Indonesian Boy Discovers NASA Security Vulnerability
A sixth-grade primary school pupil from Boyolali, Central Java, Ibrahim Al Abrar, has drawn public attention after discovering a broken link hijacking vulnerability on one of the public domains belonging to the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Ibra found the NASA security gap after studying cyber security. He reported his discovery through NASA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), and it was successfully verified.
After several submissions, Ibra’s finding was finally verified and he received a letter of appreciation from NASA as recognition for his contribution to helping improve the security of the agency’s systems.
“Yesterday he received the NASA certificate because he searched for vulnerabilities on NASA’s website. He found broken link hijacking, then reported it via the VDP. The report had actually been submitted nearly two months earlier, but it was only replied to on 9 July, when he received the certificate,” said Aminudin, Ibra’s father, as quoted by Detik on Friday (17/7).
Ibra is a sixth-grade pupil at SDN 3 Genengsari in Kemusu Sub-district, Boyolali Regency. He is the second of three children of Aminuddin Salas and Hannisa Oktaviani.
His father works as a Computer and Network Engineering (TKJ) teacher at SMKN Kemusu, while his mother is a housewife.
Aminudin revealed that Ibra’s interest in technology began with his love of playing games. With his parents’ support, Ibra taught himself coding to create games.
Over the past six months, he has delved deeper into cyber security through YouTube, artificial intelligence (AI), and various online learning resources.
Ibra aspires to become a cyber security professional.
Aminudin hopes the achievement will motivate his son to keep learning while inspiring other children to use technology to develop their skills in information technology and cyber security.
“As a parent, my hope is that this is still the beginning. I hope he becomes even more motivated after receiving the letter of appreciation from NASA. Perhaps in the future he could earn a bug bounty, to boost his enthusiasm further. Because if he truly wants to become a cyber security professional, this means he is already heading towards that career,” Aminudin hoped.