Indonesian Primary School Student Honoured by NASA for Finding Cybersecurity Flaw

Since the 4th grade, Ibrahim Al Abrar, a student at SDN 3 Genengsari in Kemusu District, Boyolali Regency, Central Java, has been interested in computer programming. Through his self-taught dedication, Ibrahim, familiarly known as Ibra, received an award from NASA after discovering a flaw in the American space agency’s cybersecurity system. “When I received the letter from NASA, I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it,” he said during an interview before attending a meeting with Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi at his office in Semarang on Wednesday (29/7/2026). The letter of appreciation from NASA was received by Ibra via email in early July 2026. “Dear Ibrahim Al Abrar, on behalf of NASA and the NASA Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), we wish to acknowledge your efforts as an independent security researcher, both in identifying the vulnerability you submitted and for following the VDP policies and guidelines in reporting it responsibly to us,” NASA wrote in the letter dated 9 July 2026. NASA assessed that Ibra’s ability to detect and report a vulnerability in their security system is a valuable skill in the information security industry. “Your reporting has facilitated NASA’s awareness of an unknown vulnerability and helped us protect the integrity and availability of NASA’s information. Please accept this letter as a token of our appreciation for your efforts in detecting this vulnerability,” NASA stated to Ibra. Ibra, who is now 12 years old and in the 6th grade at SDN 3 Genengsari, revealed that his initial attempt to find a flaw in NASA’s cybersecurity system was made in April 2026. He was inspired to try after a friend from his IT community, a junior high school student, failed to detect a vulnerability in NASA’s system. Ibra then read the instructions published by NASA for detecting flaws in their cybersecurity system. “It’s called broken link hijacking, where a dead link can be taken over and used for phishing under NASA’s name,” Ibra explained.