In Brief: WhiteHat Jr plugs vulnerabilities leaking student data

Karan Bajaj-led WhiteHat Jr has said the vulnerabilities that exposed personal data of its teachers and students have been patched and that there is no evidence of an external data breach so far, The Quint reports. The statement from the Byju’s-owned company reportedly came after an independent security researcher notified about an unprotected backend server on November 19, prompting the company to review its setup and issue fixes. The flaws exposed information of 2.8 lakh students and teachers. The startup’s statement noted the flaws were plugged within 24 hours of disclosure, although it remains unclear for how long the server had been left unprotected.

MeitY partners with IBM India to boost technology education

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has partnered with IBM India to create a robust education and skilling ecosystem under the Common Services Centre (CSC) Academy, a part of the government’s flagship Digital India initiative. As part of the collaboration, the Indian arm of the technology giant said it will work with industry partners to deliver content from its key skilling programs - SkillsBuild and STEM for Girls - for training and community development programmes currently being conducted at 6000 CSC Academies, according to a statement. The programmes offer courses and project-based learning in various technologies, including Cloud and artificial intelligence, and will be aimed at creating critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators, it added.

Paytm removes fee on wallet payments for merchants

Digital payments platform Paytm announced merchants can receive payments through its wallet at 0% fee. The move, according to a statement from the company, will benefit its network of 17 million merchant partners, who will now be able to transfer payments received in their wallet to their bank accounts without worrying about the charges or transaction limits.