CBSE Portal May Have Faced Cyberattack, Says IIT Madras Director

Chennai: A day after the Union government sought assistance from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur to resolve technical issues on the CBSE online portal, IIT Madras director V Kamakoti indicated that the site might have suffered a cyberattack. This attack could have blocked access and payment for scanned copies of Class XII answer scripts.

Extension of Revaluation Window

Due to the technical glitch affecting revaluation applications, the CBSE has extended the deadline for applying for revaluation until May 25.

“Now, the portal is functioning smoothly. A two-member team from IIT Madras, along with a faculty member from IIT Kanpur, will conduct a root cause analysis to understand why the portal was non-functional for two days. They will also investigate whether the portal came under a cyberattack, analyze the logs, and attempt to identify the bug,” Kamakoti told TOI.

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Possible Denial of Service Attack

“In the cyberattack, they could not steal money. But they could deny service, preventing students and parents from applying for revaluation. If it is a denial of service, we need to implement certain web application firewalls,” he added.

Kamakoti further noted that the problem could also stem from buffering issues. “The problem might have been caused by the interface between the website and the payment gateway. The team will check the complete health of the portal and suggest remedial measures to CBSE staff to prevent such large-scale disruptions in the future,” he said.

Government Response

Earlier, the Union education ministry stated that the team from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur would examine portal stability, server performance, and overall robustness of the IT infrastructure, and assist in taking corrective measures.

The CBSE faced criticism for technical glitches on its portal for applying for scanned copies of answer sheets, which opened on May 19. Due to the challenging physics, mathematics, and accountancy papers, many students received low scores and sought revaluation by obtaining scanned copies of their answer sheets.