At least 20 suspected hackers are currently in the custody of the security forces in Abuja, for allegedly tampering with the 2025 Computer-based test examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The suspects, according to sources, are part of a syndicate believed that specialises in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies like JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The suspects are said to have confessed to sabotaging the Computer-Based-Test system with one of them detailing their modus operandi. The group would
install an attacking software on the examination body hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre.
Suspects are said to spread across Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Kano, Delta, among others. They are billed to be taken to court soon, a source said.
“While the controversy raged, little did the public know that the DSS had been covertly monitoring and investigating this dangerous web of attacks. The investigations led to the arrest of over 20 persons across the country, with arrests still ongoing.
“The strategy of these hackers involved mounting routers within the vicinity of the targeted CBT centres. The routers would, in turn, override JAMB platforms at the centres, making it easy for the special candidates who paid to get answers to the questions.
“The intrusion of the ghost software by the syndicate distorted the system, making answers provided by candidates during the exam to be at variance with the questions. This eventually led to the recorded mass failure,” stated a security source.
The entire hacking process was to influence high scores for special candidates who paid between ₦700, 000 and two million Naira, he added.
He also disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed that several members of the syndicate own private schools and colleges, and make huge sums of money from their special centres.
So far, “no case of complicity had been established against the seven JAMB staff who supervised the Service Providers at the two locations,” thr source added.
