Ananth Prabhu Gurpur
Indian author and cyber security expert
- Life
- 1985 – present
- Born
- March 10, 1985
- Nationality
- India
Ananth Prabhu Gurpur also known as Ananth Prabhu G and G. Ananth Prabhu, is a cyber security expert, professor of computer engineering at the Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management and an author. He is also a guest faculty at the Karnataka Police Academy and Karnataka Judicial Academy.
Early Life and Education
Ananth Prabhu Gurpur grew up in Mangaluru, a city in Coastal Karnataka, India. He completed his primary schooling at Rosario English Medium School, Mangaluru, and went on to finish high school and his pre-university course at St Aloysius College Mangalore.
He earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, followed by an MBA in information technology and an MTech in computer engineering from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE, formerly Manipal University). He also holds a diploma in cyber law from Government Law College, Mumbai, and a PhD in computer engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum. He subsequently completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Houston–Downtown, Texas.
Career
Gurpur teaches computer science and engineering at the Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management. Since 2011, he has also served as guest faculty at the Karnataka State Police Academy and the Karnataka Judicial Academy, where he teaches cybersecurity. He holds the position of Principal Investigator of the Centre of Excellence in Digital Forensics Intelligence and Cyber Security Cell within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Sahyadri.
In 2020, Gurpur designed the "I am Cyber Safe" course, aimed at raising internet safety awareness among people in rural areas. The course was formally launched by Home Secretary IGP D. Roopa and is hosted on a website that also features the third edition of the e-book Cyber Safe Girl, which Gurpur co-created with Vivek Shetty to promote cybersafety for women. The first edition of Cyber Safe Girl was released in 2017, and a fourth edition followed in 2021. The campaign was also linked to an e-waste management initiative that distributed copies of the book to participants.
Gurpur additionally developed an indigenous no-touch IoT sanitizer dispenser that connects via Wi-Fi to provide real-time usage data and incorporates an IR temperature sensor.
Commentary and Public Outreach
Gurpur has been an active public commentator on cybersecurity issues. In 2020, he addressed hacking as the "new normal" in the context of a bitcoin scam involving compromised Twitter accounts. He has drawn public attention to fake oximeter apps circulating during the COVID-19 pandemic, matrimonial scams, sextortion schemes on online dating platforms, and the risks of sharing close-up photographs on social media. He also highlighted the misuse of images from social media challenges to create fake explicit content, and warned about EMI deferment fraud targeting individuals with limited English proficiency.
In 2019, he advocated for cybersecurity education to be incorporated into school curricula and called for updates to India's cyber laws. He has also spoken publicly about the dangers of improperly discarded electronics and promoted responsible e-waste management.
Notable Works and Publications
Gurpur has contributed to peer-reviewed academic research in areas including deep learning for medical imaging, skin cancer detection, face sketch generation using generative adversarial networks, and image thresholding. One of his papers appeared on the Most Cited Pattern Recognition Letters Articles List since 2018.
Beyond academic research, he has authored several books. Little Black Book For Teachers, written in response to questions about effective teaching, was distributed free to teachers in 2016 following sponsorship from Krishna J. Palemar, chairman of Vikas Education Trust. I Own the Monk's Ferrari, a self-help book on work-life balance with a spiritual dimension, was released in 2017 by Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In 2021, he released Glorious Bharat, a multi-part work on the history of India.
Recognition
Gurpur received the Dakshina Kannada District Rajyotsava Award in 2020.
Community Service
Gurpur has participated in philanthropic initiatives including the Ring The Bell campaign in Karnataka, inspired by a similar effort in Kerala. He has served as an advisor to the Vikas Group of Institutions and supported the provision of maternity nutrition kits to pregnant women in Dakshina Kannada.
