Social media, email accounts repeatedly hacked: IIT Madras

NEW DELHI: The Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC) of the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT), Madras, said its social media and institutional mail accounts were repeatedly hacked last week, starting the day they organised a talk by a Harvard professor on reservation in engineering education

The APSC, an independent student body recognised by IITMadras, made headlines earlier this year when it was de-recognised by the institution following an anonymous complaint that it created “hatred” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindus. The decision to ban the group was subsequently revoked after sections of civil society lashed out against the decision.

Speaking to HT, research scholar and a founding member of the group, Akhil Bharathan, said: “We found out on the evening of August 24 that we could not login to our Gmail, Facebook and Smail (the student mail in the IIT campus) accounts. By night, we recovered both Gmail and Facebook accounts by going to the ‘Forgot password’ option.” But on August 25, the group found that both their Gmail and Facebook accounts were hacked again. However, they were unable to recover the accounts easily as the alternate email id and verification phone number that they provided to recover passwords were also changed.

“From the last account activity, we found that the IP address of the computer used to steal the password is from within the IITMadras campus,” a press statement issued by the group said.“To us, it seems no coincidence that this act comes close on the heels of the ‘anonymous’ letter sent to the HRD ministry earlier this year,” the press statement said.