By Brad Reese, Network World |

CertGuard declaration of war on the Cisco certification cheating industry has been achieving success

In a perpetual state of war with the Cisco certification cheating industry over the past 18 months, CertGuard has slowly and methodically grown to become a reliable source for the everyday needs of thousands of Cisco certification candidates every month. The initial mission of CertGuard.com was to inform the industry and certification candidates about the dangers of using braindumps and proxy-test services while providing cert candidates with the means to research certification websites that CertGuard was able to determine were not promoting cheating. Focusing on that goal, CertGuard neglected the design of its website. Last Saturday, September 29th at midnight, CertGuard went live with a brand new informative, robust, user-friendly and streamlined website.

	In light of recent changes in the certification industry, the goals of CertGuard have become more focused on providing the industry with the data needed to stop proxy test takers, known as gunmen and braindump websites from operating in the backyard of Cisco certification candidates.
	As a pioneer in the IT industry, the dedication of CertGuard has gone beyond educating individuals on the hazards of using braindumps.
	With the vast amount of braindump sites on the internet, it's very difficult for many individuals to make a clear decision when it comes to studying for their certification exams, CertGuard has been providing clarity to certification candidates.

"What I have envisioned from CertGuard is slowly starting to come to life." "Although I can't say with 100% surety that braindump usage is down because of CertGuard, I do feel that we are continuing to make a difference in the lives of many certified professionals," said Robert Williams - CEO of CertGuard. "What helps me sleep at night is thinking about the potential that tomorrow holds for CertGuard and what I can do to help the IT Industry grow to be a better place to get certified."

"My goals within CertGuard are to ensure the quality of higher education through the strengthening of the information we present to our visitors." "The fact that CertGuard directly affects the future of exam candidates by helping the choices they make is what we have deemed as our driving force," said Taylor Ripley - chief security officer of CertGuard. "As we help cert candidates make the right choices and show by example that we can lead exam candidates and certified professionals to a stronger learning system, CertGuard will grow to become an authoritative source on IT Certifications. If CertGuard can continue to promote and influence learning in a direction away from the choices of cheating or selling out to a braindump, then we can say that we shaped the youth of tomorrow."

New CertGuard website features:

	Seal of Approval on websites that sell study material and practice tests for IT certifications.
	CertGuard is planning on expanding beyond the realm of IT certification and venturing into areas such as higher education (SAT, GRE, GMAT, etc.) as well as nursing certifications.
	CertGuard is developing a partnership with industry attorneys that will allow close work with Certification Vendors and Practice Test Providers in an attempt to bring legal action against braindump websites and websites that are illegally selling copyrighted materials.
	CertGuard is building partnerships with other companies/websites in the IT Industry.
	CertGuard is building a directory style site designed to allow people to rate/review IT certification websites.
	Learn how to search the internet for certifications, braindump free. Use the search that thousands use to find quality education.
	Every month CertGuard gets a list of Individuals, Certification Websites and Test Centers that were decertified/shut down in the previous month.

Related stories:

Network World	The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part one
Network World	The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part two
Network World	The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part three
Network World	The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part four

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Brad Reese is research manager at BradReese.Com, advancing the careers of 600,000-plus certified individuals in the growing Cisco Career Certification Program.

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