Fact Check: NTA website was not hacked until June 18
Congress student wing NSUI (National Student Union of India) protested in front of the NTA Delhi office. On the afternoon of the same day, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the exam body, following a petition which claimed the May NEET-UG exam had been rigged.
Claim :
The NTA website was hacked until June 18. Sensitive data of students was available on the dark web.Fact :
The data on the site is safe and secure, according to the NTA
On the evening of June 27, 2024, Congress student wing NSUI (National Student Union of India) protested in front of the NTA Delhi office. On the afternoon of the same day, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the exam body, following a petition which claimed the May NEET-UG exam had been rigged. The court directed the NTA to respond by July 8, 2024.
In the backdrop a 40-sec video which looks like a television graphics shared on the social media with the caption “The NTA website was hacked till 18 June. Sensitive data of students was available on the dark web, this is a serious breach of privacy. It shows the poor preparedness of the government regarding cyber security threats. Students' data is a profitable business in the grey market. Coaching institutes and consultancy agencies are the biggest customers. After purchasing the data, they bombard students with emails and calls for admission, purchasing courses, etc”, the claim that the NEET-UG had been rigged gained traction.
Another user also shared it with the caption: “NTA's website was hacked till 18th June reports Zee News. This is beyond shocking. The education minister should immediately resign.”
Fact Check: We found the claim is false. According to NTA, all the data on the site is safe and secure.
As the claim spread like wildfire, the National Testing Agency shared a declaration on their social media: “NTA website and all its web portals are fully secure. Any information that they have been compromised and hacked is wrong and misleading.”
During the search, we found Central Bureau of Communication shared on their social media: “The claim is fake. Any info regarding website being compromised & hacked is false & baseless, NTA website & all its web portals are fully secure.”
During the reverse image search, we found PIB fact check shared the same viral video with the caption
“It's being claimed in a video that @NTA Exams's website was hacked until June 18 & its data was sold on dark web. PIB Fact Check found the claim is Fake. Any info regarding websites being compromised & hacked is false & baseless. The NTA website & all its web portals are fully secure”.
We also found Indian Express published an article related to it with the headline: “NTA website, its other portals secure; reports of they being hacked wrong: Officials”
In the article, Indian Express also mentioned: “The clarification comes amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including the NEET-UG and the UGC-NET. The education ministry on Saturday set up a panel to review the NTA’s functioning, recommend exam reforms and ensure data security. NTA website and all its web portals are fully secure. Any information that they have been compromised and hacked is wrong and misleading, a senior official said”.
Hence, based on different media reports we found the claim is false. According to the NTA, the website was not hacked until June 18. The data on the site is safe and secure.
