Manan ShahFounder & CEO of Avalance Global Solutions Published On: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Views 5935

“Don’t do the work that will make you proud, do the work that will make your parents proud”.

Manan Shah is an independent computer security consultant and one of the state’s pioneer cyber crimeinvestigator. Hehas not only assisted in solving complex cyber crime cases, but have also played an instrumental role in creating awareness about information security and cyber crimes.

Having conducted more than 30 workshops on “cyber security, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, cyber crime investigation, and more” at various institutions and industries all across india, Manan also speaks at security conferences including BlackHat, ToorCon, Clubhack, and more.

Being an entrepreuner at heart, Manan founded Avalance Global Solutions, which provides services for organizations to fight cyber crime. He has also created an app called Geekdroid, which canbe used for keeping an eye on the activities of a person through a smartphone.

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

Geekdroid :

The first difference is that this application is non commercial. We don’t give it to anybody and everybody, so if you want to have Geekdroid, you cannot.

Secondly, the basic difference between this app that we have created and other applications like FindMyIphone etc. is that this application is very stealth. The main property of this app is that if you embed this app into a phone, the owner of the phone will never come to know that this app is installed in his or her phone. It’s hidden. I can put this app on your phone and boom! I have lifetime access to your GPS coordinates, to you call records, to your SMS details, to your browsing history, to your phonebook, and all this is live. I can click pictures from your camera,

I can record on your microphone, I can do a lot of things on your phone and the most interesting part is that you will never come to know that I’m doing any of this on your phone.

What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

As you know, I run this organization which only does one thing and that’s cyber security. The only area that we understand is cyber security, and we do everything related to that.

And about me—well, in short, I’m a tech guy. I’m from a computer science engineering background and I’ve always loved computer science in a very raw form. As one thing led to another, I could see that in the field of computer science, security was the question that everyone was asking—at the level of a corporate, of a bureaucracy, of the government, everywhere. And I was deeply interested in security always and that’s the reason why I like doing it and I jumped into it.

But the one thing that I love is that security isn’t a different vertical of computer science, but it’s a more scientific, in depth, grass-root knowledge that you need to have of computer science. And computer science taken to the next level is what creates the hacker or the “ethical hacker” as I would like to call it, and that’s the most interesting part. So for someone who is very passionate about computer science, this is the right place for him to be. And that’s exactly what I was and what my team is.

What is your life mantra?

‘We, as ethical hackers, create or see something which goes beyond people’s imagination’ We engineer meaningful technology solutions to help businesses and societies flourish.

What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?

Recruiting talented hackers

How did you overcome those challenges?

My company’s credibility is shown its clients. we include big names in our client list like Reliance Industries, Microsoft, Central Bureau of Investigation, Siemens, ABB, Solvay, ICICI bank, and Gujarat Police.

How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?

I can never brain drain because of work. I love my work.

According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?

Collaborative Spirit, Unrelenting Dedication, Ethical & Future Thinking

Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?

Geekster

Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.

Taking Breaks – When your productivity goes down – Take a (short) break, look at all the beautiful & motivating things around you and get back to work!

Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.

I just can’t stop thinking about Cars…

Answer in less than 50 words

One tip to success

Just Think Big.

One mistake you believe every individual must avoid

Don’t trust people.

One most important lesson that you have learnt till now

I used to trust too easily

What are your plans for next 3 years?

I believe on showing my plans in reality rather than speaking about them.

If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?

This is a good question. I would like to start as a politician. Because, being a youngster I know what young India wants, I will support our youth and create laws accordingly.

What are your top three getaway destinations?

Those places are my dream places which I can’t visit.

Share a quote that inspires you the most.

“Don’t do the work that will make you proud, do the work that will make your parents proud”.

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