19-Year-Old Ethical Hacker Nisarga Adhikary Joins IIT Kanpur's Cybersecurity Hub After CBSE OSM Controversy

After gaining national attention through the discovery of security loopholes within a digital system connected to CBSE, the 19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikary has made one important stride in his field of cybersecurity. This talented youth researcher has been hired at the C3iHub, which is the cybersecurity innovation centre at IIT Kanpur, as an OSINT and Threat Intelligence Engineer.

This opportunity was awarded to him after he became well-known for raising the alarm regarding certain security gaps in the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

A teenager who sparked a national cybersecurity discussion

The first time Adhikary spoke publicly was in May 2026, when he exposed several vulnerabilities he had discovered within the CBSE OSM platform on X.

The platform is employed by schools that are affiliated with the CBSE and allows uploading and handling of exam scores of students; hence, the portal is an integral part of the result processing system of the CBSE board.

Through his detailed blog post, Adhikary made claims about what he referred to as vulnerabilities within the portal concerning authentication procedures, access control measures, and other data protection mechanisms within the portal. This disclosure created controversy regarding cybersecurity measures in e-learning technologies.

The exposure received extensive coverage from the Free Press Journal and other news media organisations across the nation.

CBSE denied breach claims

CBSE released the the statement clarifying that the website pointed out by Nisarga was not the real website used for conducting the evaluation of board exams.

According to the CBSE statement, no security lapse had occurred regarding the live evaluation process and that the concerned site was actually just an exam testing site.

IIT experts examined the system

The issue with respect to the OSM portal eventually got noticed by cybersecurity professionals from some top-notch institutes.

According to reports available back then, professionals from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras were reported to be reviewing the OSM portal after the emergence of the said issue. It has even been claimed that several problems with regard to security were found and hence the portal was subsequently shut down.

In spite of all the discussions and debate on the matter, the contribution of Adhikary towards responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities could not go unnoticed.

Joining iit kanpur's cybersecurity hub

Now, the teenager who helped initiate that conversation has joined IIT Kanpur's C3iHub, one of India's leading cybersecurity and cyber-defence research centres.

As an OSINT and Threat Intelligence Engineer, Adhikary will contribute to research and initiatives focused on identifying cyber threats, analysing security risks, and strengthening digital defence mechanisms.

IIT Kanpur sees strong potential

Commenting on the appointment, Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, said to NTDV, the institute sees significant promise in the young cybersecurity enthusiast.

"Nisarga Adhikary has joined IIT Kanpur's C3iHub as an OSINT and Threat Intelligence Engineer. He is a talented young engineer who has demonstrated noteworthy technical capabilities at a young age. We believe he has significant potential, and working at IIT Kanpur will provide him with the opportunity to further develop his capabilities while contributing to cybersecurity and threat intelligence initiatives at C3iHub. We wish him the very best in his journey ahead," he said.

For Adhikary, the appointment marks a transition from independent vulnerability research to working within one of the country's premier cybersecurity ecosystems.