FAISALABAD: A comparatively unique cybersecurity breach has surfaced at Government College (GC) University Faisalabad after hackers allegedly infiltrated the institution’s academic system and altered the examination results of dozens of students, prompting the university to seek an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing.
According to an application submitted by the university administration, unauthorized individuals gained access to teachers’ online portals and manipulated the results of 72 courses belonging to 32 students by increasing their marks.
The alleged tampering came to light during routine scrutiny by the Controller of Examinations Office, which detected significant discrepancies between manually maintained records and the results available in the university’s online database. Following verification of the irregularities, the results of the affected students were withheld.
The university has informed the FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing that the breach involved repeated unauthorized logins to the faculty portals of several teachers. Preliminary findings indicate that the portals were accessed multiple times from the same IP address on different dates, suggesting the involvement of a single individual behind the operation.
Initial investigations also indicate that the 32 students allegedly sought to inflate their examination scores by hiring the services of a hacker.
Authorities believe money was paid in exchange for altering the academic records, although the exact amount involved has not been disclosed.
University officials have termed the incident a serious cybercrime and requested a comprehensive forensic investigation to identify those responsible for compromising the institution’s IT system and manipulating official examination records.
The alleged manipulation has also created legal and academic complications for the students involved.
The university has withheld the Detailed Marks Certificates (DMCs) of all 32 students, preventing them from using the allegedly altered results until the investigation is completed.
The FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing is expected to examine the digital evidence, including login records and IP data, to determine how the university’s system was breached and whether additional individuals were involved in the operation.
