The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a comprehensive security overhaul of its OnMark evaluation portal after a 19-year-old ethical hacker, Nisarga Adhikary, exposed significant vulnerabilities within the system. The security flaws discovered by Adhikary reportedly could have granted unauthorized access to sensitive examiner accounts and evaluation data. In response, the board has assembled a specialized task force comprising government cybersecurity experts and IIT professionals to fortify the infrastructure and migrate the platform to a more resilient environment.

While the board initially downplayed reports of a breach, it has since confirmed that all identified weaknesses have been contained and are being actively addressed. Expressing appreciation for the transparency of ethical hackers who flagged these risks, CBSE officials are now encouraging the public to report any further security concerns directly to their team via email. This incident marks a significant step toward improving the digital integrity of the board’s examination processes, as they continue to audit the system for any remaining potential exploits.