(featured image by madartzgraphics via pixabay.com)
On Monday, February 21st, Memorial Student Emma Murphy made a Facebook post on the student Facebook page “MUN Course Review/Advice” in a panic. She found that her computer had been hacked after using the proctoring software ProctorU.
Emma had downloaded the program for a Psychology 1000 course she is taking at MUN. The course required the use of ProctorU for the midterm examination. As Emma explained to me, “I believe I was hacked by my Proctor through ProctorU or somebody with that company. All the weird activity on my computer started at 7:34 pm on Monday the 14th. At that time, I was in my proctored exam for 15 minutes. My exam ran smoothly and after my exam, I put my computer away and didn’t touch it until two days later. When I used my computer again a white screen kept popping up on my laptop and I wasn’t able to use my keyboard. I couldn’t see anything but white on my screen. I had to restart my laptop, and then after it was rebooted nothing would load or if it did it was oddly slow. Fast forward to yesterday (Monday) when I was on my computer again, a warning showed up and was showing pop-ups and thousands of logs. From what I’ve gathered the logs are not an issue it is the other pop-ups and my system not running properly which is the problem.”
ProctorU is a remote proctoring service used for online testing. ProctorU requires students to download their software on their computer so that someone can monitor the student while they take an exam. ProctorU also gains access to the student’s webcam microphone and can see the student’s computer screen- to prevent cheating. This program grew in popularity for examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, while most classes were remote.
However, many students like Emma have had issues and concerns with the software. This includes uneasiness while being watched by a stranger and if their personal information is safe while using the program. Proctor U’s privacy policy openly states: “we cannot guarantee that transmissions of your information will always be secure or that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat the security measures taken by us or our service providers.”
This is not the first-time Memorial students have been concerned about Proctor U.
In 2020, Memorial students launched a petition for MUNL to stop using ProctorU after students had concerns regarding ProctorU’s complete control of their computers. The students also highlighted worries that they will be accused of cheating for slight movements or sounds that may be picked up by the webcam or microphone.
When Emma looked at her computer after the exam, she received a warning from Apple that there was software downloaded and needed to complete a diagnosis as soon as possible. As Emma explains, “The pop-ups I was receiving were things like “All Personal Files Shared”, “Changes have been made to your guest and a personal login,” “All data scanned,” and “Unknown software downloaded from chrome.”
This warning on her computer was very problematic.
Emma stated, “I am very worried that my banking information, my address, photos, and everything, has been compromised. My entire identity is on my laptop. My banking info and all passwords are saved on it.”
Emma brought the laptop to Jump +, an apple retailer that provides technical support. They recommended completely wiping her system to protect her personal information.
Emma has also spoken with MUN security, IT, and CITL. Emma explained that Colleen Collet- CITL Manager, “is running an investigation,”- stating she made it very clear that she has had allegations against ProctorU before. Still, they are never found to be true. She also told me that if I am gathering information from social media, it’s all misleading and untrue. The conversation felt very much like she was telling me there is no way that it was ProctorU created the problems I was having.”
Emma and other students who responded to her Facebook post are now worried about using ProctorU for online examinations at Memorial. What if they also get hacked or have their information compromised?
Emma told me that “it is stated in the syllabus that you must use the proctor for all exams and there are no exceptions. I have contacted my professor about the issue but I have not received a response yet. I am in worry now that I will be forced to fail the course or drop the course with no compensation because I will not be using the proctor again.”
Furthermore, Emma emphasized that she has evidence of unusual activity on her computer. It started happening when she granted ProctorU access to her computer. “The white screen showing on my computer was described to me as a privacy screen that hackers use to lock me out while they access information. My computer at most is 2 years old and is only used for school and Netflix. I have had not one issue before all of this.”
ProctorU. “I have had 20 different students reach out to me saying they’ve had multiple issues with their computers since using the proctor in the past two weeks. Some are having technical difficulties; some are getting prompts to change their passwords. I even had a student reach out who took the same exam as me, and failed her exam for exiting early when she saw the proctor going through her files while she was doing her exam! I also received messages from students who had to buy new computers after using this software because it accessed their cameras, slowed down their systems, creating havoc.”
