Is examination malpractice infosec?

also ft Meta's new lawsuit in South Africa

CybAfrique is a space for news and analysis on cyber, data, and information security on the African continent.

HIGHLIGHT

Is examination malpractice in infosec?

There are typically three ways exams happen in terms of how much access to tech a student has: fully offline (paper-based), partially online (e.g., computer-based tests within closed intranet systems), and fully online (remote proctored exams). The methods a student might employ to cheat vary with the tech available. You could, theoretically, during a fully online exam, open a tab for your examination and open another where you cheat in real time on said examination. Most likely, however, is that there’s a question leak somewhere which is then shared widely over the internet, before the examination event starts.

To respond to this, an examiner can try to strengthen their confidentiality and security to make leaks almost impossible, but that would be too much, at least to some. Instead, an uncomfortable number of governments across the world resort to shutting down the internet during examinations.

As Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Campaign Manager at Access Now, pointed out, "2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns." This alarming trend sees major governments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region known to block the internet during exams, including Iraq, Algeria, Mauritania, Jordan, and Syria. Access Now's list primarily covers the MENA region, which, unfortunately, removes Sub-Saharan Africa, where countries like Ethiopia and Cameroon also join this worrying list.

You've heard a lot about how wrong internet shutdowns are, how they limit rights to expression and lead to significant economic damage. The Brookings Institution, for example, estimated that internet shutdowns drained $2.4 billion from the global economy between 2015 and 2016. You might also have heard about how they are sometimes justified, especially when implemented with surgical precision. So you might think: maybe this is worth it? No, it's not.

At best, they offer a temporary, and often ineffective, deterrent to cheating. Students in these countries have also adapted their cheating methods, found ways to circumvent the blocks, and even resorted to earlier, more traditional forms of malpractice to continue cheating on exams. Meanwhile, shutdowns have remained a worrying staple in Africa’s digital rights sector. A report by Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition shows 21 shutdowns across 15 African countries in 2024 alone, marking a record high.

Meta faces yet another lawsuit in South Africa.

South Africa’s Digital Law Company is suing Meta over its alleged failure to provide data linked to sexually explicit content involving school children. The Digital Law Company, led by Emma Sadleir, brought the case before the Johannesburg High Court after parents reported that explicit videos and images of their children were being circulated on anonymous WhatsApp channels and Instagram profiles. The content in question is classified as child pornography under South African law, which includes any sexual image or video involving a person under 18, regardless of how it was generated or shared. The consequences have been devastating, with reports of children dying by suicide or attempting to end their lives due to the trauma caused by this exposure.

Meta has stated that it has already taken down the offending content, but the Digital Law Company argues that merely removing the content is not enough. They are demanding that Meta not only permanently disable the accounts and prevent the perpetrator from creating new ones but, critically, also hand over all identifying user information they hold to assist in tracking down the individual(s) responsible for distributing said material. The Gauteng High Court, presided over by Judge Mudunwazi Makamu, has ordered Meta to comply with these demands by July 15, 2025.

This stance by Meta, while citing privacy concerns, stands in contrast to cases elsewhere in the world where the company has demonstrated compliance in releasing data that allowed perpetrators to be tracked and caught. For instance, Meta routinely reports instances of child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States, which then coordinates with law enforcement globally. These referrals have led to numerous arrests and the safeguarding of children. The ongoing push by Meta to implement end-to-end encryption across all its platforms, while enhancing user privacy, has raised significant alarm among child safety advocates and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Organizations like the UK's National Crime Agency estimate that such encryption could severely hinder their ability to detect and report child abuse, potentially leading to thousands of criminals going undetected.

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FEATURES

  • Technext’s article, "Inside Africa's Internet Shutdown Economy," details the rising trend of state-backed internet shutdowns across the continent, with 21 documented in 15 African countries in 2024, often occurring during protests or political instability to control information.

  • According to Prish Thaakar, Sophos Sales Director for Africa, Nigeria is addressing its pervasive cybersecurity threats, including ransomware and business email compromise, through a multi-faceted strategy. Read more here.

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