When on Monday, self-styled digital expert Ankit Fadia announced that he has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Digital India campaign, it took many by surprise.
Speaking to dna from the UAE on phone, Fadia said that even though the decision was a humbling one, he was told about it more than a few months ago. “A few weeks before the Digital India campaign was launched by Narendra Modi, an official of the department of electronics and information technology got in touch with me and asked me whether I would like to be a part of the initiative,”he said. The official asked Fadia to come and meet him to collect the certificate, he added.
When asked why did the government not announce it during the Digital India announcement, Fadia said that perhaps the focus was more on prospective investments. He added that as brand ambassador, his roles and responsibilities were three-fold. “Firstly, to promote the components of the initiative on social media and on personal media. Secondly, to participate in any Digital India event when I am asked to,” he said, adding. “Thirdly, sometime provide with inputs on digital projects when asked to.”
The announcement was however, not too well taken by the people on social media, many of whom felt that Fadia did not have the prowess. Fadia shot to fame at the age of 17 when he claimed to have hacked the website of an Indian tech magazine, and said that he was later offered a job by the editor. The said editor, Charles Assisi, denied that it ever happened. Fadia also claims that he was consulted by a classified agency to hack Osama Bin Laden encrypted messages in 2001. He also claims that he has done important work in the field of “digital intelligence”.
Fadia has authored 16 books and is currently takes classes on ethical hacking. He has taken ethical hacking classes in all the major colleges and universities. He also starred in an MTV show What The Hack, and has a YouTube show Geek On the Loose where he shares technology tips and tricks. The show has more than 750,000+ views on YouTube.
Ethical hacker
Ankit Fadia has authored 16 books and is currently takes classes on ethical hacking. He has taken ethical hacking classes in all the major colleges and universities. He also starred in an MTV show What The Hack, and has a YouTube show Geek On the Loose where he shares technology tips and tricks. The show has more than 750,000+ views on YouTube.
