CBSE Overcomes “Barrage of Cyber Attacks” on Class 12 Re-Evaluation Portal, Claims It to be Functioning Normally
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 2: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday said its class 12 re-evaluation and verification portal has remained operative even while accepting that it was hit by technical glitches and cyber-attacks on the first day of the application process following launch.
The portal, which went live on Tuesday, continued to function normally from 7 am onwards, according to the board.
In an update shared on X, CBSE revealed that the platform was targeted by a large-scale denial-of-service (DoS) attack, which generated nearly 1.5 million hits within a span of two minutes. The board also recorded more than one lakh attempts to gain unauthorised access to files hosted on the system.
Despite the attempted cyber-attacks, the CBSE stated that the portal continued to handle heavy traffic efficiently. The board said the platform was supporting more than 8,000 users simultaneously and had processed over 18,000 successful re-evaluation and verification submissions by 3 pm. The board further noted that several improvements had been introduced after receiving feedback from students. Among the changes, session time limits have been extended to make the application process smoother and more user-friendly.
“While thousands of students accessed the CBSE re-evaluation portal today, malicious actors attempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyber-attacks. Most recent being a denial of service attack attempt causing 1.5 million hits on the portal within a matter of 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts of unauthorised file access,” read CBSE’s X post.
CBSE said its technical teams were continuously monitoring the platform and taking necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted services for students applying through the portal. Following the students’ feedback, the board has further refined the platform, including extending session time limits to make the process more convenient and seamless.
Giving details of how to apply for the verification process, it said only those candidates who have applied for the photocopy of answer books shall be eligible to apply for verification of issues observed and/or re-evaluation. The applicant will have to refer to the marking scheme in the subject concerned, which will be available on the website along with the question paper.
The status of the requests made shall be uploaded and available on the login details of the candidate. A decrease of even one mark shall be effected. The result of the re-evaluation will be final, and no appeal or review against the re-evaluation will be entertained. The marks awarded by the board shall be final and binding on the candidates, it said.
Meanwhile, the union ministry of education has sought a detailed report from the CBSE regarding the awarding of a contract to COEMPT, the service provider associated with the board’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. According to sources, the ministry has asked CBSE to furnish complete details of the tender process, including the procedures followed while awarding the contract and the officials involved in the decision-making process.
The development comes amid growing scrutiny over the OSM system after several students flagged discrepancies in answer sheets uploaded during the re-evaluation process. Sources said the ministry has already collected preliminary information related to the tendering process and was examining various aspects of how the contract was awarded. The review was aimed at determining whether all prescribed norms and procedures were followed during the selection of the service provider. Officials are expected to submit detailed records and documents related to the tender process.
