1.5 million students’ data leaked online, put up for sale
Phone numbers, email
ID and addresses of at least 1.5 million students are available for a price,
although it isn’t clear how this happened. For between Rs1,000
and Rs60,000 it is possible to get information on at least 1.5 million students
who appeared for examinations of several types since 2009. From the
datasheets (samples are available for free) on websites such as
studentsdatabase.in, kenils.co.in, and allstudentdatabase.in, it is clear that
the students whose information is being sold have appeared for MBA entrance
tests (CAT, MAT, MBA CET, CMAT, XAT, and others), some engineering and medical
entrance tests, Class X or Class XII board examinations (only some boards), or
final year examinations at some universities (Lucknow, Pune).
The source of this
data isn’t clear, although there are several possible ones: the board,
university or body in-charge of the examination; or the ubiquitous prep schools
that prepare students for these tests. The information
available is exhaustive: student name, score, percentile, gender, category,
complete address, mobile number, and email ID. Some of that is unlikely to
change, making even older data valuable. Read the full story here.
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