Reporting braindumps

[Tess Sluijter]

Hola!

@Liz Wannemacher and @Stephen Schneiter is there an official process for reporting sites with braindumps from exams like Security+? I have identified at least two that have full questions+answers that were on the exam I took a few weeks ago.

 

[Rick Butler]

Totally agree with this. It's funny too, when you 'out' a braindump chump - they get all defensive. But in the end, they get to live with the shame that they cheated to get where they are. Back in the day, Paper MCSE's were literally a dime-a-dozen. So yes, I'd love to see a reporting function where folks can report braindump activity. /r

 

[Lee McWhorter]

Would be nice to have an official reporting mechanism indeed. I just tell everyone at CompTIA I know.

 

[Rick Butler]

I ran through a litany of offending companies out there that basically sell VCE/ETE's a couple years back. Told instructors and students not to use them - they were cheating. People even got mad at me because I made a stink out of it, called them out and everything.

Loved the slogan from Even Balance - makers of the anti-cheat software PunkBuster, and it applies here: If you cheat, you are a punk.

Sometimes, when you do the right thing, you do it by yourself.

/r

 

[Stephen Schneiter]

Hi Folks! Yes, braindumps are taken very serious around the exam dev camp. If you find potential sites or any suspicious activity of instances of cheating you should email [email protected] to be investigated.

 

[Stephen Schneiter]

Back in the day, Paper MCSE's were literally a dime-a-dozen. So yes, I'd love to see a reporting function where folks can report braindump activity. /r

On a side note, remember back in the day walking into Barnes and Noble (or equivalent) and seeing row after row of IT books and cert exam prep books! Ah, that was fun!

Today there is what, maybe two shelves on IT, mostly coding and how to use your iPhone books.

 

[Steve Linthicum]

Ah showing your age. I remember going to Egg Head to get some new software for my MS-DOS computer, and finding a shelf and a half of available choices. Damn, I hoped I'd never have to use a mouse and a GUI. Best solution at the time was a trackball.

 

[Lee McWhorter]

Heck, I remember being able to buy books that were nothing but source code, like 101 BASIC games or such. That's how I learned to program haha. Amazing to think you could sell nothing but code given all the free / open source code today.

 

[Rick Butler]

I wonder if publishers are finding it harder to write content for exam prep these days. With exams changing quickly, free or very inexpensive online training courses, and the plethora of available resources, I think the days of carrying around a fat-book for study is an artifact of the last IT generation.

I showed it off during the Sneak Peek for Server+, but I'll be sure to have my old Sybex Server+ book for the 001 exam in the background, proudly displayed.

I know one thing also I tell my students concerning braindumps - it may or may not be accurate, but it helps dissuade students from using them - I tell them that test vendors like CompTIA and Microsoft will submit their own "braindumps" into the public pool, but those dumps are poisoned. So if a candidate uses one and answers too many questions that align with the poisoned dump, the vendor will know the candidate is using dumps for test prep and take action against them.

But one thing I wish I could find is someone who actually got their credentials expunged from their accounts because they were definitively found cheating. Granted, there's a high degree of confidentiality to be had there - and no one is going to ADMIT they were cheating and got busted...

/r

 

[Tess Sluijter]

I wonder if publishers are finding it harder to write content for exam prep these days. With exams changing quickly, free or very inexpensive online training courses, and the plethora of available resources, I think the days of carrying around a fat-book for study is an artifact of the last IT generation.

As the song goes: Oh, the times they are a-changin'...

A lot of exam prep is indeed switching gears to online delivery, with small publishers or individual teachers creating and selling their materials either via their own portal, aggregators (like Safari/O'Reilly, Udemy and PluralSight).

 

[Walt Jaqua]

I remember repairing IBM punch card readers and teletype punched tape machines. No kidding- wish I was. We also repaired calculators at the component level and the paper print units- charged $100 per digit to replace bad calculator printers.

 

[Rick Butler]

Well, getting back to the topic, technology and publications change pretty rapidly, and with countermeasures to protect the investment we all make on certification, what blows me away at times is how creative those folks get that are looking for the quick and easy solution that pays out big. There is a lot of pressure to get certified that folks aren't using certification for what it was meant to do - actually assess skill. I could preach an entire sermon on this - and I'm sure others could too.

 

[John M. Jones]

I tell them that test vendors like CompTIA and Microsoft will submit their own "braindumps" into the public pool, but those dumps are poisoned. So if a candidate uses one and answers too many questions that align with the poisoned dump, the vendor will know the candidate is using dumps for test prep and take action against them.

I love this, going to start using it!

 

[Rick Butler]

The key is to erode confidence in services that use VCE files to provide dumped test questions - remember, we want to make sure our students know their stuff, not just a bunch of questions that they regurgitate in the exam room.

Meanwhile, we want to give our students confidence that doing it the right way is the best way to getting what you should earn and earning what you should get.

/r

 

[Tess Sluijter]

Thing is: on the /r/comptia Discord server, many students end up practicing with braindump sites, without actually knowing or understanding that these questions are braindumps. They just search for "free comptia practice exams" or stuff like that and use what they find. In a lot of cases, there is no malicious intent of cheating, just people tied by their budgets trying to find a solution to prepare for a difficult exam.

 

[Rick Butler]

Thing is: on the /r/comptia Discord server, many students end up practicing with braindump sites, without actually knowing or understanding that these questions are braindumps. They just search for "free comptia practice exams" or stuff like that and use what they find. In a lot of cases, there is no malicious intent of cheating, just people tied by their budgets trying to find a solution to prepare for a difficult exam.

I'll agree that there are a lot of innocent folks out there who are just looking for a break in cost to be able to get resources - I've been there in my life. But in my experience, those that are looking at braindumps aren't looking for free practice testing; they're looking for the 411 of what's on the test.

I knew a person once who had a CASP, was all proud of it. And then I found out how he got it - by braindumps. Later, he had to retake it and let's just say he didn't do well enough to suggest he actually knew the body of material - only that he wanted the credential so he could put it on a resume. I've seen too many of them in my life that have leveraged VCE/ETE files to get out of actually learning.

The bigger issue is that someone out there has to build them; someone has to violate their agreements with PearsonVUE and CompTIA to turn out the test questions, even anonymously. I believe these people do a disservice to the very community they think they are helping.

 

[PETER HANWITH HORDEN]

Thing is: on the /r/comptia Discord server, many students end up practicing with braindump sites, without actually knowing or understanding that these questions are braindumps. They just search for "free comptia practice exams" or stuff like that and use what they find. In a lot of cases, there is no malicious intent of cheating, just people tied by their budgets trying to find a solution to prepare for a difficult exam.

BRAIN DUMPERS SCAMMERS

Hello must just share your Braindumper on your tube I did report and it was shut down. About two weeks came across another site besides the braindumps they have a guy who you pay and he will write your cert for you for a few and it is guaranteed you will have cert. I did get hold of Comptia security who came back to me for details these clown run out of UK. They also say pass your Cert with out study very Dangerous , perhaps you get on a plan and the pilot bought his License. THIS IS MADNESS THEY MAKE THIS CHEAP like that little lady on you tube.
Makes me think of my MCSE spent 30 grand and it had no value.
Why do want a short cut ?