We Are Payatu

Since 2011 we have helped organizations in more than 20 countries see where they are exposed and fix it. We test your software, products, and systems the way a real attacker would, then show you what we found and how to close it.
Talk to a security expert
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Explore our research
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Top 1% Researchers
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Proven Credibility
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Community-driven
AI for Reach
Actionable Insights
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Expert Collaboration
Top 1% Researchers
Three women working together at computers in a dimly lit office, collaborating closely.
Proven Credibility
Two men working at a desk with multiple monitors displaying code, with a laptop and other office equipment visible.
Community-driven
AI for Reach
Actionable Insights
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Expert Collaboration
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Why we exist

We built Payatu on one idea

Every vulnerability that is found should be shared, to protect better. And the surest way to protect something is to attack it first. The company, the conferences, the tools, all of it grew out of that. We are an AI-native company that is built on research-led by experts.
TRUSTED BY CISOs OF MNCs, TECH GIANTS, UNICORNS, GROWTH STARTUPS, AND LEGACY ORGANIZATIONS ALIKE
500
+
Engagements delivered
20
+
Countries served
100
+
CVEs disclosed
15
+
Years of active service
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Binatone logo with blue text and green swoosh above, and the slogan 'Innovation you can afford' in green below.Ather logo with stylized letter A inside a circle followed by the word ATHER in uppercase letters.Tata Digital logo in black text with stylized 'T' and 'D' letters.Kotak Mahindra Bank logo with a blue circular symbol featuring stylized black infinity and a red vertical stripe, alongside the text 'kotak Kotak Mahindra Bank' in black.Map of the western United States showing states and major metropolitan areas that are forecasted to be at risk of extreme drought within the next year, highlighting California, Nevada, and parts of Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah in varying shades of red to indicate risk levels.Airtel company logo in red on a black background.Synopsys logo in dark blue on a black background.NXP logo with stylized letters N in orange, X in blue, and P in green on a black background.Tata Consultancy Services logo with blue emblem above the company name in blue text on a black background.VeriSmart logo with a blue and green checkmark design above the company name.ICICI Bank logo with a stylized lowercase white 'i' inside a red-orange oval followed by the text 'ICICI Bank' in dark blue font on a black background.The UKG logo, showing stylized letters U, K, and G in teal color on a black background.Hiver company logo featuring a stylized white 'h' inside a yellow hexagon to the left of the word 'hiver' in dark gray lowercase letters.eInfochips logo.
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The name

Rooted in Kalaripayattu

"Payatu" comes from kalaripayattu - one of the world's oldest surviving martial arts, born in Kerala. Kalari means school or battleground; payattu means to practise.

Roots

Discipline, mastery and respect for the craft, earned through constant practice, not shortcuts.

Vision

To apply that practice to safeguarding the future of technology and still be here, securing it, decades from now.
Two shirtless men on a beach at night engaged in a martial arts fight; one is airborne holding a glowing sword above his head ready to strike, the other is crouched holding a round shield defensively, with fire sparks visible on the right side.

Roots

Discipline, mastery and respect for the craft, earned through constant practice, not shortcuts.
The name

Rooted in Kalaripayattu

"Payatu" comes from kalaripayattu - one of the world's oldest surviving martial arts, born in Kerala. Kalari means school or battleground; payattu means to practise.

Vision

To apply that practice to safeguarding the future of technology and still be here, securing it, decades from now.
Our Story

From a weekend meetup to research-led security

In 2007 a handful of researchers gave up their weekends to share what they were learning. No halls, no sponsors, just a table and a lot of questions. That group became Nullcon. Nullcon became a movement. In 2011 it became Payatu, and we are still the same people.
Group of six young men standing indoors in a hallway, five wearing gray t-shirts with backpacks, one in black shirt, all making hand gestures toward the camera and smiling.

2008

null, The Open Security Community

Aseem Jakhar, Murtuja Bharmal. And Antriksh Shah starts null, an open security community, with a first meetup in Pune of four or five people. It grows into India's largest security community and a registered not-for-profit society. This is the seed Payatu grows from.
Group of nine men standing and smiling in front of a wall with Payatu and other company logos, all wearing casual or ethnic clothing.

2011

Payatu is founded, in Pune

Aseem Jakhar, Murtuja Bharmal, and Antriksh Shah found Payatu in Pune as a research-led offensive security firm, within about two years of the first Nullcon. This is where the company begins.
Framed ISO/IEC 17025 Certificate of Accreditation for Payatu Lab, displayed on a beige wall near a wooden shelf with books, plants, and awards, next to a leather chair.

2022

An ISO-accredited testing lab

Payatu builds out its security testing lab and formal
certifications, including ISO 17025 accreditation. This is the institutional proof a compliance-driven buyer looks for.
Four men standing on a stage at the 15th Anniversary Edition of the DSCI Excellence Awards 2025, with one man holding a certificate and a trophy.

