More then a year ago in his Network World blog debut, Robert Williams - the President of CertGuard stated:
"Gunmen take tests for certification candidates and have taken exams so often they can recite tests verbatim to you."
"They know the exams inside and out, upside-down, and backwards."
"The Gunmen know their services disrupt the value of certifications, but they don’t care."
"They charge outrageous fees so that they can certify someone else."
"Gunmen are prominent in India and China where the value of the currency is miniscule compared to the U.S. Dollar."
"A majority of the time, the candidates that the gunmen test for have no background in Information Technology at all."
Fast-forward and we learn that Kevin Baron a reporter for the Boston Globe (Kevin has covered the subject of exam cheating extensively), published this week:
Secret investigation discovers 'proxy test takers' prevalent
"Officials at Cisco and Pearson VUE told The Boston Globe this week that during an eight-month span ended in June 2008, they monitored hundreds of thousands of exams given in eight countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America."
"Cisco said it had confirmed that one in 200 of those exams was taken by a proxy, and not the actual enrollee."
"During the pilot program, test security officials identified high rates of proxy test taking at centers in China, India, Hong Kong, and Pakistan."
"The new system identified potential cheaters - including some who later were identified trying the same thing in neighboring countries, which Cisco said it was not aware was happening."
"Out of 200,000 tests given in all eight countries, Cisco said it identified 1,400 possible cheaters and with follow-up investigations confirmed that approximately 1,000 were trying to take a certification exam for someone else."
"Cisco and Pearson VUE told the Globe they would use the data to pursue charges against suspected cheaters."
"Although laws vary, the punishment for exam cheating can range from a lifetime ban from Cisco's certification program to criminal prosecution."
 "It's a whole suite of nefarious activities that we're tackling," said Fred Weiller - Cisco Director of Marketing for Global Learning. |
The Network World Cisco Subnet published this week:
Cisco aims to combat cheating by imprinting photos on tester's score reports
In the opinion of yours truly, it is fantastic to learn that Cisco and Pearson VUE are working to eradicate hired gunmen.
Finally, am very thankful to both Robert Williams of CertGuard and Kevin Baron of the Boston Globe for their diligent efforts in making the public aware of IT certification cheating and the consequences suffered as a result of that cheating by IT professionals.
Are YOU as shocked as yours truly at the prevalence of hired gunmen taking Cisco certification exams?
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Shocked?
Nah, not any more. I was shocked when I first encountered the hired gunmen, but since have had the pleasure of speaking with persons from many of the Certification Vendors and, as you've seen here, come to know that they are dealing with the issue.
What is truly shocking is the fact that these gunmen have also infiltrated the nursing, professional, and educational fields.
As always, excellent article Brad. Thanks!!
Best Regards,