{"id":15694,"date":"2026-07-30T13:14:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/?p=15694"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:27:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:27:38","slug":"and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"And it matters because&#8230; College cheating, credential credibility and public trust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode of <em>And it matters because\u2026<\/em>, Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organizations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud, and the wider impact of cheating on credential value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <em>College cheating<\/em>, <em>credential credibility<\/em> <em>and public trust<\/em>, the conversation explores the growing challenge of AI-enabled cheating, the importance of protecting exam integrity, and why trustworthy credentials matter for education, employment, professional licensure, and public safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen in as they discuss the rise of AI-assisted cheating, deepfakes, identity verification, organised test fraud, and the measures being taken to protect the integrity of high-stakes assessments. The episode highlights why verified knowledge and skills are more important than ever in maintaining trust in qualifications, certifications and the professionals who hold them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;AI has really enabled sophistication amongst our bad guys.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson,  to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,28,42],"tags":[188,189,190,177,194],"class_list":["post-15694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","category-assessment-industry-news","category-podcast","category-testing-innovation","tag-community-ai","tag-community-education","tag-community-featured","tag-community-hub","tag-community-podcasts","post_format-post-format-video"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surpass Assessment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rosie Sweeney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rosie Sweeney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rosie Sweeney\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/45f6d6e4e158016e4af5e4650c8d377b\"},\"headline\":\"And it matters because&#8230; College cheating, credential credibility and public trust\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":163,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Community AI\",\"Community Education\",\"Community Featured\",\"Community Hub\",\"Community Podcasts\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Assessment Industry News\",\"Podcast\",\"Testing Innovation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/\",\"name\":\"And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"And it matters because&#8230; College cheating, credential credibility and public trust\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surpass Assessment\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Surpass, Powering Assessment\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/SurpassPA_logo.png?fit=1272%2C410&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/surpass.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/SurpassPA_logo.png?fit=1272%2C410&ssl=1\",\"width\":1272,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"Surpass, Powering Assessment\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/surpass.com\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/45f6d6e4e158016e4af5e4650c8d377b\",\"name\":\"Rosie Sweeney\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment","description":"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment","og_description":"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value","og_url":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/","og_site_name":"Surpass Assessment","article_published_time":"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rosie Sweeney","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rosie Sweeney","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/"},"author":{"name":"Rosie Sweeney","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/person\/45f6d6e4e158016e4af5e4650c8d377b"},"headline":"And it matters because&#8230; College cheating, credential credibility and public trust","datePublished":"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/"},"wordCount":163,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","keywords":["Community AI","Community Education","Community Featured","Community Hub","Community Podcasts"],"articleSection":["Assessment Industry News","Podcast","Testing Innovation"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/","url":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/","name":"And it matters because... College cheating, credential credibility and public trust - Surpass Assessment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-07-30T12:14:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-30T12:27:38+00:00","description":"In episode 5 of the And it matters because\u2026 podcast, hosts Jarret Dyer and Rachel Schoenig are joined by by Bryan Friess, Director of Information Security at Pearson, to discuss how assessment organisations are responding to increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud and the wider impact of cheating on credential value","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/news\/2026\/and-it-matters-because-college-cheating-credential-credibility-and-public-trust\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"And it matters because&#8230; College cheating, credential credibility and public trust"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#website","url":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/","name":"Surpass Assessment","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#organization","name":"Surpass, Powering Assessment","url":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/SurpassPA_logo.png?fit=1272%2C410&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/SurpassPA_logo.png?fit=1272%2C410&ssl=1","width":1272,"height":410,"caption":"Surpass, Powering Assessment"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/person\/45f6d6e4e158016e4af5e4650c8d377b","name":"Rosie Sweeney"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/surpass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AIMB-episode-5-thumb.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15694"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15701,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15694\/revisions\/15701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surpass.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}