2025

DSCI Excellence Award winner

Payatu wins the DSCI Excellence Award for Best Cyber
Security Services Company in the Indian geography.
Collage of photos from Nullcon GOA 2010 featuring participants and speakers engaged in discussions, working on laptops, a man talking on a phone, and attendees listening attentively in a conference setting.

2010

The first Nullcon, in Goa

The null community's founders run the first Nullcon in Goa, with around 117 attendees. It goes on to become one of Asia's largest information security conferences, now with editions in India and Germany.
A group of seven people standing in front of a conference backdrop with the logo 'hardwear.io Hardware Security Conference and Training,' addressing an audience seated in chairs, one person speaking into a microphone while others listen. The audience includes individuals with varied hair colors, including one person with purple hair, engaged and watching the speakers.

2015

Hardwear.io launches, in The Hague

The Nullcon team start Hardwear.io, a hardware and IoT
security conference. The first edition runs in The Hague in late September. It later expands to editions across the
Netherlands, Germany, and the USA
Group of men at an award ceremony for the Cyber Security Grand Challenge; one man holding a large check of 6,000,000 rupees, another holding a framed certificate, with a backdrop featuring the event logo and the Government of India emblem.

2023

DSCI Special Jury recognition

Payatu is recognised at the DSCI Excellence Awards with a Special Jury Recognition for Best Security Services
Company in the Indian geography.
Group of six young men standing indoors in a hallway, five wearing gray t-shirts with backpacks, one in black shirt, all making hand gestures toward the camera and smiling.

2008

null, The Open Security Community

Aseem Jakhar, Murtuja Bharmal. And Antriksh Shah starts null, an open security community, with a first meetup in Pune of four or five people. It grows into India's largest security community and a registered not-for-profit society. This is the seed Payatu grows from.
Group of men at an award ceremony for the Cyber Security Grand Challenge; one man holding a large check of 6,000,000 rupees, another holding a framed certificate, with a backdrop featuring the event logo and the Government of India emblem.

2023

DSCI Special Jury recognition

Payatu is recognised at the DSCI Excellence Awards with a Special Jury Recognition for Best Security Services Company in the Indian geography.
Group of nine men standing and smiling in front of a wall with Payatu and other company logos, all wearing casual or ethnic clothing.

2011

Payatu is founded, in Pune

Aseem Jakhar, Murtuja Bharmal, and Antriksh Shah found Payatu in Pune as a research-led offensive security firm, within about two years of the first Nullcon. This is where the company begins.
Framed ISO/IEC 17025 Certificate of Accreditation for Payatu Lab, displayed on a beige wall near a wooden shelf with books, plants, and awards, next to a leather chair.

2022

An ISO-accredited testing lab

Payatu builds out its security testing lab and formal certifications, including ISO 17025 accreditation. This is the institutional proof a compliance-driven buyer looks for.
Four men standing on a stage at the 15th Anniversary Edition of the DSCI Excellence Awards 2025, with one man holding a certificate and a trophy.

2025

DSCI Excellence Award winner

Payatu wins the DSCI Excellence Award for Best Cyber Security Services Company in the Indian geography.
Collage of photos from Nullcon GOA 2010 featuring participants and speakers engaged in discussions, working on laptops, a man talking on a phone, and attendees listening attentively in a conference setting.

2010

The first Nullcon, in Goa

The null community's founders run the first Nullcon in Goa, with around 117 attendees. It goes on to become one of Asia's largest information security conferences, now with editions in India and Germany.
Seven people standing in a row on a stage during a presentation or panel discussion at a conference, with an audience seated in front of them. A banner behind them reads 'hardwear.io' and displays sponsor logos.

2015

Hardwear.io launches, in The Hague

The Nullcon team start Hardwear.io, a hardware and IoT security conference. The first edition runs in The Hague in late September. It later expands to editions across the Netherlands, Germany, and the USA.
Group of six young men standing indoors in a hallway, five wearing gray t-shirts with backpacks, one in black shirt, all making hand gestures toward the camera and smiling.

2008

null, The Open Security Community

Aseem, Murtuja, and Antriksh start null, an open security community. It grows into India's largest security community.
Collage of photos from Nullcon GOA 2010 featuring participants and speakers engaged in discussions, working on laptops, a man talking on a phone, and attendees listening attentively in a conference setting.

2010

The first Nullcon, in Goa

The null community's founders run the first Nullcon in Goa, with around 117 attendees. It goes on to become one of Asia's largest information security conferences, now with editions in India and Germany.
Group of nine men standing and smiling in front of a wall with Payatu and other company logos, all wearing casual or ethnic clothing.

2011

Payatu is founded, in Pune

Aseem Jakhar, Murtuja Bharmal, and Antriksh Shah found Payatu in Pune as a research-led offensive security firm, within about two years of the first Nullcon. This is where the company begins.
A group of seven people standing in front of a conference backdrop with the logo 'hardwear.io Hardware Security Conference and Training,' addressing an audience seated in chairs, one person speaking into a microphone while others listen. The audience includes individuals with varied hair colors, including one person with purple hair, engaged and watching the speakers.

