“The Highest Qualification One Can Have Is Their Experience” – Falgun Rathod
From being an average student at school and dropping out of college, to becoming one of the top 10 ethical hackers in India and being the first Indian to be on the cover page of an international cyber security magazine, an extra ordinary journey of Falgun Rathod teaches this young generation that anything is possible as long as you have a passion for it.
Falgun Rathod, who is also a part of the ‘Indian servers’ team, is the founder of Cyber Octet, a cyber-security company which has proudly served over 150 clients, and has taught 50,000+ students the concept of cyber security and ethical hacking.
Born in Ahmedabad, Rathod went to a local school and just like most of the youngsters today, he didn’t know what he wanted to do in life either.
After his board exams, he dreamt of pursuing MBBS, however the results told a different story. Inspite of giving his best shot, his marks weren’t enough to meet the criteria of any good colleges, and that’s where his career steered in a different direction.
Afraid of being left out, he did BCA along with his friends but realised it wasn’t something that he felt passionate about. Hence, after short stint of several months, he dropped out.
After trying his hands at few random opportunities, he landed the job, what he refers to as the ‘Game Changer’ of his career, and his life. Rathod’s next move was an IT assistant at firm based in Ahmedabad, and that’s where he earned a tag of an “IT guy”.
During this time, Rathod found his true passion in the crazy world of computers. After bouncing from one job to another, in 2011 he finally decided to start his own IT company to help his clients identify IT vulnerabilities, and provide them with latest cyber security systems.
Today, Cyber Octet has clients such as pharmaceuticals, and BFSI companies which is served by its team of ten key security experts.
Rathod aims to achieve a team of more than 100 employees with a reach of clients in every country.
“YOU LEARN EVERYDAY IN CYBER SECURITY“
Falgun Rathod believes that in a job like cyber security you never stop learning, as such he loves sharing his knowledge with everyone, as well as helping similar start-up companies like his to reach a certain goal.
Besides being the ‘IT Guy’, he is passionate about giving back to the society. In a near future he has plans on starting an NGO by the name ‘ThinkHigh Foundation’ to help those in need in the areas of education, health care, cleanliness, and more.
Along with his career goals, Rathod has achieved many other awards and recognition from the department of defence from the US government. In the years 2020, he was awarded the top cyber forensic researcher and investigator.
His marriage with the internet doesn’t end with work, even in his time he likes to explore the world wide web via his computer screen.
His passion for entrepreneurship and cyber security has allowed him to reach where he is right now and he continues to achieve new things every day and share them with the world.
