Imagine an 8-year old designing and writing a math app to be used by his entire school. Picture the same 8-year old boy speaking at a renowned hacker conference, DerbyCon, and hacking into an Android phone live onstage. Envision this kid then getting invited to deliver keynote speeches at several high-profile international conferences and summits. This 8-turned-9-year-old exists, and not just in our imaginations, and his name is Reuben Paul.

Small wonder that this tiny genius is now the CEO of an app development company called Prudent Games. Reuben Paul is making waves in the cyber-security industry, and one question that people are asking is: “If an 8-year old can hack my phone and computer, then what chance do I stand?” Luckily, Reuben Paul uses his intellect for good, not evil. He aims to educate people of the security dangers of the cyberworld. Reuben isn’t satisfied with impressing peers at security conferences; he’s reaching out to schools to start teaching kids from an increasingly younger age about cybersecurity and the importance of protecting yourself online. Because, let’s face it, what kid nowadays doesn’t have access to a computer and/or smartphone?

Reuben Paul knows that while children need to be educated on cybersecurity, it’s hard to implement it into traditional schools so suddenly. So he turns to what he does best: designing clever, fun apps that serve an educational purpose. In fact, in second grade, Reuben’s class was tasked with creating learning games to share with each other. While the other kids stuck to board games and cards, Reuben walked in with a legit app he had written called “Shuriken Math”. The math app allowed kids to engage in math problems by throwing “shurikens”, or stars, at the correct answer. Reuben gets–and utilizes–the importance of transforming dry material into an engaging, fun app to help other kids learn without even realising it. Hence the creation of “Cracker Proof”, an entertaining app that helps teach kids about building strong, “cracker-proof” passwords. In a day and age where the most common password is actually “password”, this app couldn’t be more useful or relevant.

So how did Reuben Paul come to be who he is now? This Austin native started showing an interest in cybersecurity at such a young age, throwing around words like “firewall” until his tech savvy dad decided to indulge his potential. Mano Paul started teaching him about security concepts and programming. This quickly set the boy down a path of learning, sharing, and public speaking. But Reuben is surprisingly down-to-earth: he’s a normal, happy kid who takes gymnastics and swimming lessons and even has a black belt in Kung Fu.

What’s next for this tech boy wonder? Don’t let his innocent exterior fool you—Reuben has big plans for the future. He’s currently working on a new app for Prudent Games called “Crack Me if You Can”, but he isn’t stopping there. Reuben is creating a complex program and curriculum aimed at informing kids, parents, and teachers alike about cybersecurity in a simple, game-based way. Having already achieved more notoriety than most cybersecurity professionals thrice his age, the big question is, what does Reuben want to be when he grows up? His answer tugs at parents’ heartstrings everywhere: businessman by day, cyber spy by night. This Spiderman-fan understands that his hacking skills come with a responsibility to teach other kids about the cyber dangers that are becoming sneakier and more dangerous. Luckily for parents everywhere, Reuben Paul is one of the good guys.