Something to Worry About

Inside Higher Ed today carries a story about a university that wanted to find out whether students taking online tests could cheat despite the services of companies that are supposed to prevent such cheating. Basically, these companies take control of the student's camera and look for any signs that the student is looking away from the screen or that there is someone in the room assisting.

But there are also companies that, for a fee, say they can take the test for a student and defeat the anti-cheating protections. They do so by taking control of the computer the student is using. The cheating student just has to stare at the screen and seem to be taking the test. And their methodology apparently works! 

But there is a catch - for the cheater. The cheating company in taking over the computer acquires access to anything that is on it, things like bank records, etc. And it is in a position to blackmail the cheater since it has proof of cheating which it could reveal to the university (or anyone else).

All of this was revealed when a university hired someone to see if cheating online was possible. Indeed, it was possible and all the other bad things were also found to be possible. You can read about it at:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2024/03/28/sting-operation-fools-proctoring-service-blackmail-attempted.