IIT Kanpur Appoints 19-Year-Old Ethical Hacker Nisarga Adhikary After CBSE OSM Vulnerability Disclosure
Nisarga Adhikary, a 19-year-old ethical hacker, has been appointed as an Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Threat Intelligence Engineer at IIT Kanpur's cybersecurity hub, C3iHub. He gained national attention after exposing multiple security vulnerabilities in the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal, including flaws in access controls and data security. IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal praised his technical skills and potential. Adhikary’s role involves identifying vulnerabilities and contributing to cybersecurity initiatives. While CBSE denied breaches in the live system, the controversy highlighted concerns over digital exam infrastructure security. Adhikary noted the IIT Kanpur salary was lower than expected but expressed enthusiasm for his first dedicated cybersecurity role.