RIT student turns startup dream into powerful force against global cyber threats while still completing his degree

Rochester, New York – In a world where cyber threats often feel invisible and unstoppable, a college student has quietly stepped into the spotlight—helping dismantle a massive digital weapon while still juggling classes, friendships, and the uncertain rhythm of campus life.

At Rochester Institute of Technology, fourth-year computer science student Benjamin Brundage has done something few could imagine. While preparing for graduation, he also played a role in taking down one of the most aggressive botnets ever discovered—a network responsible for launching tens of thousands of cyberattacks across the globe.

The story first caught widespread attention when The Wall Street Journal featured Brundage in a headline-grabbing piece. The article described how a college student, armed with curiosity and persistence, tracked down a botnet known as Kimwolf. This wasn’t just another malicious network—it had orchestrated more than 26,000 cyberattacks by exploiting residential proxy software, quietly hijacking everyday devices and turning them into tools for large-scale disruption.

For Brundage, the discovery wasn’t a sudden stroke of luck. It was the result of countless hours spent exploring a complex and often shadowy corner of the internet.

“It initially started out as me trying to build my own bot detection company. During that process I started tagging malicious IP addresses and went down the rabbit hole of residential proxies. It was a really interesting world since you have a massive economy of essentially compromised devices being sold “legally.””

That “rabbit hole,” as he describes it, led to something much bigger. By identifying patterns and tracing activity, Brundage uncovered how Kimwolf operated—leveraging weak points in cheap apps and connected devices to create a powerful and distributed cyberweapon. His findings didn’t stay in isolation. Instead, he joined forces with industry professionals and government experts, contributing to a coordinated effort that ultimately brought the botnet down.

It’s the kind of achievement that might define a seasoned cybersecurity expert’s career. For Brundage, it happened before he even collected his diploma.

Yet his journey didn’t begin with global headlines. It started with a simple decision about where to study.

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“Growing up in Seattle, I wanted to see what the East Coast was like. That, combined with RIT having a really strong cybersecurity club and computer science program, played a significant role in wanting to attend.”

That decision led him into the heart of RIT’s cybersecurity community, particularly the student-run RITSEC club—a place where ideas are exchanged as freely as code.

“I’ve made some of my best friends through that club. It’s an easy way to meet and network with people who all share the same interest. It’s also a place where you can put yourself out there through giving presentations on topics that interest you.”

But Brundage didn’t stop at learning and networking. While many students follow a traditional path of internships and coursework, he took a different route—one that involved building something of his own.

After an early internship experience, he decided to pursue his own ideas instead of stepping into another predefined role.

“After my first internship at Commaful, I knew I wanted to do my own stuff. I reached out to RIT and asked if I could do my own startup as a co-op credit. The program in Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences was super accommodating and I’m super grateful for that. I was able to pursue what I was passionate about. I also did an internship at BlackRock.”

That startup, called Synthient, focuses on identifying compromised devices and tracking anonymized internet traffic—essentially targeting the same kinds of vulnerabilities that made Kimwolf possible in the first place. It offers companies tools to detect threats early, block suspicious activity, and reduce risks tied to fraud or large-scale attacks.

“Yes, I’m actively building Synthient which helps detect compromised devices and anonymized traffic. Companies typically ingest the data allowing them to block compromised devices on their network, identify fraud, or block DDoS attacks.”

What stands out most is not just the technical skill behind his work, but the mindset driving it. Cybersecurity, for Brundage, is less about isolated problems and more about constantly evolving systems.

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“This is a research heavy field that has so many moving components. It’s a fun way of applying both reverse-engineering and programming and getting lost in these rabbit holes.”

Now, as graduation approaches, Brundage finds himself at a crossroads—one shaped by both academic achievement and real-world impact. While many of his peers are just beginning to enter the workforce, he is already operating within it, building a company and contributing to global cybersecurity efforts.

“I’m excited to graduate and looking forward to the future. I’m going to keep building my startup and use it as an excuse to travel and explore.”

It’s a simple statement, but it carries the weight of everything that came before it—a student who followed curiosity into complexity, turned exploration into innovation, and, somewhere along the way, helped make the internet a little safer.