Those who appeared for their CBSE or ISC exams in 2013 may remember about the time when it was reported that someone had hacked into systems of the boards, leading to a brief but intense disruption, and the hacker later revealed huge “grading anomalies”. Then 20, Kolkata-born Debarghya Das, who goes by @deedydas on X, has shared another post on Wednesday saying that he would soon be doing something ten times bigger than what he did the last time.
“The first time I did anything on the internet was in 2013 for “hacking” the biggest school exams in India (CBSE+ISC) and revealing huge grading anomalies. 12yrs later, I’m doing a project with 10x the scale, complexity and impact. This one might break the internet,” he said in a post on X and Linkedin.
“Can’t wait to share more in a few weeks,” Das added, without giving any clarification about the project or the time by when he would make it public.
What happened in 2013?
Debarghya Das was studying in Cornell University, US when he reportedly hacked into the database of ICSE(class 10), CBSE and ISC (class 12) school exam results. He wrote about the same and explained some anomalies that he encountered by running a simple program through the sites.
The first time I did anything on the internet was in 2013 for “hacking” the biggest school exams in India (CBSE+ISC) and revealing huge grading anomalies.
— Deedy (@deedydas) August 13, 2025
12yrs later, I’m doing a project with 10x the scale, complexity and impact. This one might break the internet.
Can’t wait… pic.twitter.com/ezYHXLjSm1
A Times of India report of June 6, 2013, quoted him as saying, “It is shocking they haven’t implemented a more secure system.” He had told the outlet about his hacking on the phone from New York.
The then chairperson of the CI SCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations) Gerry Arathoon, had refused to comment on the development, TOI report mentioned. “I can’t say anything until I have had a look at things myself,” Arathoon was quoted as saying in the report.
Das’ 19-page report on ICSE, ISC results
Das, then in a post titled “Hacking into the Indian Education System”, wrote that he was doing this to “demonstrate how few measures our education board takes to hide such sensitive information”.
His 19-page post, which reportedly had graphs and charts, also stated that he also had the data for CBSE class XII. He had admitted that it was harder to crack than CISCE, though not altogether difficult, the report added.
Das, from the data, found out that there were 33 different scores between the passing mark of 35 and the maximum of 100 which none of the nearly 1,50,000 got. He claimed none of the class X ICSE board exam students got the following marks: 36, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93.
In the case of ISC (Class XII exam), he brought out a set of 24 marks between 40 and 100. Das suggested the findings indicated some kind of tampering with marks.
Some users have commented on his LinkedIn post saying the couldn’t wait for the next bombshell. “Can’t wait to see what kind of international laws you break this time!” a user said.
“God!!!! Fan since 2013 !” wrote another. While a third said, “I remember this one.”
“Deedy Das I still remember that Quora post where you broke down the brute force “attack” just by incrementing IDs, grading stats by subject, rounding up practices — all fun things! Can’t wait to see what you’re cooking up,” a user commented.
On LinkedIn, Debarghya Das has a profile with the name of Deedy Das, which shows he works at Menlo Ventures. The bio states that he invests in AI, Saas and infra startups as well.