At an age when most teenagers are focused on school and figuring out what comes next, Siddiqe Ahmad al-Hasani was already exploring the complex world of cybersecurity, where curiosity, patience, and responsibility matter just as much as technical skill.
Born and raised in Qatar to Indian parents, al-Hasani recently graduated from high school and is now preparing to pursue university studies in cybersecurity and computer science.
His journey began in 2020, driven largely by curiosity. He remembers spending five or six hours at a time experimenting with technology, encountering errors, figuring out why something did not work, and trying again. That curiosity eventually led him deeper into cybersecurity and ethical hacking.
What is ethical hacking? For al-Hasani, it is simply testing a system’s security with permission, so weaknesses can be found and fixed before someone with harmful intentions discovers them. That mindset led him to Nasa. For three to four months, al-Hasani carefully researched systems within Nasa’s permitted scope, often encountering dead ends. Then, one evening, after hours of work, he discovered a vulnerability on a Nasa subdomain.
He initially ran the test several times to make sure his finding was genuine. "When I confirmed that the redirect was working reliably, I knew it needed to be reported,” al-Hasani told Gulf Times. The issue involved an open redirect vulnerability on a subdomain running outdated software. The weakness could potentially allow someone to use a trusted Nasa link to redirect users to another website, creating a possible avenue for phishing.
Al-Hasani documented his findings with reproduction steps, screenshots, and a proof-of-concept video before submitting the report through Nasa’s official Vulnerability Disclosure Program on Bugcrowd. Nasa validated the report within one or two days. About two months later, after the vulnerability had been fixed, al-Hasani received an official Letter of Appreciation and was listed in Nasa’s Security Researcher Hall of Fame.
"It felt surreal but in the best way. More than anything, the recognition gave me a strong push of motivation. All the late nights and dead ends suddenly felt completely worth it, and it reminded me to keep going, keep learning, and keep doing things the right way.”
The recognition was particularly meaningful because he was still a teenager, working largely independently from Qatar. Seeing his name alongside experienced security researchers gave him confidence that age does not necessarily limit what someone can contribute.
But perhaps the most important lesson he took from the experience had little to do with Nasa.
"Finding a vulnerability is only half the story—what you do next is what really matters,” he said.
For al-Hasani, ethical hacking is ultimately about trust, patience, and responsibility. The same technical ability that can uncover a weakness can also cause harm if used carelessly. The difference lies in the choices made afterward.
"The moment you discover a security issue, you hold a kind of power. You could ignore it, share it carelessly, or even misuse it. But the responsible path is to report it properly and give the organisation a chance to fix it before anyone else can take advantage,” he explained.
"Knowing how to hack is a skill; knowing when not to hack is part of being an ethical hacker.”
Today, al-Hasani is preparing for university while continuing to develop his cybersecurity skills. He was recently selected for EC-Council’s Hackers4Humanity 2026 initiative, which brings together penetration testers from around the world for a practical cybersecurity challenge. He is also exploring entrepreneurship and hopes to launch his own brand in the future.
"I see a strong future in this field, especially here in Qatar. With the rising demand for cybersecurity professionals and the growing threat of AI-based cyberattacks, this domain is only going to become more important. That’s why I have decided to pursue it as a career,” he told Gulf Times.
For young people in Qatar interested in cybersecurity, his advice is to start with curiosity, learn the basics, practise responsibly, and don’t rush. "You don’t need to be an expert to begin,” he said. "You just need enough curiosity to take the first step.”
And perhaps that is what makes al-Hasani’s story worth following; not simply that a teenager from Qatar earned recognition from Nasa, but that behind the achievement is a young person learning to turn curiosity into skill, and skill into something that can help protect others.