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Questions raised regarding the security of the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have created a big controversy. Now in this entire matter, the Board has admitted for the first time that there were some security vulnerabilities in its digital platform. This statement is a departure from earlier claims by CBSE that the problem was only caused by incorrect URL and testing portal and not any cyber security breach.

While giving information on social media platform The controversy deepened when students, technical experts and ethical hackers raised serious questions on the security of the system.

CBSE statement

While sharing a post, CBSE wrote, ‘We are continuously monitoring the vulnerabilities found in the OnMark portal of our service provider, which are being discussed publicly. For the last few days, a team of cyber security experts from different government departments and IITs have been working to further strengthen this system. This also includes shifting the system to a more secure platform.

The board said, ‘The flaws that were found have now been controlled and the remaining potential weaknesses are also being investigated so that no further problems arise. We thank all those aware citizens and ethical hackers who pointed out these flaws. We have also contacted some of them directly. If anyone else has any information or suggestions, they can contact our security team at: secy-cbse@nic.in’

Controversy increased due to continuously arising questions

Recently, a 19-year-old ethical hacker had claimed that some sensitive data such as answer sheets and question papers were publicly available on CBSE’s AWS servers. A 17-year-old student questioned the tender process, alleging that security standards were relaxed, due to which a company got the OSM contract. Amidst these allegations, CBSE has clarified that it is continuously taking steps to strengthen the entire system and preventing any kind of security lapse is its priority.