E-learning Security Research Articles

Visual Data and Pattern Analysis for Smart Education: A Robust DRL-Based Early Warning System for Student Performance Prediction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) have revolutionised e-learning by creating personalised, adaptive, and secure environments. However, challenges such as privacy, bias, and data limitations persist. E-FedCloud aims to address these issues by providing more agile, personalised, and secure e-learning experiences. This study introduces E-FedCloud, an AI-assisted, adaptive e-learning system that automates personalised recommendations and tracking, thereby enhancing student performance. It employs federated learning-based authentication to ensure secure and private access for both course instructors and students. Intelligent Software Agents (ISAs) evaluate weekly student engagement using the Shannon Entropy method, classifying students into either engaged or not-engaged clusters. E-FedCloud utilises weekly engagement status, demographic information, and an innovative DRL-based early warning system, specifically ID2QN, to predict the performance of not-engaged students. Based on these predictions, the system categorises students into three groups: risk of dropping out, risk of scoring lower in the final exam, and risk of failing the end exam. It employs a multi-disciplinary ontology graph and an attention-based capsule network for automated, personalised recommendations. The system also integrates performance tracking to enhance student engagement. Data are securely stored on a blockchain using the LWEA encryption method.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Faculty Adoption of Cloud Computing E-Learning in Ghanaian Technical Universities

Cloud-based e-learning is a technology used to enhance teaching and learning in universities. However, its adoption in technical universities is low, and research into the factors influencing teacher adoption is limited. To address this situation, a study was conducted at Ghanaian technical universities to examine the determinants of teachers’ adoption of cloud-based e-learning. The study involved 1258 respondents, the majority of whom were male (853, or 67.8%), aged between 30 and 40 (47%), and 79.1% had a master’s degree. The results showed that individuals with a master’s degree had a higher level of knowledge of cloud-based e-learning compared to those with a bachelor’s, doctorate, or another master’s degree in technology. The study identified seven factors influencing the use of cloud-based e-learning, including pedagogical innovation, e-infrastructure readiness, cloud-based e-learning security, university location, the usefulness of cloud-based e-learning, and provider support. Interestingly, the cost of cloud-based e-learning had no significant impact.

Deteksi Intrusi Siber pada Sistem Pembelajaran Elektronik berbasis Machine Learning

This study aims to develop a mechanism for detecting machine learning-based cyber intrusions in electronic learning systems. In today's digital era, e-learning systems have become an integral part of education and training, providing global accessibility and more interactive learning efficiency. However, security and privacy challenges are becoming critical issues due to the increasingly real threat of cyber intrusion. Attackers try to take advantage of vulnerabilities and weaknesses in e-learning systems to steal sensitive data or disrupt operations. To overcome this problem, this study focuses on the use of artificial intelligence technologies, especially machine learning, to proactively detect and respond to intrusive threats. Through e-learning security analysis, identification of weaknesses, and potential loopholes for cyber-attacks, the most suitable machine learning algorithms are selected to detect patterns and signs of intrusion attacks on network data. The evaluation results show that several machine learning algorithms, such as SVM and Decision Tree, have good performance in recognizing cyber intrusions with high accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and ROC-AUC. By implementing machine learning-based intrusion detection technology, it is expected that electronic learning systems can be more proactive in identifying and responding to intrusion threats before significant damage occurs. This research has significant benefits in increasing security and privacy in the use of electronic learning systems. In addition, this study is expected to be a reference for further research in the world of cyber security and the application of artificial intelligence technology in supporting digital security.

Sustainable and efficient E-learning internet of things system through blockchain technology

E-Learning Education systems are gaining attention day-to-day because of their inclusive pertinence in the distance education system. Due to COVID-19, the online learning education system has become very popular. Most probably, all education systems have been using the IoT-based E-Learning system to continue the students’ education without hindrance during the COVID lockdown. Several E-Learning IoT schemes are explored that reflect privacy and security, but still, there is no detailed scheme; hence, it needs a sustainable, secure E-Learning IoT system. The characteristics and prospects of the Internet of Things are discussed in this article. By analyzing the various functions and capabilities of the Internet of Things, this article aims to provide an overview of the various advantages and challenges of using the platform for e-learning. This paper proposed the E-Learning IoT architecture with Blockchain technology, with layers of different IoT and Blockchain concepts to secure the online education system. Also, the block diagram of the proposed architecture demonstrates how students can securely access or interact with the online learning system through Blockchain technology. By implementing the proposed e-learning IoT architecture, universities and colleges can improve their distance learning programs and increase efficiency without affecting their academic activities. Finally, the study found that e-learning positively impacts students' learning experience and overall quality of education. It also exhibited a significant positive impact on their flexibility and academic productivity.

