About me

The short version

I'm Bhavya Sharma, 18, based in India. I'm a self-taught cybersecurity enthusiast currently preparing for JEE 2026 and shipping small security tools on the side. I work in C, C++, Python, and a bit of HTML/CSS, and I spend most of my learning time on Kali Linux and its ecosystem.

I'm open to freelance work and internships. Fluent in English and Hindi. Graduating class of 2031.

The long version — how a Windows 7 kid became a security nerd

2020 · COVID, an old HP Pavilion & YouTube

It was around COVID (2020) when everyone was locked in their houses. I used to have an HP Pavilion laptop — 2 GB of RAM and Windows 7 as the main operating system. For some time I was used to struggling with it.

I was scrolling through YouTube and I found a video about Linux. At that time Linux wasn't that famous, but in the video, as far as I remember, the guy was talking about Mint OS — how snappy it is.

So child Bhavya thought — let me give it a try, at least I'll get an excuse to get a new laptop. With that hope, I tried to install it. And boom — it installed. At first it felt so snappy and I was feeling like I am a software engineer.

The Linux honeymoon

After some time with Mint, I didn't do much — scrolling YouTube, watching videos about how to customize your Mint and all. Then I started playing with commands. I don't know why, but I was a child thinking now I am a hacker.

Because the laptop was old, I couldn't do much customization. But it was good — that time I got introduced with the Linux command line properly.

Wondering how websites work

Ever since I got introduced with the browser, I was so curious — how does this website even work?

Also, I was good at typing. My old laptop could only run a game called TypeMaster, which I had to play when there was no internet. So instead of making shortcuts, I used to write out the whole link — for example, the most often I used to type www.youtube.com.

The login-popup war (yes, this was a real phase)

Whenever I used to go on any website related to Linux commands and all, it sometimes used to show the login option. I don't know why — I watched a YouTube video which said: do not log in to websites you see. So I was trying my best to find ways so the login screen wouldn't pop up.

I used to do a trick: I would open the website and then turn my internet off as soon as the page loaded — kill the WiFi before the login page appeared. Yes, I am from the era where ChatGPT wasn't there for us.

This trick didn't work much. So then I saw another trick on YouTube: right-click → Inspect → delete the set of options to remove the login / sign-up popup. That one helped me out the most.

The actual "aha" moment

After doing all that, I was feeling like the highest in the room after seeing how the website looks from the back. Like — what we see on the screen is actually a set of code which makes us see these UIs. I was so amazed that I copied the code and went to Google to ask what is this?

From there I got to know about coding languages and all. That was the moment the curiosity stopped being a workaround and became a direction.

2023 · MacBook Air (2016) & HTML

At the age of 15, I got a MacBook Air (2016) from my elder sister. I started learning to code, and the first language was HTML. After that I used to make dumb websites and all.

But my obsession with all of this made me think: if I can make it, I can also break it.

2024 · 16½, Kali Linux, security

The moment I started learning about these things — as far as I remember, I was around 16 and a half. Got into Kali Linux and its tools, started clearing rooms on TryHackMe, started writing small Python tools, started shipping them to GitHub.

It's been a year now, and the loop hasn't changed: learn a little, build a little, break a little, write it down, repeat.

Right now · 2026

• Preparing for JEE 2026 alongside learning and building.
• Class of 2031 — engineering batch.
• Made $25+ through freelance work so far; updating as it grows.
• Active on TryHackMe (Neophyte rank), pushing through rooms.
• Fluent in English and Hindi.
• Open to internships and freelance work.

Things I value