{
  "id": 12061010,
  "title": "CBSE ‘hack’, IIT gig and US recognition: Nisarga Adhikary’s incredible year at 19",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/cbse-hack-iit-gig-and-us-recognition-nisarga-adhikarys-incredible",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-05T03:11:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express - India",
    "slug": "the-indian-express-india",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/india/cbse-hack-iit-gig-and-us-recognition-nisarga-adhikarys-incredible-year-10906919/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nisarga Adhikary, a 19-year-old from Siliguri, West Bengal, had an extraordinary year in 2023. On September 22, he received an email from the US Department of Justice recognizing his work in discovering and reporting a security flaw in the US Department of Justice's systems. Nisarga, who loves to break systems and understand how they work, began his cybersecurity journey by examining the Central Board of Secondary Education's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. He found several weaknesses, including bypassing the OTP checks and accessing about 1.8 million scanned answer sheets. He reported his findings to CERT-In and published a detailed account, which gained widespread attention. Nisarga's work led to a job offer at IIT Kanpur's cybersecurity hub. His parents, both IAS officers, initially opposed his hacking pursuits but eventually accepted his career choice. Nisarga also participated in protests against the NEET-UG paper leak and was invited to meet Rahul Gandhi. He identifies as socially left and economically right, with interests in activism for neurodivergent rights, queer rights, and internet freedom. Nisarga's remarkable journey has earned him international recognition and admiration.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "US DOJ recognizes 19-year-old Nisarga Adhikary for discovering security flaw",
    "Found 1.8 million vulnerable answer sheets in CBSE's OSM system",
    "Accepted job offer at IIT Kanpur's cybersecurity hub"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Nisarga Adhikary's cybersecurity exploits and activism have earned him recognition from the US Department of Justice and a prestigious job offer at IIT Kanpur, cementing his reputation as a rising star in the field.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "CBSE ‘hack’, IIT gig and US recognition: Nisarga Adhikary’s incredible year at 19",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/cbse-hack-iit-gig-and-us-recognition-nisarga-adhikarys-incredible-12065435",
        "published": "2026-10-05T03:11:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}