Assessing the Impact and Effectiveness of Cybersecurity Measures in e-Learning on Students and Educators: A Case Study

As e-learning has become increasingly prevalent, cyber security has become a major concern. e-Learning platforms collect and store large amounts of sensitive information, such as personal data and financial information, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. To address these challenges and concerns, e-learning platforms must implement a comprehensive cyber security strategy that includes strong access controls, data encryption, regular software updates, and student training to help them identify and prevent insider threats. This research aims at investigating and determine how satisfied students are with e-learning security and privacy, as well as whether these concerns affect the overall standard of education. A sample study is presented to assess both the impact of the security framework on students' academic achievements and the student’s satisfaction with the security countermeasures in an e-learning system. Statistical analysis showed that the use of security and cyber security countermeasures had a significant effect on the frequent use and participation of students in the contents of the system. Furthermore, encouraging feedback and communication from students about their e-learning experience to share their concerns, questions, and suggestions can help in addressing any security issues or concerns, as well as increasing students’ participation in the e-learning content.

An Overview on E-Learning and Information Security Management

Abstract: We know that many e-learning institutions are rushing into adopting ICT without carefully planning and understanding any related security concerns. E-learning is a new method of learning which ultimately depends on the Internet in its execution. The Internet has become the venue for a new set of illegal activities, and the e-learning environment is now exposed to such threats. In this paper, e-learning context, definition, characteristics, development, growth, benefits and challenges are all elaborated upon. This paper discusses the security elements required to be implemented within e-learning environments. In addition, the paper explains the situation and existing research relating to security in e-learning. Furthermore, information security management is suggested to contribute to preparing a secured e-learning environment.

Secure E-Learning System Based on ZNP and AES

A secure electronic learning platform has been created to enable teachers and students to log into their accounts to learn efficiently and safely at any place and time. This platform has been proposed due to the urgent need to develop the education system and move it from traditional to interactive e-learning. In this paper, an application implemented that access remotely using a web browser interface and saved on a server depends on a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) system with an RSA algorithm was employed to solve registration and login challenges and securely transfer passwords. Using adapted AES to encrypt each user's personal information, Exams, and save it in in encrypted form in the database. The simulated results in this paper indicate the existence of a secure e-learning system, where security was achieved by performing the registration and login process without sending the password in its explicit form over an insecure network such as the Internet, in addition to encrypting the necessary information to be stored in an incomprehensible manner in the database, in the case of presence of an attack on the database.

Perception of Information Security in the Process of Distance Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Example of University Teachers’ Experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected every area of our lives. One of them was education, which had to undergo a huge transformation in a very short time. Overnight, the computer replaced the blackboard and became the only tool of communication between a student and a teacher. Teachers had to completely change the tools used in the teaching process and enter a completely new and, for many of them completely unknown, working environment. Online learning has replaced traditional teaching. A computer with Internet access has become a basic work tool for people who have so far used it mainly for recreational purposes. Teachers were thrown in at the deep end, for most of themit was the first time they had encountered platforms for remote communication.As the workspace has changed, learners and teachers have begun to move much more frequently into the world of the Internet, which harbors many dangers of which quite a few people were previously unaware. For this reason, the authors decided to investigate the problem of information security in e-learning. This paper attempts to collect the experiences and assess the awareness of university teachers about information security threats while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research results presented in this paper showed that the level of awareness of the risks, that may affect academic teachers in the distance learning process, is very low. Additionally, no appropriate procedures for safe distance learning have been developed. The communication security area was practically completely overlooked during the COVID-19 educational revolution.

