Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, May 30: The revaluation portal of the Central Board of Secondary Education was hit by a malicious cyberattack, resulting in payment-related glitches and unauthorised access by around 50 students, government sources said.
According to sources, the issue was linked to the payment gateway integrated with the portal and surfaced shortly after the revaluation system went live.
"There were some unauthorised attacks on the portal. The payment gateway was with respect to HDFC. About 50-odd children had got in," a source said.
The breach reportedly led to abnormal fee displays on the portal, with the amount payable fluctuating drastically in some cases. While some students were shown a fee of Re 1, others reportedly saw amounts ranging between Rs 67,000 and Rs 68,000.
Sources indicated that around 50 students were able to manipulate the system, either as a prank or with malicious intent.
The glitch was traced to the payment gateway operated by HDFC Bank, which had been integrated with the CBSE revaluation portal.
To strengthen the system, CBSE has now integrated additional payment gateways from four public sector banks — State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.
Experts from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the Digital Infrastructure Corporation of India have been tasked with examining the system and strengthening the integration between the portal and payment gateways.
"The teams are examining the code and the system to make it seamless and glitch-free," a source said.
The issue had also prompted discussions between Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 24 regarding technical and payment-related difficulties faced by students during the CBSE post-result and revaluation process.
Following the discussions, it was decided that the four public sector banks would assist CBSE in strengthening its payment infrastructure and integrating it more effectively with the post-examination portal.
Sources said a test run of the upgraded system was conducted recently and the integration appeared to be functioning smoothly.
Officials also revealed that the portal infrastructure had been migrated to Amazon Web Services after earlier capacity-related issues.
The board is continuing efforts to enhance security and ensure that the revaluation process remains smooth and secure for students.