Beat The Cheat- Online Proctoring VS Cheating In Online Exams. (2024)

The answer is a sure shot YES! In a bid to promote online learning and computer-based assessments, unprepared institutions become sitting ducks for exam fraud. Cases of data manipulation, identity theft, cheating during exams, and paper leaks are on the rise and easily available technology has further worsened the problem for the education community.

Below, we discuss the scope of cheating in online exams with real-life examples and how you can prevent it

Spy eyeglasses, invisible smartwatches, and micro earpieces might remind you of an undercover agent on a classified espionage mission, however, students are using these high-tech devices to pull off ‘exam heists’ in real life.

With online education in high gear, cheating in online tests has become an elaborate affair. Here’s an incident that left the authorities scratching their heads. 11 students used electronic gadgets like micro earbuds and Bluetooth collar devices to cheat during an online examination for the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). Wonder how they sneaked in the devices? Here’s the fun part, they covered them in carbon paper to avoid being detected during the security check!

How to prevent online exam cheating with online proctoring

Automate live proctoring is the way forward when it comes to preventing cheating with wearable devices. Proctortrack’s proctoring technology detects and records any suspicious changes in a student’s physical behavior. It not only tracks their eye and head movements but also their audio feed during an ongoing exam. A live proctor can promptly intervene when a candidate is trying to speak (into a Bluetooth device) or look away from the screen (to use a smartwatch), based on violations flagged by the AI.

With adequate technical competence, students these days can easily cheat on online exams. Most online assessments are hosted on open-source systems that are vulnerable to hacking. With a virtual machine and some insider help, anyone can take control of a student’s computer and impersonate them from a remote location.

Lately, a string of incidents surfaced where online exam papers for technical and non-technical posts were rigged. For instance, the 2019 IAF recruitment exam was hackedby impersonators who took the test from a remote location. As reported by the Indianexpress, supervisors of examination centers were lured into installing the “Team viewer software” on their computers. “Supervisors switched off CCTV cameras while hacking the server. On the day of the examination, the candidates would sit at the center but the impersonator, sitting in their room, would take the tests for them”

How to prevent online exam cheating with online proctoring

Proctortrack offers a firm line of defense by ensuring that the candidate closes all desktop applications before onboarding an exam, also that there are no external hardware devices connected to the PC/Laptop. Once the proctoring begins, the student has no option but to terminate the test before opening any apps

How to prevent online exam cheating with online proctoring

True content protection can be achieved with core operating system proctoring, which is only possible with a secure browser lockdown. Proctortrack is the ONLY proctoring solution that’s BOTH a light Desktop App download (95% Load Processing) that continuously verifies identity and secures monitoring AND a browser extension (5% Load Processing) that lets you blacklist unauthorized websites and URLs, restrict copy/paste/print options and flag any screen capture attempts.

How to prevent online exam cheating with online proctoring

Mobile devices are getting smarter but so is online proctoring technology. Proctortrack proactively monitors any unauthorized use of smartphones and its mobile app can be used for a comprehensive room scan to deliver true test environment security. The app can also deter cheating by producing high fidelity face scans and ID verification. The mobile lockdown feature can be used to scan scratch paper or paper/pencil tests, and/or configured to be used as a calculator during an exam.

Despite the expansion of e-learning modules into major education domains, a problem still persists, cheating in off site exams. Online assessments are clearly a challenge for e-learning security as unsupervised locations become a breeding ground for academic misconduct. Through impersonation, test-takers can have other individuals take their exams for them.

The “Varsity blues scandal” and “NEET impersonation scam” are a stark reminder of how fake identities can tarnish the integrity of high-stake assessments. The former involved fraudulent inflation of exam scores through student impersonation. Stand-in test takers were arranged to appear for the SAT and ACT exams on behalf of nearly two dozen students. About the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) impersonation scam, students allegedly cleared the NEET by paying impersonators to write their exam. Authorities also found that the photo in a student’s college application did not match with the one on his NEET scorecard.

How to prevent online exam cheating with online proctoring

Continuous identity verification using facial recognition can effectively stop student impersonation. Veripass is the baseline profile for a test-taker created with biometric scans (Face, ID & Knuckle), ID verification (using a globally available identity check to protect against the use of forged documents), and secure data storage. Veripass enables authentication of the data collected during real exams by comparing it against the baseline profile.