What Actually Makes aCoding Test Secure
What makes a coding test secure, and why it matters. TestHike runs assessments in a desktop workspace with encrypted local storage, submission integrity checks, and configurable activity information.
What is a secure coding test?
A secure coding test is a programming assessment run in a way that gives the reviewing team confidence a result reflects the candidate's own work — through a controlled environment, activity information during the session, and a verifiable, tamper-evident submission at the end.
No Test Can Promise Zero Cheating
Any platform that claims to fully prevent cheating is overselling. What's actually achievable — and what TestHike is built to do — is give your team meaningfully more information than an unmonitored take-home test or a browser tab provides, so a human reviewer can make a better-informed call.
That means running the assessment somewhere more controlled than a browser tab, recording relevant activity during the session, and making sure the submission itself can't be silently altered after the fact.
- A desktop workspace, not an easily-abandoned browser tab
- Optional locked, kiosk-style assessment window
- Configurable focus, clipboard, display, and process activity information
- Checksum and device fingerprint on every submission
- Encrypted local storage for assessment data
What TestHike Actually Does During an Assessment
Locked Assessment Window
The assessment can run in a kiosk-style window that restricts switching to other applications while the test is in progress.
ConfigurableSession Activity Information
Focus changes, clipboard use, connected displays, and running processes — structured data for a reviewer, not continuous surveillance footage.
Not video recordingEncrypted Local Storage
Assessment data saved locally during the session is encrypted, not stored as plain text on the candidate's machine.
Always onSubmission Verification
Every submitted result carries a checksum and device fingerprint, so your team has a verifiable trail if a result is ever disputed.
Checksum + fingerprintCommon Questions About Secure Coding Tests
What makes a coding test 'secure'?
A secure coding test gives the reviewing team enough information to trust that a result reflects the candidate's own work — through a controlled environment, activity information during the session, and a verifiable, tamper-evident submission.
Can a coding test guarantee no cheating happened?
No test can guarantee that with certainty. What a secure coding test can do is meaningfully increase the information available to a reviewer — session activity, environment control, and submission verification — compared to an unmonitored take-home task.
How does TestHike secure an assessment session?
TestHike runs the assessment inside a desktop application rather than a browser tab, can lock the session into a kiosk-style window, encrypts local assessment data, and records configurable activity information like focus changes and connected displays.
What is submission integrity verification?
Submission integrity verification means every result is checksummed and tied to a device fingerprint when it's submitted, giving your team a way to confirm the submission wasn't altered after the fact.
Does more security make the test harder for honest candidates?
It shouldn't. TestHike's security controls run in the background — a candidate just writes and runs code normally. The goal is more trustworthy results for your team, not a harder or more stressful experience for the candidate.
Is TestHike's activity information the same as a proctoring video recording?
No. TestHike does not record webcam or screen video by default. It records structured activity information — like focus changes and running processes — which is reviewable data, not continuous surveillance footage. See the Privacy page for exactly what's configurable per assessment.
See the Full Security Model Behind TestHike
Understand exactly what's collected, when, and why — before you roll TestHike out to candidates.