In, March I wrote about how
cheating on certification exams was a common practice. Some websites host or sell files known as "braindumps," which oftentimes contain actual exam questions and answers. Braindumps can also be retrieved through torrents. Cheaters also talk openly about their experiences taking tests in forums—in violation of NDA agreements
We brought the cheating to the attention of big software vendors, including Cisco, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun. Microsoft was the only company to acknowledge the activity, but that may be due to the fact that I had located cell phone camera photos of actual test questions taken during a live test from one of those sites. Regardless, Microsoft outlined the specific steps that it was taking to combat cheating when I followed up one month later after learning that test questions remained unchanged.
Now, Microsoft is finally taking direct action against certification exam cheaters.
ExamCollection.com, a website that is popular with people who
fraudulently obtain IT certification, is abuzz due to changes Microsoft
has made to its tests.
One post claims that only two braindump questions from 70-236, a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist exam for Exchange Server 2007, remained on the test. Another post asked for cheaters to verify that Microsoft had also changed 70-647, a Microsoft Certified Professional exam for Windows Server 2008. However, Microsoft is about to release Exchange 2007 SP2, so maybe it just decided to update the test at the same time.
This is still great news for people who study hard to earn their certifications as well as employers that value training. I wonder whether the other four companies are doing anything about it.