ANALISIS PEMANFAATAN PLATFORM E-LEARNING MENGGUNAKAN FRAMEWORK COBIT 5 PADA DOMAIN DSS

This study aims to determine the level of capability of using E-Learning at Universal University. In this study, the measurement of capability level uses the COBIT 5 framework which is devoted to the DSS05 (Manage Security Services) process. The data from this study were obtained from observations and interviews. The results show that the capability level in the DSS05 (Manage Security Services) process reached level 1 with a rating level of Largely achieved (57.8%). After knowing the level of capability at the E-Learning level,recommendations for improvement are made based on the acquisition of each value. The recommendations for improvement are the creation of SOPs related to E-Learning security at Universal University, the establishment of information technology asset inventory management, and the procurement of intrusion detection tools.

Fog-Assisted Secure Data Exchange for Examination and Testing in E-learning System

E-learning systems are getting growing interest due to their wide applicability in distance education. A huge amount of data is shared among students, teachers, examiners that should be exchanged in a confidential manner. In literature, a number of related clustering-based schemes are explored that consider security but still there is a need for dependable secure schemes. This paper explores a Secure E-learning System (SES) for sharing examinations related materials by ensuring protection against various security attacks. Exam materials include tests, quizzes, question papers, answer sheets, and aptitude tests. In the first phase, we present a secure authentication mechanism for students and teachers with a trusted server or a fog server. Next, we present a Session Key Establishment Protocol (SKEP) to setup keys for a specified time period such as a class, seminar or exam. We have also maintained the level of trust and authentication level to regularly check the legitimacy of the students. A security analysis is performed to highlight the pros and cons of security schemes to ensure reliable security for e-learning systems. We have setup a testbed using web-services in ASP.net and C# on windows Azure cloud for an e-learning scenario. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SES in terms of reducing number of untrusted students, exams exposed, student interaction time, authentication level, reputation and trust levels for students.

Using trustworthy web services for secure e-assessment in collaborative learning grids

The paper presents innovative trustworthy services to support secure e-assessment in web-based collaborative learning grids. Although e-Learning has been widely adopted, there exist still drawbacks which limit their potential. Among these limitations, we investigate information security requirements in on-line assessment learning activities, (e-assessment). In previous research, we proposed a trustworthiness model to support secure e-assessment requirements for e-Learning. In this paper, we present effective applications of our approach by integrating flexible and interoperable Web based secure e-learning services based on our trustworthiness model into e-assessment activities in on-line collaborative learning courses. Moreover, we leverage Grid technology to meet further demanding requirements of collaborative learning applications in terms of computation performance and management of large data sets, in order for the trustworthy collaborative learning services to be continuously adapted, adjusted, and personalised to each specific target learning group. Evaluation in a real context is provided while implications of this study are eventually remarked and discussed.

E-Learning Security Risks and its Countermeasures

E-learning, a novel way in the learning process that involves more interaction between the learners and teachers to some extent, in comparison to the traditional education. Moreover, it depends on the Internet technology and executes via web applications. However, network environment is a honey pot to attract many hackers and it may have some potential security risks such as: malicious attacks, hackers and so on. In addition, network security is one of the security issues of E-learning because it is usually concerns with the instructors, learners, trainers who cannot foresee the risks and know how to prevent the threats and the like. This study mainly focuses on the E-learning security issues and the countermeasures to deal with risks towards e-learning-system.

E-learning Ongoing Sesion Authentication Security

This paper examines privacy and security issues associated with e-learning. It presents the basic principles behind privacy practices and legislation. It investigates the more popular e-learning standards to determine their provisions and limitations for privacy and security. Concrete solutions for improving the degree of security achievable are shown. A framework for secure e-learning User Ongoing Session Authenticator is introduced. This framework prevents manipulation from the side of the students during learning, thus allowing a reliable control of learning success.

Student Perception on Security Requirement of e-Learning Services

Abstract All the web based systems are exposed to computer security threats. This is one of the main reasons why people are reluctant to use the web based system including the e-learning system. It is very important to understand the needs and fears of users when they use the e-learning system. This paper analyzed user perception on the e-learning security system. Questionnaires were distributed to the students to get their responses on the e-learning security system. The feedback from the students was analyzed using statistical software. STRIDE threat modeling was used to identify the critical area in the e-learning system. The results show that students are concerned with the integrity and availability of the system. They do not mind if other people know what their activities are in the system. The most critical service compared to other services offered by the e- learning system is the assessment service.

