau (IB).”

Initially when Soumya started exploring the Internet and its operations, his parents were against it but now they feel proud of their son.

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Soumya’s father Hemant Sahoo revealed: “During lockdown, he used to browse the internet on my mobile phone and gained some knowledge on ethical hacking. I was initially opposed to him and insisted that he focus on academic study. But, now I am happy with his performance. I want the government of India to give him due respect in his field.”

Joining his father, Soumya’s mother Sanjukta added: “We are very proud of him now. When his father opposed him, he requested me to persuade his father to support him in his direction. He wanted to take admission at a computer academy and gain more knowledge in cyber education.”