Safe Exam Browser Versi 2.4.1
Joanes Badazz
This patch update provides an important bug fix for a concurrency issue which caused the client application component of SEB to crash randomly. Below a list of the most prominent new features and changes:
SEB 3.3 improves accessibility and security and allows to export SEB settings as fully contained configuration links or QR codes. Optionally it supports full SEB Server integration with Moodle. SEB 3.3.3 contains important security fixes: Please update soon!
When using the optional SEB Server, the App Signature Key functionality allows automated application integrity checks similar to the manual use of the Browser Exam Key. Additionally, the new server-driven Browser Exam Key can be used for improved SEB Server integration with LMS/assessment systems like Moodle.
Note: This version does not contain the Zoom integration for exam proctoring or exam support which was contained in SEB 3.2rc. There is a non-public SEB Alliance Edition, which continues to support Zoom integration. If you are interested to use this Zoom integration, please contact alli...@safeexambrowser.org.
Note: Due to an issue in iOS 17, SEB for iOS can crash on some devices when media (videos, HTML5 audio etc.) is played. This issue seems to be fixed in iOS 17.3. Other crashes happened when any text input field was being displayed or activated (taking input focus). This issue was fixed in iOS 17.1. Also see the discussion in this GitHub issue.
IMPORTANT for SEB Integrations: The classic WebView (the iOS framework UIWebView) has been DEPRECATED by Apple years ago, it's no longer maintained and will at some point be removed completely from iOS/iPadOS. It's crucial that assessment systems with SEB Integrations, which are using the Browser Exam Key (BEK) and Config Key (CK), transition to the SEB Javascript API to query these keys, as the modern WebView (iOS/macOS framework WKWebView) doesn't support transmitting the BEK/CK in HTTP request headers. See our documentation about how to adopt the SEB JS API.
See release notes for complete list of new features and changes. Check out the SEB for iOS manual which explains all features (currently being updated). In addition, we published a first version of a tutorial which will help exam administrators to better understand how to configure and use SEB for iOS. It also includes how SEB for iOS can be used together with the Apple Classroom app. More topics will be added to this tutorial over time.
A stand-alone tool to manually verify the integrity of a Safe Exam Browser installation on Windows. This application is intended for use cases like BYOD exams where candidates have complete control over their systems and thus could be trying to use a manipulated build of Safe Exam Browser to perform an exam.
Exam proctors/invigilators can use SEB Verificator to make sure candidates are using an original, unmanipulated SEB version in BYOD exams (on location). For example use a USB stick drive with SEB Verificator on it and either check randomly some or all student devices and start the correct SEB version, optionally also with a specific configuration file.
This plugin ensures that the right and unmodified SEB version using the correct (secure) settings is connecting to a Moodle quiz. After installing this plugin you can copy the Browser Exam Key hash code generated by SEB for the SEB settings used into the quiz settings in Moodle (see manuals for Windows/macOS versions of SEB).
This plugin ensures that the right and unmodified SEB version using the correct (secure) settings is connecting to an ILIAS instance with a specific user role. After installing this plugin you can copy the Browser Exam Key hash code generated by SEB for the SEB settings used into the ILIAS settings (see manuals for Windows/macOS versions of SEB).
We are no longer providing outdated SEB versions for download. We are only supporting the latest SEB version and will remove all older SEB versions after a grace period. Please adjust your procedures accordingly. Only with updated SEB versions you can achieve the best possible security and stability of e-assessments. Therefore you have to keep your exam environment up to date, there is no alternative to regular updates. Download current versions.
Maintenance update, which can be used if the refactored, more modern version SEB 3.x misses a feature you need. SEB 2.4.1 fixes an issue which was reported to happen when using the SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration.
Maintenance update for SEB 2.2 with some new features and many improvements, like spell checking with configurable languages. URL filter treats query strings in URLs consistently. Improved handling of Registry keys for power options.