Here are the logs Emma found when she looked at her computer’s console. One of the logs that raised suspicion from commenters was “dispatchEvent Dispatching event with 2 children,” however, after further investigation, it seems that “children” are common coding language.
After contacting ProctorU and CITL, they stated that Emma’s claims made on Facebook are false and were not caused by the ProctorU software.
I asked @ProctorUSupport via Twitter direct messaging to comment on this situation or provide any support or compensation for users whose computers are hacked by the software.
ProctorU replied, “We have been in discussions with the University, and they have confirmed that the claim made by the student on Facebook was inaccurate. The error logs she referenced are a typical product of any computer platform and not related to ProctorU software. Our Compliance team performed an investigation into this exam session and nothing unusual or out of the ordinary was found. If we determined a machine was impacted by our software, we would compensate accordingly. Here is an article that will likely help in this context.”
I also reached out to CITL’s Senior Communications Advisor Courtenay Griffin, and she provided this statement:
“Thanks for reaching out to us. We are aware of the claims and understand how alarming this situation would have been for the student. We have connected with them to offer our support and to request details of the incident. We take questions about student privacy and security seriously and requested ProctorU to investigate. ProctorU has done a review of the entire session and we have met with them to discuss it; their investigation revealed nothing that would indicate that the student’s computer issues were caused by the use of the ProctorU service. We have confidence in ProctorU’s review process and its assessment of the situation. If you would like more information about Memorial’s use of ProctorU, we have a web page for students that provides details about what to expect, including FAQs that address privacy and security concerns. ProctorU also has a useful “myth busters” page addressing common security concerns as well.”
However, Emma explains that she already knew about the logs and that they are not a serious privacy concern. She is worried about the software downloaded and notifications she received indicating that her info and files were leaked.
CITL also emailed Emma back and explained that they investigated her concern and issues she experienced with her computer. CITL told Emma that they take student privacy and security questions seriously and thus requested that ProctorU investigate the incident.
In an email from CITL, ProctorU was said to have conducted a review and met with CITL stating:
“ProctorU reviewed the session, including recording as well as the proctor’s actions, and determined that appropriate processes were followed and no deviance from standard operating procedures was detected. We have also confirmed that the LogMeIn Rescue app used to connect the student and the proctor, ends once the student closes the chatbox, or removes the proctor’s access. The connection is one-time only and once used, cannot be reconnected.” Furthermore, CITL emphasized, “At this time, we did not find evidence to support that the issues were caused by using the ProctorU service.”
Emma was frustrated by this response from CITL because she feels they do not fully understand her concern. Her Facebook post received over 200 likes, and she received 20-30 messages from students who also experienced problems with the ProctorU service. Emma emphasized that she has also experienced financial challenges since using ProctorU because she has had to lock her debit and credit cards and pay to have her computer wiped and reset. Furthermore, Emma and other students do not feel like their personal information is safe when using this program and are afraid to use ProctorU for their courses. Therefore, they are concerned about their grades.
There has yet to be any comment from Emma’s professor or Memorial University if students are still required to use ProctorU for their exams.
To further validate the claim that ProctorU has caused problems on Emma’s computer, I asked Emma if these pop-ups and computer issues could have been caused by something else?
Emma explained to me: “It would have be one huge coincidence if it came from an outside source, my computer is only used for school and Netflix and these things don’t just appear, you know? And I can’t even express how many students I have in my inbox right now having the same issues. Most technical difficulties prompt them to change all their passwords because of security reasons I have dealt with. How big of a coincidence would it have to be if all of these other students used ProctorU and then had the same issues, but it wasn’t the proctor that caused it? Did all our computers just decide to have the same problems after using the same software, for it to be an outside source of the problem?”
Students on Facebook continue to express their fears of ProctorU. They have been told by Memorial or Professors that they have no other choice but to use it for online exams.