How NEET portal flaws flagged by a teen led to IIT Kanpur job
Anil was approached by IIT Kanpur and offered a role at its cybersecurity innovation hub, C3iHub
Seventeen-year-old Rylen Anil defied expectations by securing a job at IIT Kanpur ahead of finishing his Class 12 studies. The teenager achieved this feat after he discovered vulnerabilities in the National Testing Agency’s NEET re-examination portal and the JEE Advanced website operated by IIT Roorkee in June 2023. Prompted by his disclosures, the authorities addressed the security flaws, leading to IIT Kanpur’s offer of a role at its cybersecurity innovation hub, C3iHub.
Anil, who is the youngest person to be hired by an IIT, is currently working remotely from Dubai in the UAE as a junior cyber security engineer. The IIT Kanpur team was impressed by Anil's work, which involved security analysis of web portals. His father Anil Abraham has signed the contract as his guardian and co-obligor, covering confidentiality, data protection, information security and intellectual property.
The engagement, which took nearly a month due to Anil being a minor, involves restricted, supervised activities such as security analysis of web portals. Anil's interest in hacking started in his childhood, influenced by movies like The Matrix and Mr. Robot. He began learning to code seriously in Class 8 and discovered his first real website vulnerability in Class 10 at Grubby.ai.
Anil now hopes to pursue a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or a related field, with ambitions to become a Chief Information Security Officer or Chief Technology Officer.
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