3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 5, 2026 05:08 PM IST
Amid a flurry of social media posts claiming that a data breach had compromised the information of lakhs of JEE Advanced students, IIT Roorkee has quashed the reports, calling them ‘misleading and factually incorrect.’ The Institute also warned against deliberate attempts to undermine public trust in the examination system.
In a thread of posts on X, IIT Roorkee — which is the organising institute for JEE Advanced 2026 — acknowledged that a temporary misconfiguration had occurred in a cloud storage component on June 2, but said the incident was swiftly detected, reported by an ethical hacker, and immediately rectified. It categorically denied that any sensitive data had been mass-extracted or that examination outcomes had been affected in any way.
What is the IIT Roorkee data breach issue?
“Claims of a data breach and privacy violation affecting lakhs of JEE (Advanced) aspirants are misleading and factually incorrect. The information circulating on social media does not accurately reflect what happened. There is an attempt at spreading misinformation, which is far from the truth,” the institute said.
Claims of a data breach and privacy violation affecting lakhs of JEE (Advanced) aspirants are misleading and factually incorrect. The information circulating on social media is misleading and does not accurately reflect what happened. There is an attempt at spreading
— IIT Roorkee (@iitroorkee) June 5, 2026
According to IIT Roorkee, the sequence of events began on June 2, when certain technical interventions were undertaken on an expedited basis to help candidates who were facing difficulties in accessing admit card data and to ensure the smooth functioning of the registration process. These interventions, the institute said, inadvertently resulted in a “minimal, temporary misconfiguration” in a cloud storage component.
The misconfiguration was identified and flagged by an ethical hacker, Rylen Anil, who reported that he could access the concerned database. IIT Roorkee said the issue was “immediately rectified” upon being reported, and access to the data was restricted without delay.
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The institute pointed to the technical nature of the storage involved to argue that the breach was far less serious than portrayed. “The affected storage was read-only, meaning no data could be edited or deleted,” it said. An analysis of cloud access logs, it added, confirmed that no bulk download had taken place — with read-only access limited to less than 0.05 per cent of the data. “No sensitive information was compromised or mass-extracted,” the institute stated.
The clarification comes at a time when the higher education system in the country is challenged by the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, the controversy over CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system, and a series of cyber incidents targeting official websites have collectively heightened anxiety about the security of digital infrastructure underpinning high-stakes examinations.
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The institute also sought to reassure students ahead of the JoSAA counselling process, which is set to determine IIT seat allotments. “IIT Roorkee remains fully committed to maintaining the integrity, security, and transparency of the JEE Advanced and JoSAA counselling processes,” it said, adding that the JEE Advanced team looks forward to supporting every aspirant through a smooth and secure admission process.