Accreditation, Fairness & Certification Integrity

EC-Council’s certification programs are designed and administered in alignment with internationally recognized personnel certification principles and examination security practices, including applicable requirements associated with ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) accreditation and ISO/IEC 17024 standards for personnel certification bodies.

In support of ISO/IEC 17024 principles relating to examination validity, reliability, fairness, impartiality, confidentiality, candidate authentication, and certification integrity, EC-Council maintains examination security and compliance controls intended to ensure that:

• Certification decisions are valid, reliable, and defensible
• Examination results accurately reflect candidate competency
• No candidate receives an unfair advantage
• Examination content and intellectual property remain secure and confidential
• Candidate identity and examination session integrity are appropriately verified
• Examination irregularities, misconduct, and security risks are identified, reviewed, and addressed appropriately

EC-Council may utilize internal review teams, authorized delivery partners, forensic methodologies, automated monitoring systems, statistical analysis, session recordings, identity verification systems, behavioral analytics, and other examination security controls to protect the integrity of its certification programs and support ongoing compliance with applicable accreditation and examination security expectations.

Candidates, proctors, Authorized Testing Centers, partners, and examination personnel are expected to uphold the integrity, impartiality, professionalism, and ethical obligations associated with accredited certification programs.

Any activity that may compromise examination validity, impartiality, fairness, confidentiality, security, or public trust in EC-Council certifications may result in compliance review, investigation, administrative action, examination invalidation, suspension, revocation, or other corrective measures deemed appropriate by EC-Council.

EC-Council reserves the right to continuously enhance, revise, and implement additional examination security and compliance controls in support of certification integrity, ANAB accreditation expectations, ISO/IEC 17024 aligned practices, and evolving examination security risks.

Candidate Responsibilities

All candidates participating in EC-Council examinations are required to comply with applicable examination policies, proctoring requirements, candidate conduct standards, confidentiality obligations, and security procedures before, during, and after the examination session.

Candidates are required to:

• Remain continuously visible within the approved camera frame during examinations (where applicable)
• Follow all instructions provided by EC-Council, proctors, invigilators, or authorized testing personnel
• Complete all identity verification and authentication requirements
• Maintain confidentiality of examination content
• Refrain from unauthorized assistance, collaboration, recording, copying, distribution, or disclosure of examination content
• Conduct themselves in a professional, truthful, and compliant manner throughout the examination and review process
• Cooperate fully in any compliance, integrity, audit, or security review initiated by EC-Council

Failure to comply with examination policies or security requirements may result in administrative, disciplinary, compliance, certification, legal, or other actions as determined by EC-Council.

Audit Selection & Examination Review Process

As part of EC-Council’s examination security program, ANAB accreditation expectations, and ISO/IEC 17024 aligned quality assurance practices, examination sessions may be selected for audit, monitoring, compliance assessment, or forensic review before, during, or after an examination session.

Examination reviews help ensure that:

• Certification decisions remain fair, valid, reliable, and defensible
• Examination results accurately reflect candidate competency
• No candidate receives an unfair advantage
• Examination delivery and proctoring requirements are consistently followed
• Examination content, systems, and processes remain secure and protected
• Risks associated with high-stakes testing are appropriately identified and mitigated

Examination sessions may be selected for review through routine quality assurance processes, random audit selection, intelligence-led reviews, risk-based monitoring, operational controls, forensic indicators, statistical analysis, proctor escalations, system-generated alerts, or other examination security mechanisms.

Selection for review does not automatically indicate misconduct, wrongdoing, or policy violation.

Examination Security Reviews

EC-Council may conduct routine, targeted, random, intelligence-led, or risk-based examination security reviews before, during, or after an examination session.

Review activities may include analysis of:

• Session recordings and monitoring data
• Candidate visibility and environment observations
• Identity verification records and biometric comparisons
• System-generated logs and testing metadata
• Behavioral indicators and response patterns
• Statistical and forensic analysis
• Proctor reports and escalation records
• Device, location, or network-related indicators
• Examination delivery metadata and session continuity records
• Other information deemed relevant to examination integrity

Examination reviews may be conducted regardless of whether an issue was identified or escalated during the live examination session.

Administrative Holds

EC-Council reserves the right to place examination results, score reports, digital badges, certifications, transcripts, or related credentials under administrative hold pending completion of a compliance or security review.

An administrative hold does not constitute a final determination of misconduct or policy violation. However, examination results may remain unreleased, unvalidated, or uncertified until the review process has concluded.

During this process:

• Candidates, proctors, ATCs, or partners may be contacted for clarification
• Additional information or supporting documentation may be requested
• Examination security and compliance teams may conduct further review and assessment

Candidate & Proctor Cooperation Requirements

Candidates, proctors, testing personnel, Authorized Testing Centers, partners, and examination delivery personnel are required to cooperate fully and truthfully in any compliance or examination security review.

