CBSE acknowledges OnMark portal vulnerabilities, deploys IIT, govt cybersecurity teams amid OSM row | Mint
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Sunday said it has intensified efforts to secure its On-Screen Marking (OSM) evaluation system amid the ongoing controversy over the process.
The board, in a post on X, said a team of cybersecurity experts from various government agencies and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) has been working over the past few days to strengthen the security of the OnMark portal, which is operated by its service provider.
CBSE stated that vulnerabilities flagged in the portal have been successfully contained and that the system is being continuously monitored. The board added that further steps are being taken to identify and eliminate any remaining exploitable weaknesses, ensuring the platform’s overall security and integrity.
“We have been closely monitoring the vulnerabilities in the OnMark portal of our service provider that are being flagged in the public domain. An expert team of cybersecurity professionals has been deployed over the last few days from across various arms of the government as well as the IITs to fortify these systems, including taking them over to a more secure set up. The identified vulnerabilities have been contained, and other exploitable weaknesses are being ruled out,” the board said on X.
It added, “We are grateful to all alert citizens and ethical hackers pointing out such weaknesses, and have gotten in touch with some of them directly. We request any others to reach out to our security teams at secy-cbse@nic.in for any further inputs.”
CBSE also expressed gratitude to vigilant citizens and ethical hackers who reported possible security flaws, noting that the board had directly interacted with some of them to address the concerns.
The developments come as the board faces growing scrutiny over reported technical glitches in its post-result portal and alleged inconsistencies in the evaluation of answer sheets.
CBSE on Thursday maintained that its evaluation system is a “secure and robust IT platform”, stating that no security breach or vulnerability has been detected in the actual evaluation portal.
The board further said that the platform has “tested and certified through empanelled security audits” and is backed by a “robust digital infrastructure”
Addressing students, the Board mentioned on X that answer books are “safe” and have gone through “multiple quality-control mechanisms”.
In a message addressed to students on X, the board reassured them that their answer books are secure and have been handled through several layers of quality checks and verification mechanisms.
Rahul Gandhi raises OSM issue
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, raised questions about the transparency of the tendering process for CBSE’s OSM digital evaluation system. In a post on X, he cited a media report and alleged that the board had repeatedly altered tender conditions before awarding the contract to COEMPT.
Gandhi further claimed that several technical criteria were relaxed during the bidding process, including standards related to scanning resolution, requirements for robotic scanners, and software certification norms, which he alleged helped a particular company secure the contract.
“COEMPT, the company that did the On-Screen Marking (OSM) for your exam, was actually called Globarena. Globarena has carried out this scam twice before in Telangana, once in the board exam in Telangana in 2019 and after that again in Telangana in 2023. The same OSM-based errors were responsible for the death by suicide of 23 young Indians in Telangana,” Gandi said.