Santhosh Kumar

Santhosh Kumar
Santhosh Kumar
Born	July 15, 2005 (age 20); Rajasthan, India
Nationality	Indian
Education	BCA, Yenepoya University
Occupation	Ethical hacker
Years active	2022–present

Santhosh Kumar (Hindi: संतोष कुमार, born 15 July 2005, Rajasthan, India) is an Indian cybersecurity researcher, ethical hacker, and cyber theorist. He is best known as the founder of Zero Defend Security and the developer of Vastav AI, a deepfake detection system.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Early Life and Education

Santhosh Kumar was born on 15 July 2005 in Rajasthan, India. He pursued his Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) at Yenepoya University in Mangalore.^[4]

Career

Santhosh began his journey in the field of cybersecurity during his teenage years.^[5] At just 17, he actively assisted victims of cyber fraud and uncovered numerous scams online.^[6] His awareness efforts on social media contributed to his rise as a young cybersecurity influencer in India.^[7]

He is currently the Technical Lead at the OWASP Yenepoya Institute chapter.^[8] In 2024, he founded the cybersecurity company **Zero Defend Security**, which focuses on defending critical digital infrastructure.^[9]^[10] Let me know if you want the next sections ("Cybersecurity Contributions", "Awards", etc.) rewritten in the

Early Life and Education

Kumar was born in Rajasthan, India on 15 July 2005. He completed his Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) at Yenepoya University, Mangalore.^[11]

Cybersecurity Contributions

Santhosh Kumar created Vastav AI, India’s first AI-powered deepfake detection system with 99% accuracy.^[12]^[13]^[14] The tool analyzes videos, images, and audio for synthetic manipulation using facial analysis, lighting detection, texture anomalies, and metadata.^[15]^[16] The project received recognition from CID Karnataka.^[17]

Awards and Honors

Year	Organization	Recognition	Notes
2025	IBM PSIRT	Hall of Fame	For responsible vulnerability disclosure^[18]
2025	Google	Hall of Fame	For reporting critical security issues
2025	NASA	Hall of Fame	For ethical hacking contributions^[19]
2025	Vodafone	Hall of Fame	For responsible disclosure^[20]
2025	Apple	Hall of Fame	For security research and ethical reporting^[21]
2025	Australian Government Inspector-General & Taxation Ombudsman	Hall of Fame	For responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities^[22]
2025	Flipkart	Hall of Fame	Recognized for responsible disclosure
2025	Cisco Meraki	Hall of Fame	For identifying security flaws
2025	Bureau of Indian Affairs (USA)	Hall of Fame	For cybersecurity research^[23]
2025	Lenovo	Hall of Fame	For ethical hacking reports
2025	Paytm	Hall of Fame	For responsible vulnerability reporting
2025	Citigroup	Hall of Fame	For identifying and reporting security vulnerabilities
2025	CID Karnataka	Innovation	For innovation in cybersecurity through Vastav AI^[24]^[25]

References

Other websites

Santhosh Kumar on LinkedIn

[1] ttps://www.patrika.com/chennai-news/17-years-old-class-12-student-ethical-hacking-8320131

[2] ttps://www.yiascm.yenepoya.edu.in/news-details.php?id=747

[3] ttps://www.rprealtyplus.com/newsviews/world-press-freedom-day-sparks-debate-on-ai-in-journalism-119821.html

[4] ttps://www.yiascm.yenepoya.edu.in/news-details.php?id=747

[5] ttps://www.patrika.com/chennai-news/17-years-old-class-12-student-ethical-hacking-8320131

[6] ttps://www.patrika.com/chennai-news/17-years-old-class-12-student-ethical-hacking-8320131

[7] ttps://www.patrika.com/chennai-news/17-years-old-class-12-student-ethical-hacking-8320131

[8] ttps://owasp.org/www-chapter-yenepoya-institute/

[9] ttps://tracxn.com/d/companies/zero-defend-security/__6qOVbJSZsD8svTw8CLot7fH2_Lm5GmMxZMRyIZAnpzc/founders-and-board-of-directors

[10] ttps://up18news.com/zero-defend-security-new-indian-cybersecurity-firm-poised-to-protect-digital-infrastructure/

[11] ttps://www.yiascm.yenepoya.edu.in/news-details.php?id=747

[12] ttps://www.analyticsinsight.net/artificial-intelligence/deepfake-defense-shifts-focus-to-real-time-trust-in-ai-era

[13] ttps://theblunttimes.in/india-launches-vastav-ai-to-combat-deepfake-threats/46821/

[14] ttps://www.bhaskar.com/local/rajasthan/jaipur/news/deepfake-detection-system-vastav-awarded-at-cid-karnataka-hackathon-134627357.html

[15] ttps://www.vifindia.org/2025/may/02/Cyber-Review-February-March-2025

[16] ttps://www.tv9hindi.com/technology/deepfake-detection-system-has-arrived-it-will-catch-ai-generated-photo-and-video-3167870.html

[17] ttps://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/cid-hackathon-in-bengaluru-to-advance-research-in-cybercrime-probe-3438644

[18] ttps://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-product-security-incident-response-team-news

[19] ttps://bugcrowd.com/engagements/nasa-vdp

[20] ttps://www.linkedin.com/

[21] ttps://support.apple.com/en-la/102774

[22] ttp://www.igt.gov.au/vulnerability-disclosure-program/

[23] ttps://bugcrowd.com/engagements/bia-vdp

[24] ttps://www.tv9hindi.com/technology/deepfake-detection-system-has-arrived-it-will-catch-ai-generated-photo-and-video-3167870.html

[25] ttps://theblunttimes.in/india-launches-vastav-ai-to-combat-deepfake-threats/46821/

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