2015

Hardwear.io launches, in The Hague

The Nullcon team start Hardwear.io, a hardware and IoT security conference. The first edition runs in The Hague in late September. It later expands to editions across the Netherlands, Germany, and the USA.
Framed ISO/IEC 17025 Certificate of Accreditation for Payatu Lab, displayed on a beige wall near a wooden shelf with books, plants, and awards, next to a leather chair.

2022

An ISO-accredited testing lab

Payatu builds out its security testing lab and formal certifications, including ISO 17025 accreditation. This is the institutional proof a compliance-driven buyer looks for.
Group of men at an award ceremony for the Cyber Security Grand Challenge; one man holding a large check of 6,000,000 rupees, another holding a framed certificate, with a backdrop featuring the event logo and the Government of India emblem.

2023

DSCI Special Jury recognition

Payatu is recognised at the DSCI Excellence Awards with a Special Jury Recognition for Best Security Services Company in the Indian geography.
Four men standing on a stage at the 15th Anniversary Edition of the DSCI Excellence Awards 2025, with one man holding a certificate and a trophy.

2025

DSCI Excellence Award winner

Payatu wins the DSCI Excellence Award for Best Cyber Security Services Company in the Indian geography.
how we work

Five things we don't compromise on

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AI for reach, people for depth

AI helps us look wider. Our people make sure nothing deep gets missed.
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Every finding researcher proven

The people testing your systems are the ones who speak at the big conferences.

Reports that are actionable

Every finding comes with what it means and how to fix it.
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Quality-focused delivery

A clean checklist does not mean you are safe. We look for what actually hampers the safety of your company.

Tailored to you

We shape each test around your industry, your stack, and your rules.
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AI for reach, people for depth

AI helps us look wider. Our people make sure nothing deep gets missed.
A dimly lit scene with a man sitting alone at a table illuminated by warm, orange light, surrounded by blurred shadows of other figures.

Every finding researcher proven

The people testing your systems are the ones who speak at the big conferences.

Reports that are actionable

Every finding comes with what it means and how to fix it.
A person with curly hair illuminated by warm light stands out in a crowd of blurred figures in darkness.

Quality-focused delivery

A clean checklist does not mean you are safe. We look for what actually hampers the safety of your company.
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Tailored to you

We shape each test around your industry, your stack, and your rules.
rESEARCH, IN THE OPEN

Credentials competitors can't copy

India's first and only

Cybersecurity testing lab accredited to ISO/IEC 17025.
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Conference founders

Founders of Nullcon and Hardwear.io, two of the most respected security conferences globally.
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DSCI Award 2025

Named Best Cybersecurity Services Company in India by DSCI.
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CERT-In empanelled

Empanelled by CERT-In.
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ISO 27001 and ISO 9001

Certified for information security and quality management.
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Great Place to Work

Certified, because good researchers stay where they are trusted.
Where we're headed

AI-first, and still research-led

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We secure the AI you use

LLMs, agents, and ML pipelines bring risks most testers have not seen yet. We have, and we keep up with them.
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We use AI to go further

AI lets our researchers cover more in the same time. It speeds up the work. It does not replace the human expertise.
Leadership

The people in charge

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Murtuja Bharmal

Co-founder, Director, Consulting Services
Co-founder of Payatu along with Nullcon and Hardwear.io - two of the most renowned cybersecurity conferences. Murtuja has helped shape the company's research-led consulting practice from the start.
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Antriksh Shah

Co-founder, Director, Conference and Training
Co-founder of Payatu, Nullcon, and Hardwear.io, the hardware and IoT security conference he helped build into a global event. He leads the company's conference and training work, the part of Payatu that gives back to the community it came from.
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Aseem Jakhar

Co-founder, Director R&D
Co-founder of Payatu, Nullcon, and Hardwear.io. He has spoken at several top security stages across countries. Aseem continues to lead Payatu along with EXPLIoT – the IoT Security Hardware Store, and EXPLIoT Academy – one stop shop for all IoT and device security courses.
Go deeper

More about us

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Meet the Bandits

Meet the team behind the work, and what life at Payatu is like.
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Contact and offices

We are headquartered in Pune, with presence across Europe, Australia, and the USA.
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Careers

We hire people who are interested in solving complex problems. See open roles.
Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.
Silhouette of a man in profile facing right against a bright orange background, with a blurred shadow extending to the left.

Meet the Bandits

Meet the team behind the work, and what life at Payatu is like.
Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.

Contact and offices

We are headquartered in Pune, with presence across Europe, Australia, and the USA.
Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.Dark gray arrow pointing to the right on a transparent background.
Hands placing orange sticky notes on a beige wall with soft shadows and sunlight casting a window frame pattern.

Careers

We hire people who are interested in solving complex problems. See open roles.
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Talk to a security researcher and discuss the security posture of your company

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Talk to a security expert
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Explore our research
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