The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force have arrested no fewer than 20 suspects in connection with the hacking of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) computer-based test (CBT). The UTME was conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). According to AIT, the suspects belong to a syndicate reportedly comprising over 100 individuals who specialize in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO). Security sources revealed that the suspects confessed to deliberately sabotaging the CBT system with the aim of discrediting JAMB and discouraging the use of CBT for future examinations by NECO and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). “The syndicate would install an attacking software on the examination body hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre,” the source quoted one of the suspect as confessing. The hacking operation was aimed at manipulating scores in favor of special candidates who paid between N700,000 and N2 million. The report also indicated that preliminary investigations uncovered that many members of the syndicate are proprietors of private schools and colleges, profiting heavily from their so-called special centres.