CBSE retains COEMPT for scanning answer sheets for re-evaluation: Report

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has continued to engage COEMPT Eduteck Pvt Ltd for the scanning of answer sheets as part of the ongoing re-evaluation process, even as all answer-book data and records linked to the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system have been reportedly shifted to CBSE-controlled servers.

Confirming the development, an IIT official associated with the security review told ANI that the vendor's OSM platform remains in use for processing re-evaluation requests, adding that COEMPT would continue handling the scanning of answer sheets.

"COEMPT will scan the copies for re-evaluation," the official said.

Vendor's role retained

Responding to concerns over the company's involvement amid recent controversies, the official defended its record.

"They scanned 40 crore pages, of which about 30,000 odd have problems. That means about 1 in 10,000 pages were problematic. Now they only need to scan problematic pages. So they should be able to scan without any problem,” the official said as quoted by ANI.

Also Read: CBSE OSM row sparks calls for grace marks, manual re-evaluation | AI With Sanket

"The scanned answer scripts and associated data were originally hosted on the vendor's servers. We brought the data to CBSE servers and reviewed and improved the OSM code so that it could run on the CBSE infrastructure. When security is a concern, it is naturally better to have the system under CBSE's control rather than depend entirely on a vendor's servers," added the official.

Re-evaluation requests mount

According to the official, CBSE had received 70,433 applications under its post-result grievance mechanism as of June 4. These included 7,314 requests for verification of marks and 63,119 applications seeking re-evaluation.

Also Read: CBSE files police complaint over cyber attacks on post-result services portal

The development comes amid scrutiny over vulnerabilities reported in the OSM portal used for verification of marks, photocopies of answer books and re-evaluation services.

CBSE has roped in cybersecurity teams from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras to assess and strengthen the platform. The official said IIT Kanpur worked for more than 10 days on both the CBSE registration portal and the OSM portal, carrying out multiple rounds of security checks before relaunch.

Security review and testing

A "blue team" focused on strengthening the code while a "red team" attempted to identify weaknesses through penetration testing. Five rounds of security assessments were conducted before the OSM platform was cleared for wider deployment.

Also Read: CBSE re-evaluation portal faces cyberattack, records 1.5 million hits in two minutes

The report further stated that COEMPT officials remained involved during the migration process, assisting with code review, data transfer and security-related implementation. The review followed reports of cyberattacks, including a large-scale DoS attack that CBSE said had been successfully mitigated.

No evidence of data breach

The official also referred to ethical hacker Nisarga's role in identifying vulnerabilities, stating that the student was invited to explain the findings and was appreciated for the contribution.

"So far, we have not found any breach of data from the systems that have been created," the official said.