Ankit Fadia (born 1985) is an Indian self-proclaimed white-hat computer hacker, author, and television host. He is considered to be a security charlatan. His work mostly involves OS and networking tips and tricks and proxy websites. A number of his claims regarding his achievements have been disputed by others within the security industry, and he was mocked with a "Security Charlatan of the Year" award at DEF CON 20 in 2012. Attrition.org also reviewed his claimed credentials and included him on their Security Charlatans list, calling into question the veracity of his marketing statements. He has been accused of plagiarism in his work. His claims of hacking feats have since been discredited by many magazines. Early life At the age of 10, his parents gifted him a computer and he says he started taking an interest in hacking after a year of playing video games when he read a newspaper article on the subject. He soon started a website hackingtruths.box.sk where he wrote hacking tutorials, which acquired many readers and encouraged him to write a book. The book received favourable responses in India, making Fadia popular in the country, and turned his hobby into a full-time profession. However, he was also accused of plagiarism. Career He continued to produce more books about computer security, and spoke at several seminars across schools and colleges in India. In addition, he started providing his own computer security courses, such as the "Ankit Fadia Certified Ethical Hacker" programme. In 2009, Fadia stated that he was working in New York as an Internet security expert for "prestigious companies". Fadia also endorsed the Flying Machine jeans brand of Arvind Mills. Fadia was dismissed by security and cryptography enthusiasts as a 'faker' making tall claims, who attributed his success to the tech-illiterate media. A security professional, who uses the handle @FakeAnkitFadia on Twitter, told The Sunday Guardian, "The first book that Fadia 'wrote' at the age of 14, The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking, was a little over 32% plagiarised from other security publications and websites." Fadia has dismissed the critics who question his credibility as an expert, saying "If I had been fake, my growth would have stopped 10 years ago". Debunked hacking claims In 2002, Fadia claimed that at the age of 17, he had defaced the website of an Indian magazine. Subsequently, he named the magazine as the Indian edition of CHIP magazine, and