The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said there was no security breach in its On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal following hacking allegations.
The dispute highlights growing concerns over the cybersecurity of national examination systems in India, where millions of students rely on digital portals for grading and result publication.
The controversy began in early May 2026, when Nisarga Adhikary, a 19-year-old student, claimed he had hacked the OSM portal and identified serious security lapses [2, 3]. Adhikary shared screenshots on social media to support his claims, sparking widespread concern among students and parents regarding the integrity of the evaluation process [2, 3].
CBSE said that no breach had occurred [2]. The board said the portal used for actual evaluation has a different URL than the one shown in the screenshots provided by the student [2]. This distinction was used to refute the idea that sensitive marking data had been compromised.
These allegations surfaced around the time the board was finalizing its grading process. CBSE later released the Class 12 board exam results on May 13, 2026 [1]. The results were made available through the official website, resultscbse.nic.in, and via SMS services [1].
Despite the official denial, the incident created a period of online panic. Students expressed anxiety over whether their marks could be manipulated, or if personal data had been exposed due to the vulnerabilities mentioned by Adhikary [2, 3]. The board said that the system remained secure throughout the evaluation and result release phases [2].
“CBSE said there was no security breach”
This incident underscores the tension between the rapid digitalization of academic administration and the perceived vulnerabilities of these systems. While CBSE maintains that the specific portal targeted was not the one used for official grading, the speed with which the allegations spread demonstrates a significant trust gap between students and educational authorities regarding data security.
