I am an undergraduate student at Manipal Institute of Technology, majoring in Computer Science and Engineering with a minor in Digital Marketing. My passion lies in malware research, exploit development, and red teaming. As an OSCP and CRTO professional, I actively engage in vulnerability assessments, malware research, and cybersecurity projects.

🏆 Certifications

🔥 Technical Skills

• Languages: C, C++, Python, C#, Bash, Powershell, x86_64 Assembly, SQL, Java, Go, Rust
• Networking: DNS management, Routing, Switching, TCP/IP, NAT, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and subnetting, VLANs, trunking, and inter-VLAN routing, Wireshark, Terraform
• Pentesting: Malware Development, Exploit Development, Network Penetration Testing, Active Directory Attacks, Secure Coding, Webapp Exploitation
• System Administration: Linux, Windows, Active Directory

💼 Experience

Security Engineer Intern @ Bugbase (April 2024 - July 2024)

• Developed Active Directory internal assessment modules for RedTeam Copilot, enhancing the tool’s capability to simulate real-world attack scenarios
• Created custom scripts for enumeration and exploitation in Sliver C2 using Sliverpy.
• Automated deployment of expendable payloads, C2 redirectors, and SMTP relays using Terraform.
• Contributed to the design and development of a custom C2 framework with AI-based agents.
• Integrated netexec tool into the copilot agent for automated deployment when run on a target system.

Intern @ Breach Point (ISAC) (Oct 2023 - Jan 2024)

• Conducted VAPT assessments on Government of India infrastructure.
• Performed vulnerability scans for critical industrial sectors such as aviation, power, and finance.
• Documented and responsibly disclosed proof-of-concept exploits for discovered vulnerabilities.
• Promoted to team leader after two months, managing a team of interns and coordinating vulnerability assessments.

🎤 Conference Presentations

🎙️ The Threat Triplet: RATs, Keyloggers, and Registry Keys

Presented at HINT-24 (Springer Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems - LNNS)

• Demonstrated how RATs, keyloggers, and registry keys work together to compromise systems.
• Explored persistence techniques used in modern malware.
• Provided detection and mitigation strategies to counter these threats.

🏗 Notable Projects

🔐 CurveLock (Jan 2025)

• Developed a ransomware prototype leveraging Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) to encrypt files with high efficiency.
• Implemented advanced anti-analysis techniques such as API hammering and compile-time Import Address Table (IAT) randomization for enhanced evasion.
• Utilized process hollowing by leveraging clean ntdll.dll copies from suspended processes to bypass security hooks.
• Embedded mechanisms for escalating privileges dynamically, including token manipulation and abuse of high-privileged processes, to extend ransomware capabilities.
• Incorporated DcSync attack capabilities to dump all username-NTLM hash combinations in an Active Directory network.

🛠 ShadowChain (Dec 2024)

• ShadowChain is designed as a modular DLL injector, allowing flexibility in injecting DLLs into target processes.
• Implements DRM features to protect the payloads and their functionality, ensuring controlled distribution and execution.
• Utilizes Thread Local Storage (TLS) callbacks for anti-debugging mechanisms and makes it difficult for reverse engineers and debuggers to analyze the injector.
• ShadowChain utilizes the Windows Startup folder as a persistence mechanism by creating a copy of the injector at runtime into the startup folder which the system automatically executes whenever the user logs into Windows.
• Supports a wide range of payloads, making the tool adaptable to various use cases while maintaining a high level of security and obfuscation.

🕵️‍♂️ CryoLeak (Nov 2023)

• CryoLeak utilizes a C#-based server-grunt C2 model for managing multiple implants remotely to control systems remotely.
• The system uses a RESTful API over HTTP for secure command issuance and result retrieval from its implants, ensuring operations are stealthy and secure.
• Supports a broad array of commands for extensive remote system management, including file operations, system queries, and advanced control functions.
• Built the Team Server using ASP.NET Core for scalability and security.

💻 BlueNovember (Aug 2023)

• BlueNovember is designed as an offensive driver with capabilities to bypass kernel-level security measures including antivirus defenses and built-in Windows protection mechanisms like Kernel Patch Protection (KPP) and callbacks.
• The driver is capable of modifying process protections and privileges, enabling actions that typically require higher permissions such as changing process tokens and disabling kernel callbacks.
• It includes techniques to evade Microsoft’s PatchGuard that protects kernel integrity, by exploiting race conditions and operational gaps in its monitoring processes.
• Developed a handler using C++ with WinAPI wrappers to execute commands and manage the driver’s operations.

📚 Research

• Exploring Elliptic Curves Implementation in Modern Ransomware (In Review - International Journal Of Information Security )
• Evading Security Analysis Using Digital Rights Management (Final Draft - IEEE Access)
• Detection and Mitigation of Cyber Attacks in IoT (In Review - Cogent Engineering)
• The Threat Triplet: RATs, Keyloggers, and Registry Keys (Published - Springer LNNS)