Exposing CBSE’s OSM System To Cybersecurity Career: IIT Kanpur Hires Nisarga Adhikary
Exposing CBSE’s OSM System To Cybersecurity Career: IIT Kanpur Hires Nisarga Adhikary Published By, Last Updated: June 11, 2026, 08:14 IST The issues flagged by
Exposing CBSE’s OSM System To Cybersecurity Career: IIT Kanpur Hires Nisarga Adhikary Published By, Last Updated: June 11, 2026, 08:14 IST The issues flagged by Adhikary formed part of a wider controversy surrounding the implementation of on-screen marking. Rapid Read Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (File Photo) For most job seekers, applications involve a resume and a cover email. For 19-year-old Nisarga Adhikary, it was a blog post exposing vulnerabilities in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s on-screen marking portal. The post, published on May 22, caught the attention of IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal, who said he contacted Adhikary after reading it. This week, the teenager was appointed as an Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and threat intelligence engineer at C3iHub, the institute’s technology innovation hub. “Nisarga Adhikary has been appointed as an engineer in our cybersecurity team. A few years ago, we had similarly recruited a couple of young engineers for the same team. I am not sure whether he is the youngest recruit at IIT Kanpur, but he is certainly among the youngest engineers to have been hired by the institute," Agrawal added. The issues flagged by Adhikary formed part of a wider controversy surrounding the implementation of on-screen marking. According to the Hindustan Times, the process had been rushed.
After receiving no bids in the first tender and no successful bids in the second, the technical requirements were relaxed for the third round, which was eventually awarded to Coempt Edu Teck. Further reporting by HT revealed that the cybersecurity certificates submitted by Coempt related to a different client’s deployment of the same software in a pre-production staged environment. Another certificate submitted by the company was found to be nearly two years old. Having cleared his Class 12 examinations this year, Adhikary will work under IIT Kanpur’s cybersecurity team on a contractual basis. According to institute officials, his responsibilities will include analysing publicly available information, identifying vulnerabilities in websites and applications, and helping organisations address and patch security weaknesses. “I am excited about this opportunity because it is the first time I will be working in a security-focused role. In my earlier jobs, I primarily worked as a software engineer, while cybersecurity was more of a hobby," Adhikary said. Neither of his parents works in cybersecurity, with both employed in the finance sector. Recalling his early interest in technology, Adhikary said, “I started coding when I was six or seven years old, but I became seriously involved in cybersecurity and began participating in Capture the Flag (CTF) and other cybersecurity competitions when I was in Class 6," he said.
CTF (Capture the Flag) refers to gamified hacking competitions or puzzles where participants test and develop their ethical hacking skills by legally discovering “flags" (hidden strings of text) concealed within purposefully vulnerable programs, websites, or networks. While neither Adhikary nor IIT Kanpur disclosed details of his remuneration, the teenager acknowledged that it was lower than he had anticipated. “The salary is decent, but I was expecting a bit more. I’m used to working on projects and with companies based in the US, and I do miss the financial advantage that comes with earning in dollars because of the USD-INR conversion," he said. For now, Adhikary has no plans to pursue higher education. “I want to work on building startups and products which people use. I am not much interested in academia," he said. On May 24, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan directed IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur to depute a four-member team of experts in computer systems, processes and cybersecurity to assist CBSE in resolving glitches in its post-result services portal. As part of that exercise, Agrawal was stationed at CBSE headquarters in Delhi, where he met Adhikary around two weeks ago. “Adhikari is undoubtedly very talented, but he still has a great deal to learn and further develop his capabilities.
IIT Kanpur offers him that opportunity. I believe he will do very well if he continues to work hard," Agrawal said. In his blog, Adhikary wrote that he had reported the vulnerabilities to CERT-In on February 25. As reported by HT on June 6, he had identified five critical flaws in the OSM portal, including the storage of a master password in plain text that enabled users to completely bypass two-factor authentication. According to him, only one of the vulnerabilities was fixed after he alerted CERT-In, while the remaining issues remained until the portal was eventually shut down. Adhikary told HT that although he has previously worked professionally with several start-ups, this would be his first job at an educational institution. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Location: Kanpur Nagar, India, India First Published: June 11, 2026, 08:14 IST News india Exposing CBSE’s OSM System To Cybersecurity Career: IIT Kanpur Hires Nisarga Adhikary Disclaimer: Comments reflect users’ views, not News18’s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Loading comments...
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