Summative electronic assessments embodies enormous advantages such as automated marking, immediate feedback and on-demand tests. User security plays a vital role in summative eassessments, as it ensures that online tests are delivered to the correct students only. Thus, the existing user security model presents a two-layered challenge to the student; whereby responses to "who are you?" and "is it really you?" questions are solicited. Amidst the usefulness of the existing model, summative e-assessments are susceptible to impersonation challenges. In this paper, we classify the user security concerns into Type A, Type B and Type C impersonation types. We suggest that these vulnerabilities can be linked to a weakness in the user security model. Hence, without discarding the existing model we propose a goal-oriented approach to address the user security needs of the eassessment system. Furthermore, a review of the existing solutions depicts insufficient capabilities to minimise all the three types of impersonation challenges. Hence, we propose that an appropriate blend of existing methods will minimise the types of impersonation threats and improve user security in summative e-assessments

Abstract

The general security goals of a computer system are known to include confidentiality, integrity and availability (C-I-A) which prevent critical assets from potential threats. The C-I-A security goals are well researched areas; however they may be insufficient to address all the needs of the summative e-assessment. In this paper, we do not discard the fundamental C-I-A security goals; rather we define security goals which are specific to summative eassessment security.

In a number of countries, students build up portfolios of their achievements as they study. These are then presented when they apply for jobs or for further study. Various projects exist which are exploring the "e-Portfolio" concept where such portfolios are maintained and presented online, enabling greater power and flexibility in displaying achievements. However, the validation of certificates of attainment which the student is presenting has not been addressed until now.The process by which achievements are verified is called "eCertification". It raises interesting issues as it involves three-party authentication. An "eCert" project has recently run in order to explore these issues. This paper records the lessons learned about how we may best approach the process of validating students' claimed awards in such an environment.

Abstract-we all receive paper based certificates during our study journey, but they are hard to manage to avoid damage or loss.The field of e-Learning provides technological developments, such as e-portfolios, which enable greater power and flexibility in displaying achievements. These may include on-line versions of certificates of the applicant's attainment which overcome the limitations of paper-based versions. However, these "e-certificates" present a number of practical challenges, which so far have not been addressed, such as the validation of claimed e-qualification certificates. This paper addresses the issues, and explores the gap between current eportfolio tools and the desired e-qualification certificate system. Through analysis of the existing systems and ecertificate use cases, we have identified existing services that can be reused and the services that require further development, thereby presenting an approach which solves the above problems.Preliminary results indicate that the recommendation from this research meets the design requirements, and could form the foundation of future ecertificate implementations.