Meet Our Mayhem Heroes: Vishnu Prateek Kakaraparthi

As part of the Mayhem Heroes program, ForAllSecure visited various university campuses in the Spring of 2022. At the end of April, ForAllSecure hosted a day-long hackathon at Arizona State University where 181 students participated in the in-person training program followed by an online training held soon after.

Over the next several weeks, the combined groups of ASU students contributed over 300 GitHub Open Source Software integrations for our Mayhem Heroes program.

Meet Vishnu Prateek Kakaraparthi

How did you first get into software development? 

“When I was in middle school, I was able to take a computer programming class. We mainly played around with BASIC and MSW Logo. The ability to create something really sparked my interest. Combined with my passion for learning and Mathematics, the stage was set for me to begin my programming journey, and I have been coding for the past 15 years. I am currently in my Ph.D. program and have developed tools that aid people with disabilities. With my passion for programming and helping others, there is no stopping.”

How did you learn about ForAllSecure & the Heroes program? 

“I first learned about ForAllSecure and the Heroes program at Arizona State University Hackathon.” 

What brought you to the Heroes program? 

“As a Ph.D. Student, I like to use my skills to make this world a better place. I always wanted to contribute to the open source community, and the Heroes program gave me a platform to contribute.”  

What is your biggest success with the Heroes program? 

“My biggest success is the knowledge I gained during this process. I learned about new tools, softwares, and bugs.”

What is the biggest software bug that you’ve identified using Mayhem? 

“Out-of-bounds Read. In this error, the software program reads data past the intended buffer's end or before the beginning. This provides attackers a way to access private and sensitive data stored in other memory locations or trigger a crash. This error ranks fifth in the Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses list by Common Weakness Enumeration in 2022.

How do you stay motivated to continue learning? 

“I believe motivation comes and goes, and discipline is forever. Discipline helps push through the times when motivation is low, so keep at it. I make small goals and put them on my calendar, and this helps me immensely to keep going. The feeling when I check things off my to-do list is vastly ecstatic.”

What advice do you have for the new class of Heroes? 

“The only advice I would give is to keep trying. It is hard at first, but when you understand and get familiar with what needs to be done, it is worth it.”

What impact has the Heroes Community had on your development experience?

“I learned a lot from the Heroes Community, skills I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The constant help from the team and the community to help resolve issues.”

Mayhem Heroes

The Mayhem Heroes program Phase 1 has concluded. Look for an announcement for Phase 2 coming in the Fall of 2022. In the meantime, you can always sign up for a free version of Mayhem.