After IIT Kanpur job offer, whiz kid Nisarga Adhikary says no plans to study further

Nisarga Adhikary, the 19-year-old ethical hacker who drew national attention after exposing security vulnerabilities in the CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal, and was hired by the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur), says he has no immediate plans to pursue higher studies. Instead, he hopes to focus on building startups and products that people actively use.

"I am not much interested in academia," said the 19-year-old. Read that again, he is just 19 years old. Interestingly, he also said his package was lower than his expectations.

The institute has appointed Nisarga Adhikary as an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Threat Intelligence Engineer at its cybersecurity innovation hub, C3iHub, on a contractual basis. What makes the appointment remarkable is that Adhikary has secured the role without a traditional college degree. Having only recently completed his Class 12 examinations, he has been recruited on the strength of his demonstrated technical skills and cybersecurity expertise.

Also read: Another Gen Z hacker now claims data security flaw on NTA re-exam portal

The IIT offer

IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal praised the teenager's abilities, describing him as a talented young engineer with significant potential. According to institute officials, Adhikary's responsibilities will include analysing publicly available information, identifying vulnerabilities in websites and applications, tracking cyber threats, and helping organisations strengthen their security posture.

Also read: After NTA portal, teen flags issues with JEE Advanced results site; IIT Roorkee responds

Speaking about the opportunity, Adhikary said he was excited to move into a dedicated cybersecurity role for the first time. "In my earlier jobs, I primarily worked as a software engineer, while cybersecurity was more of a hobby," he said. He added that a conversation with Agrawal helped convince him to join the institute and gave him deeper insight into the cybersecurity research being undertaken there.

While neither Adhikary nor IIT Kanpur disclosed the compensation package, he admitted that it was lower than his expectations. Having previously worked on projects with US-based companies, he noted that earning in dollars had provided a financial advantage due to the USD-INR conversion rate.

Coding journey

Adhikary became widely known after publishing a detailed blog outlining vulnerabilities in the CBSE OSM portal. He revealed flaws that could potentially have allowed unauthorised users to access sensitive student data and even manipulate marks, highlighting the urgent need for stronger cybersecurity safeguards in educational technology systems.

His technology journey began early. According to his LinkedIn profile, Adhikary started coding when he was around six years old and developed a serious interest in cybersecurity while still in middle school. By Class 6, he was already participating in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions and other cybersecurity challenges.

Professionally, Adhikary's experience spans software engineering, open-source development and cybersecurity. His first internship was with the New Delhi Space Society in June 2023, where he worked as a web developer. He later founded and led his own Hack Club, contributed to several open-source projects, and joined Skann as a Founding Engineer in September 2024. He also interned as a Software Engineer at Cypherock and Wavelength.