A large map of the world dominates the main wall of Yogesh Thanage’s office. The planet is also present as paper weights near his desk. Thanage is a globetrotter, but not of the touristy sort. Founder of ShellStrong Technologies, he is a detective of the virtual world. Competing for space in his workplace at Senapati Bapat Marg are countless awards and citations from India’s law enforcement agencies, such as the Pune Police and Uttarakhand Police, and revenue departments, for whom Thanage renders essential services.
“Earlier, the police, income tax department, revenue departments or customs departments would conduct only physical searches. Today, those searches extend to the digital world because everybody, now, lives in two different worlds, online and offline,” he says. His job as an investigator and forensic expert is to acquire artefacts present in the digital world, such as electronic records from mobile phones, computers, and internet, extract them and analyse them for understanding.
“We check the relevance of those facts with the actual deeds of the suspect revealed through forensic investigation before submitting them to the authorities with a certificate as per the law,” says Thanage.
Pointing to the map, he adds, “Wherever we have clients, we place a flag on the map. There’s the UAE, the US, Australia, Germany, Canada, and India. We have a lot of space to cover.” The company, set up in 2018, ensures preparedness and resilience to private clients as well, with a long list of corporates as well as social media influencers.
Thanage has had corporate clients who are losing regular customers. Someone is leaking data from their company and giving it to competitors. Then, a lot of schools and colleges come to him to help them investigate certain cases in which the students have created fake profiles of many teachers and professors.
According to DataLEADS, which released a report around two weeks ago, cybercrime is draining the nation. Indians became victims of Rs 22,842 crore to online fraudsters in 2024, a three-time surge from the Rs 7,465 crore lost in 2023 and 10 times higher than the Rs 2,306 crore from 2022. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) estimates that cybercrime losses could cross Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2025 if unchecked.
“As we become more digitised and enjoy the convenience of accessing data, the threat is going to increase. Digitalisation is coming to our personal spaces like home, through IoT devices. Soon, we will have robots to clean our floors in almost every household. Cars are becoming nothing more than moving computers,” says Thanage. “People feel, ‘If I go to the internet, I can create fake profiles, fake email, fake Instagram and Facebook pages, and can do anything’. They forget that these are more monitored than the real world.”
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A computer science grad from 2008, Thanage was a wiz at programming. Soon enough, he was hacking to improve his skills. At a Cybersecurity Conference in Pune in 2007, Thanage was discussing his hacking skills unaware that the person sitting next to him in the audience, in plainclothes, was a cyber cell police officer. “When he introduced himself during the tea break, I was apprehensive. Instead, he told me to apply to Nasscom, which was setting up a Pune Cyber Lab. I was selected during the interview as a volunteer,” says Thanage. He rose to be the Senior Project Manager by 2017, gaining levels of experience as he helped the police solve several important crimes.
ShellStrong, which he set up by cleaning out his savings, has taken him on the entrepreneurial journey of hope, errors, debts, bankruptcy, and bounce-back. In 2018-2019, the company had three private clients. In 2020, when Covid hit, the number reached almost 20. At present, the company has 75 clients, with almost 100 per cent retention. “I still believe in word-of-mouth reputation because, in security, that gives more assurance. Hence, the new tagline for ShellStrong, Inspired from Ratan Tata’s quote, is ‘Ethics and values above all.’” he says.
One of the reasons people commit cybercrime is that they feel anonymous and invincible. “The truth is that the internet is not anonymous. We have lost our privacy, thanks to all the free services that we use,” he says.
Dipanita Nath is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. She is a versatile journalist with a deep interest in the intersection of culture, sustainability, and urban life.
Professional Background
Experience: Before joining The Indian Express, she worked with other major news organizations including Hindustan Times, The Times of India, and Mint.
Core Specializations: She is widely recognized for her coverage of the climate crisis, theatre and performing arts, heritage conservation, and the startup ecosystem (often through her "Pune Inc" series).
Storytelling Focus: Her work often unearths "hidden stories" of Pune—focusing on historical institutes, local traditions, and the personal journeys of social innovators.
Recent Notable Articles (December 2025)
Her recent reporting highlights Pune’s cultural pulse and the environmental challenges facing the city during the winter season:
1. Climate & Environment
"Pune shivers on coldest morning of the season; minimum temperature plunges to 6.9°C" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on the record-breaking cold wave in Pune and the IMD's forecast for the week.
"How a heritage tree-mapping event at Ganeshkhind Garden highlights rising interest in Pune’s green legacy" (Dec 20, 2025): Covering a citizen-led initiative where Gen Z and millennials gathered to document and protect ancient trees at a Biodiversity Heritage Site.
"Right to breathe: Landmark NGT order directs PMC to frame norms for pollution from construction sites" (Dec 8, 2025): Reporting on a significant legal victory for residents fighting dust and air pollution in urban neighborhoods like Baner.
2. "Hidden Stories" & Heritage
"Inside Pune library that’s nourished minds of entrepreneurs for 17 years" (Dec 21, 2025): A feature on the Venture Center Library, detailing how a collection of 3,500 specialized books helps tech startups navigate the product life cycle.
"Before he died, Ram Sutar gave Pune a lasting gift" (Dec 18, 2025): A tribute to the legendary sculptor Ram Sutar (creator of the Statue of Unity), focusing on his local works like the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue at Pune airport.
"The Pune institute where MA Jinnah was once chief guest" (Dec 6, 2025): An archival exploration of the College of Agriculture, established in 1907, and its historical role in India's freedom struggle.
3. Arts, Theatre & "Pune Inc"
"Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak were not rivals but close friends, says veteran filmmaker" (Dec 17, 2025): A deep-dive interview ahead of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) exploring the camaraderie between legends of Indian cinema.
"Meet the Pune entrepreneur helping women build and scale businesses" (Dec 16, 2025): Part of her "Pune Inc" series, profiling Nikita Vora’s efforts to empower female-led startups.
"How women drone pilots in rural Maharashtra are cultivating a green habit" (Dec 12, 2025): Exploring how technology is being used by women in agriculture to reduce chemical use and labor.
Signature Style
Dipanita Nath is known for intellectual curiosity and a narrative-driven approach. Whether she is writing about a 110-year-old eatery or the intricacies of the climate crisis, she focuses on the human element and the historical context. Her columns are often a blend of reportage and cultural commentary, making them a staple for readers interested in the "soul" of Pune.
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