The techie who started a formidable cyber security firm after he got hacked

Pavan Khushwaha's firm Kratikal has worked with clients across a range of sectors both, at home and in US, UK, Middle East and North Africa. It now plans to expand to govt clients

A few years ago, when Pavan Khushwaha was still a student at the National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, his email account got hacked. While most people would have either given up the account or fixed the problem and moved on, Khushwaha decided to form his own cyber security company. 

He teamed up with his friends from college, Dip Jung Thapa and Paratosh Bansal, to set up Kratikal in 2013. While Khushwaha is the CEO of the firm, Thapa is the chief operating officer and Bansal, the chief technology officer.

"With an increase in the awareness about cybersecurity, the requirement for