CBSE admits to problems in its OSM digital paper checking infrastructure
New Delhi, May 31: Amidst a huge controversy surrounding the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) finally admitted today that there are “vulnerabilities” in the digital platform used for evaluating Class 12 answer sheets.
So far, the CBSE has been refusing to admit any lapse even as thousands of students have complained about irregularities in the marking of their Class 12 exam papers.
In a post on X, the CBSE said that it is closely monitoring vulnerabilities identified in the OSM platform of its service provider after concerns were flagged in the public domain.
CBSE said an expert team of cyber security professionals from various government agencies and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has been working over the past few days to strengthen the system’s security infrastructure.
According to the board, the identified vulnerabilities have been contained, and efforts are underway to rule out any other exploitable weaknesses.
CBSE added that the portal is also being shifted to a more secure setup as part of the ongoing security enhancement measures.
Admission of the problem by CBSE comes against the backdrop of ethical hackers flagging security loopholes.
Questions have also been raised over the tender process through which the contract was awarded to a particular company for the OSM system.
Thanks Ethical Hackers
The CBSE said it thanks alert citizens and ethical hackers who brought potential security issues to its attention.
It said it has already contacted some of these individuals directly and appreciated their role in helping improve the system’s security.
The Board invited others who may have identified vulnerabilities or security concerns to share their findings with its security team via email at secy-cbse@nic.in.
Questions
CBSE’s digital infrastructure has recently come under intense scrutiny and triggered questions after a 19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikary alleged that answer sheets and question papers stored in an AWS bucket were publicly accessible online.
Adhikary’s disclosures triggered a nationwide unease among the student community and a debate over the CBSE’s technology ecosystem.
