CBSE files complaint over cyber attacks on portal, teen hacker offers simple fix

CBSE has lodged a complaint with Delhi Police after coordinated cyber attacks targeted its post-result services portal. The Board said attackers attempted to disrupt services and gain unauthorised access, but no data breach occurred and all attacks were successfully mitigated.

In Short

• CBSE says attackers targeted portal used by lakhs seeking post-result services
• Board claims all cyber attacks were blocked and no student data was breached
• Delhi Police asked to investigate coordinated attacks from India and abroad

The CBSE has approached Delhi Police after what it described as a series of "coordinated and sophisticated cyber attacks" on its post-result services portal, which is being used by lakhs of students for verification and re-evaluation requests after the Class 12 board results.

According to a press release issued by the Board, a formal complaint has been filed with the Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of Delhi Police.

Following the complaint, Delhi Police registered an FIR. According to officials, the case has been registered under Section 66 read with Section 43(f) of the Information Technology Act, and an investigation has been initiated to identify those behind the attacks.

Soon after, teen ethical hacker and whistle-blower Sarthak Siddhant offered a simple solution on Twitter: "Just use cloudflare bro".

Cloudflare is a web infrastructure and cybersecurity service that helps websites stay online, improve speed and block threats such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and malicious traffic.

ATTACKS CAME DURING RE-EVALUATION WINDOW

The portal, launched on June 2, allows students to apply for services such as verification of marks and re-evaluation of answer scripts.

CBSE said the platform was subjected to repeated cyber attacks over the past three days. The attacks allegedly involved large volumes of malicious traffic originating from multiple IP addresses both within India and overseas.

In its statement, the Board said the apparent objective was to "destabilize the platform, deny access to legitimate users, and attempt unauthorized extraction of information".

The Board further claimed that the attacks were carried out by "elements inimical to national interest".

NO DATA BREACH, SAYS CBSE

Despite the attempted disruption, CBSE said its systems remained secure.

"It is emphasized that despite these malicious attempts, CBSE's systems and databases remain secure and uncompromised. No data breach or unauthorized access has been detected," the Board said in the release.

The Board added that the attacks were successfully mitigated through "continuous 247 monitoring and response mechanisms".

CBSE said cyber security teams from IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, Digital India Corporation, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), CERT-In and other central government agencies assisted in protecting the platform.

The Board has now sought a detailed investigation and legal action against those responsible.

- Ends