New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) The CBSE on Wednesday said it successfully thwarted a 3.8 million-packet denial-of-service (DoS) attack on its website, while over 56,000 applications for verification and re-evaluation were received till 9:30 pm.

“This afternoon a 3.8 Million packet Denial of service attack on the website was successfully thwarted,” the board said in an update posted on X.

The portal has accepted more than 56,000 applications for verification and re-evaluation as of 9:30 pm, it said.

“Our technical teams are proactively monitoring performance and introducing refinements to deliver a smoother, faster and more seamless experience for students," it said.

Payment gateways of State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank are available on the verification and re-evaluation portal, the CBSE said, adding that students are not required to have an account with these banks to complete the payment process.

In a post on X, the SBI said that its payment gateway with the CBSE has till now processed more than 40,000 payments successfully.

"Indian Bank is pleased to inform that the bank has successfully implemented a payment gateway solution for students of CBSE for making payments securely through UPI, internet banking, debit cards and credit cards of all banks. Over 5,000 customers having bank accounts with different banks have utilised our payment gateway to remit the fee so far,” the Indian Bank said.

In a post, Canara Bank said, “It is a pleasure for Canara Bank that our payment gateway services have been extended to CBSE for the benefit of students, enabling payments in a secured manner through UPI, credit & debit cards and internet banking supporting customers of all banks. Over 4,000 customers spanning different banks have utilised our payment gateway to deposit the fee so far.” Bank of Baroda said it has enabled a secure and seamless payment gateway facility for CBSE students.

"Students can conveniently make payments through UPI, debit cards, credit cards and internet banking. The facility is available to customers across banks. More than 7,500 transactions have been successfully processed through the bank’s payment gateway so far,” Bank of Baroda said.

"Students need not have an account with these banks to complete payment but can use any of these payment gateways to make payments," the CBSE said.

“Please rely on official CBSE communications for correct information,” the board added.

The portal was launched after a delay, with the CBSE having earlier said that applications for verification and re-evaluation of answer books were expected to begin by May 29.

The development comes following concerns raised by some students and parents over the on-screen marking (OSM) system used by the CBSE for its Class 12 board exams.

The board has faced criticism from students and parents over technical glitches, payment failures and access-related issues during the verification and re-evaluation process.

The CBSE on Tuesday opened the online portal for verification of issues observed in scanned copies of answer books and re-evaluation of answers for students dissatisfied with their Class 12 board exam evaluation.

According to the board, the facility is available only to those students who have obtained scanned copies of their evaluated answer books.

“The portal for applying for verification of issues observed in the supplied scanned copy of answer books and re-evaluation of answers was made live on June 2. Students can avail the facility if they are not satisfied with the evaluation,” the CBSE said.

The portal will remain open from till June 6 (midnight), and no offline applications or requests submitted after the deadline will be accepted.

Students will have to log in through the CBSE website using their Aadhaar number and submit applications online. The board said the entire process, including payment of fees, is being conducted digitally.

For verification of issues in scanned copies of answer books, students can report concerns such as missing pages, missing supplementary sheets, missing maps or graphs, blurred pages, incorrect answer books or evaluation against a different question paper set.

"Students are advised to ensure that all requests across subjects are included before final submission," the board had said.

The fee for verification of issues observed in supplied scanned copies of answer books is Rs 100 per answer book, while re-evaluation of answers will be charged at Rs 25 per question, it said.

"Students may submit only one application each for verification of issues/re-evaluation and are therefore advised to decide in advance whether to apply for one or multiple subjects," the board said.

Once the 'freeze and proceed to payment' button is clicked, the details will be locked and cannot be edited. Hence, students are advised to ensure that all details are correct, it said.

Applications will be treated as successfully submitted only after online payment is completed. It also said that only one application each for verification of issues and re-evaluation will be permitted.

“Students may also apply online for re-evaluation of one or more questions across one or more subjects by providing the required details, including question number, page number, as the case may be," the board said.

The CBSE said the outcome of the requests will be communicated after the completion of the process and advised candidates to submit their applications within the stipulated timeline.

A visual guide and a tutorial video have also been made available to help students complete the process, it said.

The CBSE had also said that “malicious actors” attempted to disrupt services on its re-evaluation portal through a barrage of cyberattacks, including a denial-of-service attack that caused 1.5 million hits on the platform within two minutes and more than one lakh attempts at unauthorised file access.

"While thousands of students accessed the CBSE re-evaluation portal today, malicious actors attempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyberattacks," the board said on X on Tuesday.

The board said that based on student feedback, further improvements, including extended session time limits, have been implemented to enhance user experience.

"Our teams remain on constant watch to ensure a secure, reliable and student-friendly platform," it added.

The CBSE had said that Aadhaar-based verification was introduced for security reasons.

“For children who do not have Aadhaar, the Aadhaar details of parents, relatives or guardians may be used," the board said.

"In this case, the Aadhaar name, date of birth and gender must be of the person whose Aadhaar number is used," it added. PTI KSH GJS ARI ARI