Miffed at the varsity’s decision to use a ‘glitchy’ app for conducting final-year examinations, an unidentified person has allegedly hacked into the online question bank of the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, multiple sources familiar with the matter told The Quint.
According to sources, the hacker, who calls themselves ‘Mehul Always with Friends’, had sent an email to the vice chancellor of the university at 5:42 am on Wednesday, 8 July, just two days after the central varsity started conducting online tests for students.
Following the hacker’s email, the university issued a statement saying “due to unavoidable reasons, the end of semester examinations (online) of 4th semester are hereby postponed.” The statement did not mention anything about the alleged hack.
The Quint has been able to access a screenshot of the hacker’s email, in which the hacker requests the vice chancellor to “kindly stop spoiling” their future by using a “silly app” for online examination, which remains hung “for hours.”
The hacker goes on to say that that the app is so glitchy that students had to clear the browser several times.
Suggesting the role of more than one person behind the major security lapse, the hacker says that “although we have all solved question papers for EST available here at (link of the hacked question paper directory) but still some of our friends are not being able to attempt exams just because of this silly app and lack of resources at their end.”
The hacker seems to be extremely upset at the behaviour of the examination branch, which they feel is “very rude and insulting.” Further, they point out that extra time does nothing as internet speed at “our end also matters.”
In the end the hacker signs off with “we are really very sorry for our teachers for wasting time on this. But there is no other way. Please listen to our friends.”
Profs Had Flagged Security Issue
According to sources, several students had requested the vice chancellor to not conduct exams during the pandemic and had even written to the UGC against the move.
The source also points out that last year, security concerns were flagged to the authorities, after professors noticed that they could see question papers uploaded by other departments, while uploading their own to the website. However, the university failed to act on the matter.
(The Quint has reached our to the Central University of Punjab for a response. This piece will be updated as and when we receive a response.)
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