CBSE re-evaluation portal targeted in large-scale cyberattack: Report

CBSE's re-evaluation portal was hit by a major cyberattack involving 3.8 million malicious packets. Officials said security systems successfully thwarted the DDoS-like attack and blocked over 100,000 unauthorised access attempts.

Major Cyberattack Targets CBSE Portal

The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) re-evaluation portal was targeted by a large-scale cyberattack involving nearly 3.8 million malicious packets on June 3 in an apparent attempt to disrupt the ongoing verification and re-evaluation process, CBSE officials told ANI.

According to officials, the portal also detected and blocked over 100,000 unauthorised access attempts within minutes of becoming operational on June 2, while security systems successfully mitigated coordinated high-volume traffic bursts resembling Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. "The traffic profile showed coordinated request surges consistent with DDoS-type attack patterns. However, the security architecture deployed on the platform successfully mitigated the threat and ensured continuity of services," a CBSE official told ANI.

Portal Performance and Security Measures

As of June 4, the Board had received 70,433 applications through the post-result grievance redressal mechanism, including 7,314 applications for verification of marks and 63,119 applications for re-evaluation, according to officials.

Officials said the re-evaluation portal, which was originally scheduled to go live on June 1, was launched on June 2 after an emergency security hardening exercise was undertaken following concerns related to the OSM implementation. "Prior to activation, the system underwent penetration testing, vulnerability assessments and load testing with specialised cybersecurity support. The launch was deferred to ensure that all identified vulnerabilities were addressed and the platform could withstand high traffic volumes," an official said.

The portal was activated at around 4:30 am on June 2 after security validations were completed. According to officials, it recorded nearly 1.5 million access requests within the first two minutes of launch, even as unauthorised access attempts were detected and blocked in real time.

Despite the cyberattacks and heavy traffic load, the platform remained stable, supporting more than 8,000 concurrent users, officials said. Officials added that no confirmed compromise of student data has been detected so far, although post-event security reviews are continuing.

Government Scrutiny and Administrative Action

The controversy surrounding the OSM system escalated after several students alleged missing pages, unchecked answers and discrepancies in scanned copies of answer books made available through the post-result process. The Ministry of Education subsequently initiated a review of the implementation and procurement aspects of the OSM project, including vendor performance, contractual obligations and quality-control mechanisms.

In a parallel move, the government ordered an independent inquiry under S. Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to examine procurement and implementation-related aspects of the project.

As part of the administrative response, Rahul Singh and Himanshu Gupta were transferred, while Prashant Lokhande was appointed as the new CBSE Chairman, and Varun Bhardwaj took charge as the Board's new Secretary.

Officials said technical audits have been initiated with support from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and corrective measures have been implemented to address scanning and platform-related deficiencies identified during the review process. (ANI)

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