Keystroke Dynamics Authentication in Remote Examinations: A Systematic Review

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores the current flaws and limitations of keystroke dynamics authentication and its use within a remote examination context to prevent cheating. As cheating opportunities have recently risen within remote learning, a higher security within the field is needed. However, keystroke dynamics is not a widely used authentication system in Sweden today. The underlying problem is that it is not clear what the flaws and limitations are of keystroke dynamics authentication, and if said flaws and limitations outweigh the benefits. Proctoring tools today would benefit from a heightened security to address increased cheating opportunities, where keystroke dynamics authentication could be a possible solution to the problem - if it is reliable enough. The research question is as follows: What flaws and limitations currently hinder the use of keystroke dynamics authentication in remote examination settings? A systematic review was conducted to find out recent findings and progress to understand why the application of keystroke dynamics authentication was not as widespread as other authentication systems. The collected data was published from 2020 onwards in order to be relevant to the increasing cheating opportunities. A thematic synthesis was conducted to analyze the findings. The review granted eight documents that were analyzed and six themes which identified limitations or concerns with keystroke dynamics. Ultimately, it was concluded that unimodal keystroke-based systems were not secure enough for remote examinations as it is right now - but it is feasible to include it in a multimodal authentication system.