IIT Kanpur student hacks campus website after rejection

Published July 27, 2026

A student broke into parts of the IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras websites after IIT Kanpur rejected him from its new undergraduate cybersecurity program. He left a message on the site and posted screenshots on X and Reddit to prove his skills, and IIT Kanpur is now testing him instead of pursuing legal action right away.

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IIT Kanpur says it will formally test the student's technical skills and had considered but not filed an FIR, so watch for updates on that assessment and any legal outcome.

Reported details

A student applies to IIT Kanpur's new undergraduate cybersecurity program, pays the fees, and submits his application and proof of work, but is not shortlisted for the hackathon stage. He breaches sections of the IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras websites and leaves a message on the IIT Kanpur site reading "Site is hacked. All I need is just a fair chance." He then posts screenshots of the breach on X and Reddit to show what he can do.

IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal confirmed the student gained access to certain portions of both the IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras websites, but neither the institute nor the student has publicly disclosed the technical method used to get in. The institute had considered filing a First Information Report but instead chose to verify his claims and offer a structured skills evaluation, citing a prior case where it recruited a young researcher who had found flaws in the CBSE online screen-marking portal.

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