Fact Check: Rituraj Choudary did not hack Google nor was he offered a job in the company

A post in Telugu is shared on social media that Rituraj Choudary, a student in IIT Manipur hailing from Bihar, has hacked Google for 53 seconds. Technicians at Google were not able to find how it happened. Rituraj restarted Google and then told their executives about a bug in the software which helped him hack Google. Following this revelation, Google offered him a job in the company.

The claim in Telugu goes as “బీహార్‌కు చెందిన రీతురాజ్ చౌదరి ప్రస్తుతం ఐ.ఐ.టి మణిపూర్‌లో చదువుకున్నారు. 53 సెకన్ల పాటు గూగుల్‌ను హ్యాక్ చేశాడు. ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా కూర్చున్న గూగుల్ ఎగ్జిక్యూటివ్‌లు, ఇంజనీర్లు ఎక్కినా కోలుకోలేదు. హ్యాక్‌కు కారణం కనుగొనబడలేదు. రితురాజ్ దాన్ని రీస్టార్ట్ చేసి, మీ సాఫ్ట్‌వేర్‌లోని ఈ లోపం వల్ల నేను దానిని హ్యాక్ చేయగలిగాను అని గూగుల్ కంపెనీకి మెయిల్ చేశాడు.

అధికారులు తనిఖీలు చేయగా సాఫ్ట్‌వేర్‌లో పెద్ద లోపం ఉన్నట్లు గుర్తించారు. అమెరికాలో 12 గంటల పాటు జరిగిన ఒక ఆకస్మిక సమావేశం జరిగింది మరియు రితురాజ్ ప్రతిభను ప్రశంసిస్తూ అతనికి గూగుల్‌లో ఉద్యోగం ఇస్తానంటూ ఒక ఇమెయిల్ వచ్చింది.

3.66 కోట్ల జీతంతో అపాయింట్‌మెంట్ లెటర్ కూడా ఇచ్చారు. అతడిని తీసుకెళ్లేందుకు భారత్‌కు వస్తామని అధికారులు తెలిపారు. కానీ రితురాజ్ దగ్గర పాస్ పోర్టు కూడా లేదు. అమెరికా భారత ప్రభుత్వంతో మాట్లాడి ఎమర్జెన్సీ రెండు పాస్‌పోర్టులను మాత్రమే సిద్ధం చేసి ఇంటికి డెలివరీ చేసింది. ఈరోజు రీతురాజ్ ప్రైవేట్ జెట్‌లో అమెరికా వెళ్లనున్నారు.”

When translated into English, its claims “Rituraj Chaudhary from Bihar is currently studying in IIT Manipur. He hacked Google for 53 seconds. Google executives and engineers across the world could not restore its functioning. Neither could they find the reason behind the hack. Rituraj restarted it and mailed Google company saying that a bug in their software allowed him to hack it. Officials checked and found a major flaw in the software. There was an impromptu 12-hour meeting in America and an email praising Rituraj's talent and offering him a job at Google.

An appointment letter was also given with a salary of Rs 3.66 crores. Officials said they will come to India to take him but Rituraj did not have a passport. The US spoke to the Indian government and prepared two emergency passports and delivered them to Rituraj’s home. Today, Rituraj will leave for America in a private jet.”

Fact Check:

The claim is false. The boy identified a bug in Google but did not hack Google.

When we searched in Google with the keywords “RituRaj Choudary Google”, we found articles published in February 2022. It states that the boy discovered a potential bug in Google, that could lead hackers to successfully attack its security. Rituraj is a second-year student at IIT Manipur and is a passionate bug hunter. When he reported the bug, the company acknowledged it and awarded him a place on its list of researchers.

While searching the website listed in the article, bughunters.google.com, we found that he reported his first bug in January 2022 and was awarded a Tiger award.

On the personal website rrchoudary.me, he listed himself as a freelancer and a bug hunter since December 2021.

He refuted the claims of being offered a job at Google or even hacking the site. He explained that he reported a bug and that he was just a BTech second year student (a year ago).

The claim was viral in 2022 and was debunked by several fact-check organizations.

Hence, the claim that Rituraj Choudary hacked Google's website and was offered a job in the company is false. He identified a bug in the software and was awarded a place on the company’s researchers' list. The claim is false.