Exam Monitoring Solution, Proctortrack, Suffers Security Breach

On October 13, 2020, Verificient Technologies (Verificient), the company that developed the exam proctoring program Proctortrack announced that a security breach was detected. According to the announcement, a preliminary assessment indicated that an unknown person gained unauthorized access to an automated testing server.  Verificient suspended Proctortrack services on October 14 in response to the breach.

Proctortrack accesses students’ computer cameras to monitor students during online exams in order to prevent cheating.  The program was in use at schools such as Western University and the University of Regina.  

Prior to the security breach, some students had raised privacy concerns about the Proctortrack software, including concerns about allowing Proctortrack to access computer cameras, the use of any data collected, and the potential for a hacker to access the system. Multiple online petitions continue to circulate, calling on universities to stop using Proctortrack. 

According to Verificient’s recent announcement, a cybersecurity audit revealed that no personally identifiable information was accessed and no log-in credentials were compromised.  Verificient resumed its Proctortrack services on October 22.   Western University resumed use of Proctortrack on October 29.

Summary By: Steffi Tran