Researchers Launch Cybersecurity-Inspired Platform to Tackle Academic Cheating

An international team of researchers has unveiled CheatGuard, a platform designed to help universities detect and prevent academic cheating as artificial intelligence makes misconduct harder to track.

The study, published in Education and Information Technologies, describes CheatGuard as a centralized knowledge base that catalogs cheating methods such as plagiarism, contract cheating, unauthorized collaboration, and AI-assisted exam fraud. Each entry is paired with detection and prevention strategies, offering institutions a structured approach to academic integrity.

The project was led by Dr. Imran Taj, Assistant Professor at Zayed University’s College of Interdisciplinary Studies. Co-authors include Dr. Ahmed Samer Wazan (Zayed University), Dr. Abdulhadi Shoufan (Khalifa University of Science and Technology), Dr. Sifan Waktole Dadi (University of Eastern Finland), and Dr. Romain Laborde (Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier).

CheatGuard adapts the MITRE ATT&CK framework, widely used in cybersecurity, to the education sector. The platform organizes misconduct across different assessment types—from traditional exams and assignments to oral vivas and creative projects—and maps each tactic to countermeasures.

The researchers say the system can support assessment design, integrity monitoring, investigation of suspected cases, and faculty training. A reporting tool also allows universities to submit real incidents, creating a global repository of misconduct and counter-strategies.

One of the platform’s distinct features is its AI-powered agent, which scans online sources for new cheating techniques and recommended responses. This ensures the database evolves alongside emerging threats.

Although developed with partners in Europe, the initiative was conceptualized and directed from Zayed University, highlighting the UAE’s growing role in research on educational technologies. Future plans include integrating CheatGuard into learning management systems such as Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas.