I’m Sooraj Sathyanarayanan, a Program Manager at Brave and a cybersecurity and privacy researcher. I hold an MS in Cybersecurity from Northeastern University.
I examine how software handles people’s data, build tools for inspecting security and privacy behavior, and turn technical findings into practical guidance. My public work includes browser tooling, local forensic analysis, accepted open-source contributions and coauthored research.
Work and research
I joined Brave in December 2025. My work there includes tooling for reviewing Brave Nightly changes. My broader background spans security and privacy assessment, penetration testing, digital forensics, infrastructure hardening, and open-source work.
My coauthored publications cover security in edge computing and context-aware blockchain validation. Read the publications and publisher records, or visit my Google Scholar profile.
My research on the privacy of fitness wearables received grant support from the Ludlow Institute through Timechain Consulting, beginning in 2025.
Selected work
- Brave Nightly Change Tracker: tooling for reviewing merged pull requests and identifying changes relevant to Brave Nightly.
- Site Behavior Lab: automated browser visits that produce inspectable records of network activity, storage and consent behavior, with the conditions and limits of each observation.
- Trace: a Rust and WebAssembly tool for examining iPhone diagnostic archives against known spyware indicators. It supports initial triage within a defined detection scope.
- Ente PrivacyPack contributions: accepted changes to the mobile interface, privacy-alternative selection, response headers, runtime dependencies and validation checks.
- SimpleX release verification: independently reproduced the v6.3.1 server build, acknowledged in the official release with a published checksum signature.
The Projects page links to source code, methodology, contribution records and practical security guides.
Selected coverage and acknowledgements
- Clubic covered my analysis of Microsoft Edge’s network privacy feature in an article by Guillaume Belfiore, published February 23, 2026.
- PiunikaWeb covered my critique of X Chat’s security architecture in an article by Dwayne Cubbins, published January 7, 2026.
- Bitwarden featured my security guide in its February 2025 spotlight.
- Hush Line acknowledges my DevSecOps contribution in its draft whitepaper.
Beyond work
I enjoy chess, cooking, and sharing practical security knowledge. My chess writing has its own section.
Contact
For public questions about my work or private security disclosures, please use the channels on my Contact page.