ProctorU testing fails in FF

[Thane K. Sherrington]

Hi All,
    I have a client doing an exam in ProctorU and the system test fails because it can't get RAM and CPU information.  Is there a way to make Firefox allow this site to get all the computer information?

    Chrome works fine, but I hate to send people to Chrome.

--
Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Mike Kaply]

Unfortunately this would be difficult to figure out without knowing how ProctorU is getting this information.

I checked around on the web and I see some people mentioning an extension, and other people saying Firefox definitely works?

Is there any way you can test this or is it only at the client site?

Mike

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[Thane K. Sherrington]

Unfortunately, it's at a client's site - I was remoted in this morning and it definitely failed in FF (even when I turned off enhanced tracking protection).  The extension appeared to be installed correctly.  I'll see if I can get more info.

Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Paul Kosinski]

On Tue, 12 Oct 2021 11:08:22 -0300

"Thane K. Sherrington" <th...@computerconnectionltd.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>     I have a client doing an exam in ProctorU and the system test fails
> because it can't get RAM and CPU information.  Is there a way to make
> Firefox allow this site to get all the computer information?
>
>     Chrome works fine, but I hate to send people to Chrome.

My niece was scheduled to take a (different vendor's) version of one of these online tests and what it was wanted to do was *totally* take control of the computer like the worst "hacker" might do, This included using the camera, to make sure she didn't move out of sight.

It would only work on recent Windows, not even Mac, much less the Linux which I had set her up with. So she finally used a school computer -- on site, during last year's lockdown.

My take is that if you use this kind of test-taking system at home (or work), you can kiss your privacy and security goodbye.

[Mike Kaply]

I've reached out to the company. I'm curious about the extension though. Do you know if it's public?

Mike

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[Hunziker, Jonas M (Henderson)]

Seems to be public: https://www.proctoru.com/firefox, or https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/proctoru-assets/extension/firefox-extension-latest.xpi

We trialed a similar extension for our school system here, but it only worked for Chrome and ended up getting tossed due to integration issues on the backend 😊

 

Jonas M. Hunziker

Information Technology Project Manager

P: (270) 831-9717

 

2660 S. Green Street - Henderson, KY 42420   Never Underestimate You.

 

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[Thane K. Sherrington]

Paul, you're completely right.  It's ridiculous.  I understand trying to prevent cheating, but they actually connect to your webcam and make you show them the room. 

Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Herbert Hu]

FYI,

On a tangential note, there's a hilarious story involving these remote testing requirements.  My Bad - This American Life  It's about 4 minutes, starting at 40:50.

Cheers,

Herbert

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Herbert Hu

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University of Hawaii at Manoa

[Mike Kaply]

Their site makes no sense. It says Firefox is a support browser, but when you test things at:

https://go.proctoru.com/testitout

Firefox does not allow access to CPU and RAM information. To check for these metrics, test your equipment again using Chrome Browser.
Learn more about ProctorU's Supported Browsers…

So that seems to imply that they allow Firefox even though it fails those permissions?

I'm not sure what to do here. I'll check into why we don't support those.

Mike

[Paul Kosinski]

On Wed, 27 Oct 2021 14:45:54 -0500
Mike Kaply <mka...@mozilla.com> wrote:

> Their site makes no sense. It says Firefox is a support browser, but when
> you test things at:
>
> https://go.proctoru.com/testitout
>
> Firefox does not allow access to CPU and RAM information. To check for
> these metrics, test your equipment again using Chrome Browser.
> Learn more about ProctorU's Supported Browsers…

> <https://support.proctoru.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052057271-Supported-Browsers>

>
> So that seems to imply that they allow Firefox even though it fails those
> permissions?
>
> I'm not sure what to do here. I'll check into why we don't support those.
>
> Mike

Recent Firefox versions stress user privacy, while online exams like this demand you give up your privacy -- even activating your camera and microphone to monitor *your* behavior during the exam.

In my opinion you should never use a machine that contains anything valuable, since these exams -- how rigorous is *their* security testing? -- want to take *full* control of your computer, and don't even allow virtual machines. (To be really safe, use a machine of the sort used for virus analysis, where you do a complete reinstall afterwards.)

[Thane K. Sherrington]

It's pretty bizarre, I agree.  I ended up installing Chrome for the end user.

Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Thane K. Sherrington]

Paul, you're right, it is very invasive, but for financial planners (and probably other certified professionals), they are forced to take these exams, and these are the rules.  

Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Mike Kaply]

I'm in contact with ProctorU to figure this out.

Their stance makes no sense. They claim to support Firefox, but because they don't support CPU and RAM on Firefox, they don't allow their system testing to pass.

The issue is that we don't support querying some system values in extensions (because we've never been asked for them). I'm opening bugs so at least we can track.

Mike Kaply

[Paul Kosinski]

On Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:12:32 -0300

"Thane K. Sherrington" <th...@computerconnectionltd.com> wrote:

> Paul, you're right, it is very invasive, but for financial planners (and
> probably other certified professionals), they are forced to take these
> exams, and these are the rules.
>
> Thane K. Sherrington

Do financial organizations allow these exams to be run on their supposedly secure systems and networks? (I would hope not.)

A similar test was required of my niece when applying for a medical program. The technical requirements included:

A link to access the exam (https://home.pearsonvue.com/psb/onvue)
should be made available to the applicants either by writing the URL on
a blackboard or bookmarking the link in the preferred browser. Once the
applicant signs in and has access to the exam a secure per-session
browser will be *downloaded and installed* for use during testing. Make
sure your IT enables the download and installation with each testing.

Do not take your exam in a setting with a corporate firewall (including
VPN) or alert your Network Administrator to the *network configuration
requirements*. We recommend testing on a personal computer. Work
computers generally have more restrictions that may prevent successful
delivery.

So the rules can include giving up security as well.

[Mike Kaply]

So I'm still discussing this with them, but their support said this:

These reports must have been mistaken. Test-takers are able to take their exams on Firefox without issue as long as they follow the normal exam procedures. The equipment check is just a test to see if their equipment meets our minimum requirements. Not being able to check CPU or RAM would not prevent a test-taker to test with us. We recommend that test-takers reach out to us directly if they need assistance with their equipment check.

So I'm curious what made the person think they couldn't take the test with Firefox.

Mike

[Thane K. Sherrington]

Hi Mike,
    He only has one chance to take the test.  If it fails, then he has to pay another $1500 to retake it.  So when ProctorU system requirements runs and told him the CPU and RAM couldn't be tested, he switched to Chrome because he couldn't take the chance that it might work with Firefox.
    So that's the issue - ProctorU makes it sound like it might now work, and if the circumstances are such that it's not worth the gamble, nobody is going to use Firefox.  In the same situation, I wouldn't either.

Thane K. Sherrington

Computer Connection, Ltd. ...taking the mystery out of computers since 1982.
Winner of the 2012 Ian Spencer - Excellence in Business Award
Thanks for making us the Reader's Choice Best Computer Store in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019!
95 College St., Antigonish,
NS B2G 1X6
902-863-3361 (phone)
902-863-2580 (fax)
th...@computerconnectionltd.com

[Mike Kaply]

Makes perfect sense. I'll send that feedback to them.

Mike

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