Hi, I'm Aswanth R (NodeX-AR), a 17-year-old ethical hacker and Python developer from Kerala, India.
A few weeks ago, I found my name on the NASA Bugcrowd Hall of Fame.
Yes, that NASA. The space agency.
Let me tell you how a high school student ended up there, and what I learned along the way.
The NASA Vulnerability Disclosure Program
NASA runs a Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) on Bugcrowd. It's a responsible disclosure program where security researchers can report vulnerabilities in NASA's public-facing systems.
I wasn't looking for fame. I was just... curious.
I spent weeks digging through their public endpoints, looking for misconfigurations, insecure headers, and logic flaws. It wasn't glamorous work—a lot of it was tedious, repetitive testing.
But then I found something.
It wasn't a critical RCE or a SQL injection. It was a misconfiguration that could expose internal paths and potentially lead to information disclosure. I reported it with a detailed proof of concept, and NASA's security team validated it.
A few days later, I got the email: "Your report has been triaged and validated."
And then my name appeared on their public Hall of Fame.
What I Learned
Bug bounty isn't about luck. It's about methodology. I use a combination of automated scanning (Burp Suite, Nmap, custom Python scripts) and manual testing. The best bugs come from thinking like an attacker, not just running tools.
Responsible disclosure matters. I didn't post screenshots or brag until the report was closed and patched. NASA's team was incredibly professional, and I learned a lot from their feedback.
Age is just a number. I'm a Class 12 student. I have exams. I have projects. But I also have a relentless curiosity. If you're reading this and you're young, don't wait until you're "old enough" to start hacking. Start now.
Where to Find Me
If you want to connect, collaborate, or just talk security, here's where I hang out:
- Portfolio: https://a-r.is-a.dev/
- GitHub: github.com/NodeX-AR
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nodex-ar
- Twitter/X: @NodeX_AR
I'm also on the ISC2 Candidate track and have my ORCID linked: 0009-0007-1619-374X.
One Last Thought
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
I'm not writing this to brag. I'm writing this to show that if a 17-year-old from Kerala can make it into NASA's Hall of Fame, so can you.
Start small. Stay curious. Break things (ethically). And always, always submit a responsible disclosure.
If you enjoyed this, drop a comment or share it. Let's make the internet a safer place, one bug at a time.
— Aswanth R (NodeX-AR), Ethical Hacker & Python Developer