EC-Council may request clarifications, records, identification documents, session information, written statements, or supporting evidence as part of a review process.

Failure to cooperate, failure to respond within prescribed timelines, submission of incomplete information, delayed responses, or provision of misleading or inaccurate information may independently result in adverse action.

Security Compliance Codes

The following Security Compliance (SC) Codes may be referenced in examination communications, compliance reviews, audit notices, investigation reports, or security determinations.

Code	Compliance Area	Description
SC-01	Candidate Visibility	Candidate visibility within the approved camera frame appeared inconsistent during the examination session.
SC-02	Identity Verification	Concerns relating to identity verification, authentication, or candidate identity consistency.
SC-03	Unauthorized Assistance	Possible unauthorized assistance, coaching, collaboration, or third-party involvement.
SC-04	Examination Environment	Examination environment did not remain compliant with applicable examination requirements.
SC-05	Instruction Non-Compliance	Failure to follow examination or proctor instructions.
SC-06	Exam Content Security	Possible recording, copying, sharing, disclosure, or misuse of examination content.
SC-07	Irregular Testing Behavior	Unusual behavioral, timing, navigation, or response pattern indicators.
SC-08	Session Integrity	Concerns relating to examination session continuity, system integrity, device usage, or testing controls.
SC-09	Proxy or Impersonation Risk	Possible mismatch or concern relating to candidate authenticity or exam taker identity.
SC-10	Proctor or Escalation Failure	Failure to identify, address, monitor, document, or escalate examination compliance concerns appropriately.

Examination Security Determinations

Examination security determinations may be based on direct observations, session recordings, forensic analysis, statistical indicators, identity verification data, behavioral analytics, proctor reports, system-generated records, or a combination of available information.

EC-Council reserves the right to make determinations based on the totality of the information available during the review process.

To protect the integrity and confidentiality of examination security operations, EC-Council is not obligated to disclose internal investigative methods, forensic indicators, detection systems, analytical thresholds, monitoring mechanisms, analytical models, or security review procedures.

Possible Outcomes of a Compliance Review

Following completion of a compliance or examination security review, EC-Council may:

• Release the examination result
• Request additional clarification or supporting information
• Continue the administrative review process
• Invalidate or cancel examination results
• Restrict or condition future testing eligibility
• Require retesting under specified conditions
• Limit future testing modalities or delivery methods
• Suspend or revoke certifications or credentials
• Remove individuals from certification verification systems or public registries
• Issue warnings, sanctions, suspensions, or permanent restrictions
• Take corrective action against proctors, ATCs/ETCs partners, or examination personnel
• Initiate contractual, disciplinary, civil, criminal, or regulatory escalation where appropriate

All determinations are made based on the totality of the information available during the review process.

Submission of a clarification or response does not guarantee release, validation, certification, or reinstatement of an examination result or credential.

Retesting Restrictions

Where deemed necessary to protect examination integrity, EC-Council may impose conditions or restrictions on future testing activities, including:

• Mandatory in-person testing
• Enhanced identity verification requirements
• Additional monitoring or supervision controls
• Restrictions on remote testing eligibility
• Temporary or permanent suspension of examination privileges

Confidentiality of Examination Content

All examination content, questions, scoring methodologies, delivery systems, examination materials, monitoring controls, and security procedures are confidential and proprietary to EC-Council.

Unauthorized possession, disclosure, reproduction, distribution, publication, recording, capture, or transmission of examination content is strictly prohibited.

Proctor, Partner & Test Center Accountability

Authorized Training and Testing Centers, proctors, invigilators, examination personnel, vendors, and partners are required to comply with all EC-Council examination administration, monitoring, escalation, and security requirements.

Failure to comply may result in corrective action, retraining requirements, suspension, decertification, partner sanctions, termination of authorization, or additional contractual or compliance measures.

Appeals Process

Candidates or affected parties may submit an appeal of a final examination security determination in accordance with EC-Council’s applicable appeals procedures and timelines.

Submission of an appeal does not automatically suspend or reverse any interim or final action taken by EC-Council.

Definitions

Administrative Hold: Temporary restriction placed on examination results or credentials pending review.

Compliance Review: A formal assessment relating to examination integrity, candidate conduct, proctoring compliance, or security observations.

Security Observation: Any identified activity, behavior, anomaly, irregularity, or event requiring additional review.

Examination Irregularity: Any event or condition that may impact examination integrity, fairness, security, validity, or compliance.

Proxy Testing: Any attempt by an individual to test on behalf of another candidate.

Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or information relating to examination security, misconduct, or compliance matters, please contact:

[email protected]

EC-Council reserves the right to amend, revise, interpret, or update these policies, procedures, and requirements at any time without prior notice.