Last Updated:June 05, 2026, 14:53 IST

The affected storage, IIT Roorkee said, was “read-only” and access was limited to less than 0.05% of the data. No sensitive information was compromised or mass-extracted, it added.

IIT Roorkee said the incident had “zero impact” on exam outcomes, including marks, ranks, and candidate categories.. (File Photo)

Following concerns over candidate data security, IIT Roorkee has said claims of a large-scale data breach affecting lakhs of JEE (Advanced) 2026 aspirants are “misleading and factually incorrect.” In its latest official statement, the institute dismissed the breach claims as exaggerated and misleading. It stated that certain “technical interventions” were carried out on June 2, 2026, on an “expedited basis” to assist candidates facing difficulties in accessing admit card data and to ensure the smooth functioning of the registration process.

The clarification comes in response to allegations made by Dubai-based cybersecurity researcher Rylen Anil, who had claimed that applicant data was exposed online without authentication due to a cloud storage configuration flaw. According to the claims shared on social media platform X, nearly 1.79 lakh result records and around 1.87 lakh admit card PDFs were allegedly accessible.

Read-only Access Limited To Less Than 0.05% of Total Data

IIT Roorkee emphasised that the problem was immediately rectified and access to the data was restricted. The affected storage, it said, was “read-only” and access was limited to less than 0.05% of the data. No sensitive information was compromised or mass-extracted, it added.

“These interventions resulted in a minimal, temporary misconfiguration in a cloud storage component. An ethical hacker, Mr. Rylen Anil, identified this misconfiguration and reported that he could access the concerned database. The issue was immediately rectified and access to the data was restricted,” the institute said.

IIT Roorkee highlighted that the incident had “zero impact” on examination outcomes, including marks, ranks, and candidate categories.

Reaffirming its commitment to data security, the institute said it remains fully dedicated to maintaining the integrity, security, and transparency of the JEE (Advanced) examination and the JoSAA counselling process.

It also expressed concern over what it described as deliberate attempts to misrepresent the technical event and undermine public trust in the examination system.

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