IIT counselling: online security tightened

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on Monday quietly strengthened the security of their online counselling procedure for students who have cleared their entrance examination.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on Monday quietly strengthened the security of their online counselling procedure for students who have cleared their entrance examination.

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As first reported by Hindustan Times on July 3, IIT faculty members were concerned that the online counselling process could be misused by rival candidates, as it was not secure.

Students selected after taking the IIT entrance choose their disciplines and the IIT at which they will be based through the counselling process, which was conducted face-to-face by IIT authorities till last year.

This year it went online. Counselling during the first round of admissions in June required a student to only type his registration number and the first four characters of his name to select the course and institute.

Once a student picked his course and institute, he could not change it.

In the online process, concerns arose that a student knowing the name and registration number of other students could fraudently fill up poor choices for them to give himself better opportunities.

The IITs on Monday added a third requirement — date of birth — that students need to provide to access the database where they pick their disciplines and institutes.