Mean Failure Cost as a Measurable Value and Evidence of Cybersecurity

Addressing Cybersecurity within e-Learning systems becomes empowered to make online information more secure. Certain competences need to be identified as necessary skills to manage security online such the ability to assess sources and architectural components, understanding the privacy, confidentiality and user authentication. Security management approaches quantifying security threats in e-learning are common with other e-services. It is of our need to adopt a quantitative security risk management process in order to determine the worthiest attack and the ignored one, based on financial business risk measure which is the measure of the mean failure cost.This paper proposes a cyber security measure called the Mean Failure Cost (MFC) suitable for e-Learning systems. It is based on the identification of system’s architecture, the well-defined classes of stakeholders, the list of possible threats and vulnerabilities and the specific security requirements related to e-Learning systems and applications. In the mean time, security requirements are considered as appropriate mechanisms for preventing, detecting and recovering security attacks, for this reason an extension of the MFC measure is presented in order to detect the most critical security requirements. Also this paper highlights the security measures and guidelines for controlling e-Learning security policies regarding the most critical security requirements.

The Design of Information Security E-Learning and Demonstration Platform Based on RCP

Information security learning and teaching are always a challenge because cryptography algorithms and network security protocol are complex and abstract. Therefore, an information security e-learning and demonstration platform named Cryptokit-SYSU is developed based on RCP (Rich Client Platform) to help information security teaching and learning. Compared with other similar software, Cryptokit-SYSU has many advantages such as good extensibility, visualization, easy operation, and friendly UI etc.

Privacy Concerns in E-learning: Is UsingTracking System a Threat?

This paper presents a study on security and privacy concerns in E-learning. The study has been conducted along with our research effort that focuses on tracking students' activities on Computer-Mediated Communication tools (e.g. discussion forum, blog, wiki, etc.). It aims to express our attention on technical and ethical aspects of using tracking approach in the learning process. While the study covers an analysis of some existing research data of security in E-learning and user privacy protection provisions, it helps us gain a broader perspective of utilizing the tracking approach in our research. The major contribution of this paper is awareness-raising of the relevant issues, which are often neglected in the research efforts that implicate user tracking and personal data usage for instructional purposes.

Threats analysis for e-learning

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and define the information security threats within an e-learning environment. A threat analysis has been conducted for each application in the managed learning environment (MLE) system used in the case of e-learning. Furthermore, the threats analysis was conducted according to the approach adapted by Microsoft. The findings of this study are a list of information security threats on a per-application basis used in e-learning, and a matrix of threats' risks for e-learning. This study focuses on vulnerabilities in relation to the application system and does not cover the vulnerabilities in terms of host and network in e-learning. Thus, this study reveals the information security threats specifically for applications in e-learning environment. The practical implication of the results of the threats analysis can be used as guide for e-learning providers in terms of implementing e-learning security strategy. The results can also act as a guide for e-learning users with the purpose of increasing their awareness with regard to the potential threats within the e-learning environment. This paper is innovative in the area of information security research, as it highlights details of information security threats in the case of e-learning.

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS IN M-LEARNING: THREATS AND COUNTERMEASURES

Security in e-learning is becoming increasingly important as large universities use e-learning in their day-to-day business processes. However, mobile devices are used by many students without regard for related security issues. Mobile devices introduce new threats to an e-learning environment. By systematically analyzing the weaknesses inherent to mobile devices, ways of addressing risks specific to mobile e-learning are derived.

Privacy and Security in E-Learning

For a variety of advantages, universities and other organizations are resorting to e-learning to provide instruction on-line. While many advances have been made in the mechanics of providing on-line instruction, the needs for privacy and security have to-date been largely ignored. This paper examines privacy and security issues associated with e-learning. It presents the basic principles behind privacy practices and legislation. It investigates the more popular e-learning standards to determine their provisions and limitations for privacy and security. Privacy requirements for e-learning systems are explored with respect to the “Privacy Principles.” The capabilities of a number of existing privacy enhancing technologies, including methods for network privacy, policy-based privacy/security management, and trust systems, are reviewed and assessed.