The case of exam question leaks in the 2015 Certified Safety Engineer examination has been solved

Thread Content

“How was the exam? Were the questions difficult?” “You probably don’t know, but it’s possible that a large amount of the exam questions were leaked this time. ”　　“Are the answers before the exam real or fake?” “Since the original questions are already recorded, how can they be fake? It costs 2000 yuan per subject. ”　　This conversation took place in a QQ group named “2015 **Registered Safety Engineer Examination”. Last September, the public security authorities discovered that some candidates were using messaging apps such as QQ to spread exam questions and answers. This case attracted significant attention from the Ministry of Public Security, which immediately ordered the cybersecurity authorities in Liaoning Province to take charge of investigating it. 　　Under the guidance of the Cybersecurity Protection Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, and after half a year of thorough investigation and meticulous research, the cybersecurity unit of Fushun Public Security Bureau in Liaoning Province, along with the investigators from Shuncheng Branch of Fushun Public Security Bureau, traveled to Beijing, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places to fully uncover the entire criminal network and bring to justice all those responsible for the leakage of exam questions. 　　The investigation into these cases of missing persons online has reached a dead end. The police discovered that the exam questions were first spread through a QQ group named “Baichuan Exam”. The suspects first posted advertisements in the group, and then sold the questions to the candidates via private QQ messages. 　　Following the clues, the Cybersecurity Unit of Fushun Public Security Bureau conducted a thorough investigation and focused on Liu as the suspect. Liu was one of the candidates who took the **Registered Safety Engineer exam in 2015; he worked as a supervisor at a construction site in Fushun City. 　　After being brought in for questioning, Liu admitted to the crime of purchasing and distributing exam questions. He said, “By passing the **Registered Safety Engineer exam, my salary can increase by 1,000 yuan; I just want to earn more money.” ”　　Starting from the source of the exam answers purchased by Liu, the police analyzed his online activity patterns, determined the suspect’s basic information, and ascertained that he was from Chongqing. 　　On November 12, 2015, with the assistance of the Cybersecurity Department of the Chongqing Public Security Bureau, the task force captured the suspect Wang. According to Wang, the answers to the exam questions were purchased online for 2,000 yuan per subject; to reduce costs, he resold those answers and made a profit of 4,800 yuan. 　　After Wang was brought in, the clues led to Chengdu, and the police from the special task force immediately headed there, resulting in the arrest of the suspect Hao. 　　During the interrogation, Hao admitted to the criminal facts on the spot, handing over the mobile phones and iPad used to purchase and distribute the answers, as well as the contact information stored on them. The special task force acted swiftly and intercepted the suspect Zeng at Beijing Capital International Airport. 　　Su Lei, a police officer from the Fourth Team of the Cybersecurity Unit of the Fushun Public Security Bureau, said, “These 4 suspects were all candidates taking the exam; the amount of money they made was not significant. Clearly, they are just minor offenders, and the case has not yet reached the fundamental level of question theft.” ”　　Only by identifying the source of the exam leaks can a case be truly solved. The task force continued to follow up, but the clues ran out. According to Zeng, after the exam, Shanglian told him that the scope of questions that were leaked this time might be quite large, and after that they lost contact. The case is at an impasse. 　　Unraveling the mystery to identify university professors: No matter how sophisticated the criminal tactics, traces are always left behind. To break through the bottleneck, the special task force questioned Zeng on several occasions. Suddenly, Zeng remembered that the QQ account numbers used were recorded in the unit’s notepad, which became a key clue in this case. 　　Liang Zheng, the head of the Third Team of the Cybersecurity Brigade of the Fushun Public Security Bureau, said, “Upon receiving this important clue, we immediately divided into two teams: one went to Nanning, Guangxi, to retrieve the transaction records related to Zeng’s bank card, while the other team focused on investigating Zeng’s accomplices.” ”　　As the investigation progressed, the police focused their attention on Zhang and Yao, teachers at a university in Kunming, Yunnan Province. 　　Liang Zheng discovered that Zhang worked in the academic affairs department of a university in Kunming, while Yao was a teacher at that same university; both of them had access to the exam questions, which gave them strong suspicion of having committed a serious crime. All indications suggest that they are very likely to be the source of the exam leaks. 　　With the strong assistance of the Cybersecurity Corps of the Yunnan Provincial Public Security Department and the Cybersecurity Unit of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau, the police officers from the special task force captured the suspects, Zhang and Yao, on the campus of a university in Kunming, and seized 4 computers, 1 camera, and 3 mobile phones that were involved in the case. 　　Faced with conclusive evidence, the suspects Zhang and Yao admitted to using their positions to steal questions from the **Registered Safety Engineer examination. Upon investigation, it was found that after the exam questions for registered safety engineers in 2015 arrived at the school’s secure room, Zhang secretly entered that room to steal the questions, took them to Yao’s home, took photos of them using a camera he had prepared in advance, and then returned the questions to the secure room. The two sold exam questions in a QQ group and made a profit of 80,000 yuan. The individuals involved in this case had a strong awareness of counter-surveillance tactics: they applied for new QQ accounts to buy answers, deleted chat records after exams, and handled transactions using fake cards… The investigators found that all those involved in this case possessed a high level of awareness regarding counter-surveillance measures. 　　Through thorough external investigations, the cybersecurity department was able to fully uncover the criminal chain behind the entire case, identify the key figures involved. By conducting in-depth interrogations of the main perpetrators and examining the critical aspects of the case, it was possible to pinpoint other major suspects, providing solid evidence for a lawful conviction. 　　Tong Zhen, deputy head of the Cybersecurity Unit of the Fushun Public Security Bureau, believes that there were problems of varying degrees in various aspects of this exam leakage incident, including the selection of examination sites, the arrangement of examination rooms, and the storage of exam papers. For example, there is chaotic management of examination sites, the keys to the secure rooms are not kept separately by different persons, surveillance equipment is not turned on, and confidentiality agreements are not signed before the exams. 　　Tong Zhen believes that in recent years, exam cheating has become increasingly serious. Unlike the leakage of exam questions during the exam, the harm caused by the leakage of questions before the exam is greater, and it is more difficult to address such issues. While stepping up enforcement efforts, regulatory authorities should also take responsibility and resolutely shut down the sources of exam leaks.