Microsoft is thus far the only company to respond to my inquiries about "brain dumps," which are cheat sheets frequently used by people to obtain IT certifications. That could be because I sent its PR agency images of someone apparently using a cell phone camera during a Microsoft Certifications Test. Cisco, Novell and Sun have kept it mum. I'm struck by how these companies will enforce their copyrights for software but not for their copyrighted certification exams.

Could it be because they profit when more people take them, and from the pressure that creates for others to become certified? I surely hope that's not the case. Brain dumps have become so pervasive that somebody saw the opportunity to start a company (certguard.com) that offers a search engine that distinguishes brain dumps from legitimate study tools.

As of today, I was still seeing forum posts with people bragging about how they passed certification exams with flying colors with the assistance of a brain dump. With cheating activities happening so overtly, it really makes me wonder whether my article will make any difference for the people that did study hard to improve themselves and employers that value training.