The rapid development of online examination systems has brought convenience to the education sector, however, the risk of content leakage has also increased. Protecting the security of exam content is crucial, not only for the fairness of the exam, but also for the learning outcomes of the candidates. In this paper, we will discuss the challenges of preventing content leakage in online examination systems and the solutions to address them in order to ensure the fairness, security and reliability of online examinations.

Common scenarios of content leakage in online exams

Generally speaking, common content leakage situations in online examination systems can be categorized into internal leakage and external leakage. Internal leakage includes the leakage of test questions by system administrators or other staff members, which may be due to personal reasons, improper behaviors or economic interests. External leakage involves hacker attacks, network transmission loopholes, use of cheating tools, and leakage of test questions.

Measures for secure online exams

Online Exam Maker is a powerful online exam system that provides exam organizers with a variety of useful exam functions. The system adopts a strict mechanism to ensure the security of exam content and effectively prevent the risk of leakage.

● Enable strict identity verification mechanism

When the exam opens the process of face recognition, candidates need to pass the verification of face recognition before entering the exam. At the same time, Online Exam Maker supports real-time monitoring and a variety of anti-cheating features to detect and record abnormal behavior of candidates, such as screen recording and intelligent anti-cheating detection, to prevent candidates from contacting outsiders to leak the contents of test questions.

● Implementing hierarchical privilege management

Online Exam Maker supports super administrators and sub-administrators to collaborate in creating online exams. The super administrator can establish a strict permission management mechanism to ensure that only authorized personnel can access and manage the various modules and functions of the online examination system to reduce the risk of internal leakage. The operation log in the system will record the operation process of each administrator in detail so as to trace back and identify potential security risks.

● Add watermark

The online exam system can add watermarks to each exam page, including the examinee’s personal information and exam number. In this way, if test questions are illegally distributed, they can be traced back to the source of leakage, increasing the risk and punishment for violations.

● Setting exam time and randomized questions

By setting exam time limits and randomly generating test questions, you can reduce the time test questions are exposed in the system and the risk of unauthorized access. In addition, the use of question bank rotation and question randomization ensures that test questions are different for each exam and reduces the likelihood of leakage.

● Conducting educational outreach and integrity education

Conduct candidate education and awareness campaigns to emphasize the importance of integrity in examinations. Guide candidates to develop proper exam values and promote an attitude of independent study and hard work for improvement to reduce the incentive for test question leakage.

● Regular system updates and maintenance

Online examination systems require regular security updates and maintenance to patch system vulnerabilities and strengthen security measures in a timely manner. Educational institutions and online test system providers should work with security experts to conduct security assessments and penetration tests of the system to identify potential vulnerabilities and address them in a timely manner. Meanwhile, an emergency response mechanism is established to deal with possible security incidents and emergencies.

Conclusion

The problem of content leakage in online exam systems is a serious challenge for both exam organizers and candidates. By implementing the above key measures, a secure and reliable examination environment can be built to effectively prevent the risk of content leakage. Exam organizers and online exam system providers need to work together to strengthen security awareness and technical capabilities, and work with candidates to maintain the fairness and academic integrity of exams and promote the development and progress of online exams.