Khushi Chhillar's OpenSSL Conference experience
We’ve been publishing the experiences of people who received a scholarship to the OpenSSL Conference. Today we are excited to bring you Khushi Chhillar’s rememberance.
I’ve been following OpenSSL’s work for quite a long time, genuinely impressed by how your team has handled everything from Heartbleed to maintaining the backbone of internet security. When I saw the Prague conference announcement, I jumped at the opportunity. I had been studying the codebase independently, but I knew being in the room with the actual maintainers would teach me things documentation never could. And honestly, it did.
One particularly memorable session was the TAC panel with Aditya Koranga, Nicola Tuveri, and Dmitry Belyavsky (and others) discussing whether to allow AI-generated code into the OpenSSL codebase. Watching experts who have spent decades in security openly admit they weren’t sure about the risk profile hit me hard because I had been thinking about the exact same question. That panel directly inspired the research that turned into my blog post on AI code security: AI Code Is Going to Kill Your Startup (And You’re Going to Let It)
The conference completely shifted how I view my relationship with OpenSSL. Before, I was learning alone, studying the code but unsure how to contribute. Prague changed that. Seeing how discussions happen, how decisions are made, and how people mentor each other made the community aspect click. Being invited to participate in the BAC nomination process made this feeling concrete. I’m no longer just studying OpenSSL; I feel like I am now part of it.
For anyone thinking about getting into security, here’s what I’d encourage: pick one real system and understand it deeply, read actual source code like OpenSSL’s, and engage with the community. Security isn’t something you learn and check off a list. It’s a discipline you commit to. Apply for scholarships like this one, attend conferences, and ask questions. The community needs more people who genuinely care about getting this stuff right.
Thank you again for awarding me the scholarship; it truly made one of my dreams come true. I hope to meet you again soon.
We’re grateful for each of our scholarship recipients who embody the spirit of our mission. They are taking back what they learned at the OpenSSL Conference to bring digital security to everyone.
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