IIT Kanpur Appoints Teen Tech Talent Nisarga Adhikary After Exposing CBSE OSM Security Flaws

NISARGA ADHIKARY, a 19-year-old young cybersecurity researcher who had flagged vulnerabilities in the On-Screen Marking System (OSM) of the Central Board of Secondary Education has been hired by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. Nisarga came into the spotlight after questioning CBSE on their newly launched OSM System. According to a Hindustan Times report, he was appointed this week by IIT, Kanpur’s technology innovation hub C3iHub. 

The job applications generally include the candidate's resume and cover letter, but in Nisarga’s case, a job opportunity came in the form of a blog post in which he pointed out the vulnerabilities in the CBSE’s  On-Screen Portal that was launched for class 12th students. 

In a blog post shared by Adhikary on May 22, 2026, he flagged that the online grading portal launched by the CBSE to analyse Class 12th students board exam results, could have permitted a takeover of an examiner’s account, and allowed tampering with marks or disruption of the grading process.

See also: CBSE Class 12th Re-Evaluation Portal 2026 Live: Steps To Apply Online, Check Fee Details Here

IIT Kanpur’s Director Manindra Agarwal’s Take on Nisarga’s Appointment

Manindra Agarwal, Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur said he personally reached out to Nisarga Adhikary after reading his blog which was published on May 22, 2026 on X. Manindra further added that “Nisarga Adhikary has been appointed as an engineer in our cybersecurity team. A few years ago, we had also recruited a couple of young engineers for the particular 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.” The OSM issues highlighted by Adhikary are just one thread in a controversy that has erupted over the adoption of on screen marking.

At IIT Kanpur, he will analyse actionable information from various available sources and identify vulnerabilities in websites as well as applications, helping organisations address and patch potential security flaws. The officials at IIT Kanpur said he has been appointed on a contractual basis as an engineer under the institute’s cybersecurity team.

On joining IIT Kanpur, Nisarga expressed his excitement, “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.”

See also: CBSE Class 10th Second Board Exam Result 2026: Steps To Check Result Via UMANG & Digilocker App, Details Here

Nisarga Adhikary’s Path to IIT Kanpur

A 19-year-old class 12th student, Nisarga Adhikary, came into the spotlight after pointing out severe vulnerabilities in the OSMPortal launched by CBSE this year. Nisarga reported the vulnerability to CERT-In and later on posted on his X handle. The blog drew attention from Manindra Agarwal, serving as the Director of IIT Kanpur. Nisarga’s skills and ethical approach impressed him, and he was invited to join C3iHub as an OSINT and threat intelligence engineer at the institute.

What is CBSE’s OSM Controversy

This year, the CBSE replaced the traditional method of evaluating student’s performance and digital evaluation for class 12th students through the process of On-Screen Marking System. The controversy erupted when some Class 12th students including Vedant Shrivastava, Nisarga Adhikary and Sarthak Sidhant found that their handwritings did not match the answer sheets uploaded by the education board on their website, prompting concerns over possible answer-sheet mismatch in the OSM.

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