Next-Generation VAPT: Combining OSINT and AI-ML for Enhanced Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing

Dr. Ravi Sheth is an Associate Professor in Information Technology (IT) at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU), an Institution of National Importance under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. With over 18 years of experience, he has actively been involved in teaching, research, professional training, and academic activities in cybersecurity and emerging technologies. His key areas of expertise include Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Multimedia Security, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Pattern Recognition, Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT), OSINT, and Darknet Investigation. He has authored/edited 2 books and published more than 50 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences, primarily in cybersecurity, cyber forensics, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Sheth possesses extensive expertise in designing and delivering specialized capacity-building programs, faculty development initiatives, and technical workshops across national and international forums. His domain focus spans Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT), Digital Forensics, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), Multimedia Security, Pattern Recognition, and Darknet Investigation, catering to law enforcement agencies, legal practitioners, academic faculty, and research scholars. Globally, he has spearheaded executive training modules on Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, and Applied Artificial Intelligence in criminal investigations for delegations representing Palestine, Cambodia, Guyana, Jamaica, Libya, Lithuania, and the Maldives. Additionally, Dr. Sheth actively serves on technical program committees and editorial review boards for peer-reviewed international journals and conferences, frequently contributing as an invited speaker and resource expert across distinguished academic and professional platforms. His session on "Information Gathering and Social Engineering," hosted by VIT Vellore and IIT Madras and featured by NPTEL under its Special Lecture Series. Dr. Sheth has been granted a patent for the “Portable Mobile Forensic Data Acquisition Tool. He is also actively involved in mentoring and guiding students at Rashtriya Raksha University in the areas of Cybersecurity, Cyber Forensics, Machine Learning, and Pattern Recognition.

Prof. (Dr.) Sailesh Iyer has a Ph.D. (Computer Science), Post Doc from University of Louisiana, Lafayette, USA, and currently serves as Principal and Professor at Narnarayan Shastri Institute of Technology- Institute of Forensic Sciences and Cyber Security, Jetalpur, Ahmedabad (Affiliated to National Forensics Sciences University, Gandhinagar). He is also Adjunct Research Faculty and Supervisor for Post Doctoral Global Research Programme at Lincoln University College, Malaysia. He has more than 25 years of experience in academics, industry and corporate training. He has been awarded a Research Excellence Award for 2021 by Rai University and an Honorary Adjunct Research Scientist at Neurolabs International under Dana Brain Health Institute, Iran, from August 2022 to August 2025. He is an editor for book projects with various international publishers. He has been invited as keynote speaker in various international conferences. He has excelled in corporate training, delivered more than 100 expert talks in various AICTE sponsored STTP’s, ATAL FDP’s, reputed universities, government organized workshops, orientations and refresher courses. His research interest areas include computer vision and image processing, cybersecurity, data mining and analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain.

Prof. Yassine Maleh is a cybersecurity professor and practitioner with industry and academic experience. He is a Ph.D. degree in Computer Sciences. Since 2019, He working as a professor of cybersecurity at Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morocco. He worked for the National Port agency (ANP) in Morocco as a Senior Security Analyst from 2012 to 2019. He is a senior member of IEEE, a member of the International Association of Engineers and the Machine Intelligence Research Labs. Dr. Maleh has made contributions in information security and privacy, Internet of Things security, and wireless and constrained network security. His research interests include information security and privacy, Internet of Things, networks security, information system and IT governance. He has published over 60 papers (book chapters, international journals, conferences/workshops), 10 edited books, and 3 authored books. He is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Smart Security Technologies. He serves as an associate editor for IEEE Access (2019 Impact Factor 4.098), the International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics, and the International Journal of Information Security and Privacy. He was also a guest editor of a special issue on 'Recent Advances on Cyber Security and Privacy for Cloud-of-Things' of the International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics, Volume 10, Issue 3, July-September 2019.

Dr Naresh Kshetri: Dr. Naresh Kshetri is currently a full-time Faculty (Cybersecurity) at College of Computing, Rochester Institute of Technology. He was an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Cybersecurity / CS at the Emporia State University apart from Research Fellow at Cybersecurity and Research Outreach Center. He was an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity and Adjunct Instructor of Computer Science at Lindenwood University. Dr. Kshetri completed his PhD (Computer Science with concentration in Cybersecurity) from University of Missouri – St. Louis, graduated with an MS (Cybersecurity) from Webster University, and also earned an MCA (Computer Applications) degree from University of Allahabad. With more than ten years of experience and research interests in Cybersecurity, Blockchain technology, he has published in various journals, conferences, and book chapters. His research is funded by the University of Missouri – St. Louis, the Lindenwood University, and the Emporia State University. Dr. Naresh has taught various Cybersecurity and CS courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Chandresh Parekh has been an academician for more than 20 years. He completed his B.E. in Electronics from BVM Engineering College, Vallabh Vidyanagar, in 1994, followed by an M.E. in Electronics and Communication Systems from DDIT, Nadiad, in 2009. He earned his Ph.D. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, in 2020. He began his professional career in industry as an R&D Engineer at Crown Television Limited, Gandhinagar, and later served in the same capacity at Videocon International Limited, Gandhinagar. Transitioning into academia in 2002, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering, Visnagar, from July 24, 2002, to October 24, 2011. On October 25, 2011, he joined Rashtriya Raksha University, where he currently serves as an Associate Professor of Telecommunication at the Lavad campus. An active researcher and educator, he has published over 50 research papers in reputed peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, supervised various funded research projects, delivered invited expert lectures, and organized numerous technical events. In recognition of his work, he received the Geospatial Excellence Award in 2014 for the project "GIS-based Crime Mapping of Ahmedabad City."