WHEN DATA SAVES LIVES
A DATA FORENSICS CASE STUDY
FOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS
bUILDING ON A ROTTEN FOUNDATION
It is a certification program’s purpose to verify that individuals who practice in professions such as medicine, construction, and IT actually possess the skills they claim to have. Passing a certification can lead to job offers, promotions, raises, and even the right to operate dangerous machinery. The stakes are high.
In the past, Caveon Data Forensics℠ has supported certification programs by exposing multinational proxy test-taking organizations; identifying large, organized collusion groups; and supporting disciplinary actions by testing programs in cases of test fraud.
Data Forensics is an essential part of any comprehensive test security solution. However, in extreme cases, Data Forensics can reveal potentially life-saving inconsistencies.
Is your certification in the wrong hands?
The Situation
Through regular data forensics monitoring, a construction certification board discovered a test site with unusual score changes and extremely high pass rates. The program enlisted Caveon’s help to determine whether these anomalies were significant.
Caveon uncovered clusters of similar tests, and after interviewing test takers who were flagged with similarities, the investigation revealed that they had all purchased the same study materials online. The program employed investigators to find the study materials and obtained evidence that the study material disclosed live exam questions. This illicit material is otherwise known as a “Test Killer”.
The Question
How many certification candidates had bought and used the illicit Test Killer? How many candidates obtained the certification that would allow them to be placed on dangerous job sites or in command of projects for which they were not qualified? One ill-gotten certification in the wrong hands could place many lives in danger.
Caveon’s Data Forensics experts set out to identify those who committed the test fraud and neutralize the threat. The result data were reviewed for concentrations of marginally similar tests, and one such concentration was found persistently at the detected test site.
The Impact
After obtaining this evidence, the program pursued a copyright infringement case against the website distributing the stolen materials, and the certification was stripped from more than 75 individuals who had bought and used the Test Killer to pass the exam.
The testing program then revised the test, rendering the disclosed content obsolete, and the similarity rates for subsequent administrations of the exam returned to normal. Regular data forensics monitoring paired with skillful application of a powerful statistical strategy helped this construction certification board discover and neutralize a grave threat to the integrity of their testing program.
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