The following manual explains how to configure and use SEB for macOS from the perspective of exam administrators. SEB is a very flexible and modular tool, therefore documentation for examinees on how to use SEB with individual exam setups and the various exam systems it works with should be provided by the institution using SEB or their e-assessment provider.
To prevent switching to other applications or interrupting an exam, SEB disables the macOS Dock, the process switcher (Cmd-Tab/Cmd-Shift-Tab), the Apple Menu and various other items in the menu bar, the Force Quit window (Cmd-Option-Esc), normal reboot (Ctrl-Cmd-Eject), normal shutdown (Ctrl-Option-Cmd-Eject), hiding the application, printing, Expos, the Notification Center, screen shots, screen recording, spelling and grammar checking, automatic spelling correction, custom Touch Bar items and typing suggestions. In addition, various third-party applications for communication, screen sharing/remote access and screen recording are blocked. Customized settings for blocking prohibited applications are also possible.
Its possible to configure SEB to quit after the exam is submitted without having to enter a quit password by specifying a quit link and placing this on the summary page displayed by the LMS after submitting the exam.
In the browser window there is no right mouse (or Ctrl-) click popup window available, links requesting to be opened in a separate window can be set to be blocked generally, to open in the same browser window or in a new SEB window. Besides that, the browser is supporting Java, Quicktime and Flash content (as long as the required plugins are installed on the system). SEB can also be configured to always use the more secure internal PDF viewer instead of the Acrobat Reader plug-in.
SEB features an optional dock/task bar displaying an icon for the SEB browser with controls for its open browser windows and widgets. Buttons in the dock for quitting SEB, restarting exam, reloading page and a display for the current time improve usability in exams. Clicking the SEB icon in the dock and holding the left mouse button down or a secondary (right mouse button) click displays a popup menu with all open browser windows, the main browser window is at the bottom. With this menu you can switch between open browser windows.
SEB for macOS is based on the WebKit browser engine, which is also used by Safari, Apple Mail and many open source browsers (in contrast to the Mozilla Firefox/Gecko or the Chromium/Blink engine used by SEB for Windows). There might be some small differences regarding rendering of web pages in those different browser engines, so you should check all functionality of your quiz in SEB for macOS before using it in exams.
SEB for macOS can be used together with additional (third party) applications during an exam. You can download and open files linked in your online exam, edit it in a third party application and then upload the results to your online quiz/LMS again. This is only possible when SEB is used in a separate user account managed by macOS parental controls.
Please understand that you also have to configure your exam system correctly to be locked down securely. SEB is generally locking down exam client computers only, not the exam system or the quiz module of a learning management system. Check documentation for your exam/learning management system on how to lock it down correctly.
Since Moodle 3.9, there is very comfortable support for Safe Exam Browser directly available in Moodle's quiz settings. The new "deeper integration" is also available as plugin for Moodle 3.7 and 3.8. If possible, use this new SEB support in Moodle. Refer to the official Moodle documentation for details. Please note that our SEB support cannot answer specific Moodle questions, use the documentation on moodle.org and the Moodle community forums.
Sometimes hiding course navigation, link to the user's Moodle profile, logout etc. doesn't work as expected because some custom Moodle themes don't support the secure browser mode of Moodle correctly, they display links with which students can get out of the quiz during an exam. If this happens only with your customized theme and not the standard Moodle theme, then your theme is not implemented correctly. In that case you should fix the problem in your custom Moodle theme. You may also create URL filter rules which only allow to access the exam and no other parts of Moodle, but this is not trivial and we cannot provide you with any support on that.
An assessment mode has been added to the OpenOlat standard with the 10.2 release. The assessment mode allows course authors to limit the functionality and access of OpenOlat courses for exam settings. An exam setting is not limited to online tests however, IMS QTI 2.1 assessments, SCORM modules, external LTI 1.1 or 1.3 tools and all other OpenOlat course elements can be configured for such an exam setting.
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