Vmware workstation exam cheating detected by Exam software

[ThumperTM]

Hi guys,

I just installed last version of Vmware Workstation on Windows 10 PRO, installed new virtual machine (windows 7 Pro x64), for a friend of mine, he had to start exam. Plan was to start exam in virtual machine (windows 7) and use main OS (windows 10) for cheating

He said that, when he installed (Exam browser, provided by university website) and opend exam link it shows message that "Virtual machine detected", and was not able to go on.

Is there any way to not detected this as virtual machine? maybe other Virtualization software?

Thank you in advance!

 

[cndps]

Have you tried Oracle VirtualBox?

 

[ThumperTM]

Have you tried Oracle VirtualBox?

he said he used only Vmware workstation.

 

[the_jeste]

Try allocating a GPU to the VM and try again. I tried games in VM and they always said not running in VM where because they can detect there is no GPU. There must be a value the program scans for. It's not easy to found out what that is.

 

[DVDR_Dog]

Nope. Their browser is doing far more than just connecting to the exam site. VMs have a whole bunch of trace fingerprints inside a system that's running them. The malware authors are very aware of them and they will detect that they are being executed in a VM and go to the point of shutting down to avoid revealing their code.
The problem is the browser. I don't think your buddy is the first to think that cheat up and his university would be remiss not to take steps against that.
If you are serious I suppose you could peel apart the browser but 10 bucks says it calls home with a bunch of codes and who knows what is supposed to go and what indicates an error. I think that's what they call a gotcha. I hike with a professor that teaches a few programming languages and he tells me stories about his students trying to cheat all the time. He calls most of them out and fails them too. It's almost taunting the prof and their response is : Well how stupid do you think I am?

 

[the_jeste]

Also try Windows sandbox instead of VM

 

[ThumperTM]

Also try Windows sandbox instead of VM

Nice idea, i will tell him to give a try.

 

[scythem]

Wow, what a hard riddle to solve.

Main problem is that there are so many ways how to find out if the browser is running from a virtual machine. Such as processes indicating VM, registry keys, mac addresses, CPU instructions etc..

As DVDR_Dog said without knowing what their browser really does, it's really hard to get it done.

If I would ever try to solve this I would start with Process monitor from windows sysinternals - to get requests to the system and than you can try to change it with Microsoft application compatibility toolkit.

But it would be totally easier to try new VM soft for example XEN or CITRIX, but I have zero experience with those. .

 

[UXA]

Also try Windows sandbox instead of VM

It didnt worked for me, tested with VMware Workstation (last version) and windows sandbox but no luck... Any other suggest?

Regards

 

[DVDR_Dog]

I just got a complaint from an Apple user having login problems at a school site.
Things are going to get worse. Add to the facts that these are security packages added in a hurry-up fashion by admins who aren't really savvy on the subject.
So security programs tend to have holes in them if they are installed by admins who aren't entirely familiar with them on the one hand (hint-hint) but on the other they can create havoc with legit users who are used to doing things their way that worked before (another hint-hint: Apple users?).

 

[the_jeste]

Well what you can do is simple:
1. Get a friend who has all the knowlegde and can do your exam.
2. get a 10 meter HDMI cable
3. Put an extra screen and mouse + keyboard in the room next to you, so your friend can see your screen and take it over.
4. They will want to verify your face = check, verify your computer and room = check.

Only thing i dont know if, is it a problem you duplicating your screen

seems stupid solution but could help