NEW DELHI — Following the exposure of critical security flaws in its OSM portal, officials from the national education board reassured the public on Tuesday that their digital infrastructure remains safely monitored by a 19-year-old whom they do not employ.

"Our cybersecurity protocols are functioning exactly as intended," said a board spokesperson, explaining that the unnamed service provider contracted to build the portal had successfully left the vulnerabilities in a place where an ethical hacker could easily find them. Bureau records show the board utilized this same post-discovery containment strategy in October 2023 after the data of 1.6 crore students was compromised, and again during a subsequent academic portal breach in March 2024.

Reaffirming its commitment to digital modernization, the board confirmed it has deployed a team of expert professionals to draft assurances that the digital systems have been comprehensively strengthened, utilizing the exact phrasing from last year's press release.