Candidate Code of Conduct
The non-disclosure and conduct agreement you accept before every Empire Cybersecurity certification exam.
1. Purpose & Acceptance
This Candidate Code of Conduct (the "Code") is a non-disclosure and conduct agreement between you and Empire Cybersecurity LLC. It applies to every Empire Cybersecurity certification exam you register for, book, or sit. By accepting this Code you agree to keep exam content confidential, to complete each exam entirely on your own, and to follow the rules of the proctored environment.
This Code is read together with the Certification Program Agreement, the Terms of Use, and the Privacy Policy. You accept it before you book an exam, and you reaffirm the recording and surveillance portions at the start of each sitting.
2. Non-Disclosure of Exam Content
All exam content is confidential and the intellectual property of Empire Cybersecurity LLC. This includes questions, answer options, scenarios, lab tasks, and any material you see before, during, or after an exam. You agree that you will not, during or after the exam:
- Share, copy, reproduce, photograph, screenshot, record, or transcribe any exam content
- Disclose, publish, post, or transmit any exam content to any person, forum, group, or service
- Reconstruct exam content from memory for distribution, including brain dumps and question banks
- Sell, trade, or accept exam content, whether for payment or otherwise
This confidentiality obligation continues indefinitely, including after you pass, fail, or leave the program.
3. Independent Work
You will complete the exam entirely on your own. You will not seek, receive, or provide unauthorized assistance of any kind. Your result must reflect your own knowledge and ability.
Only the resources expressly permitted for a given exam (for example, an in-exam calculator or scratchpad, where enabled) may be used. Everything else is unauthorized.
4. The Proctored Environment
Empire Cybersecurity exams are proctored. Before your exam is released you complete an admission check (identity verification, face capture, and a room scan), and you agree to keep your testing environment compliant for the full sitting:
- Be alone in a quiet, private, well-lit room for the entire exam
- Keep your face visible to the webcam and remain within frame at all times
- Keep your camera and screen sharing enabled for the full duration
- Use a single display, with no secondary monitors, projectors, or mirrored screens
- Clear your workspace of notes, books, phones, smart devices, and secondary computers
- Do not communicate with any other person by any means during the exam
5. Prohibited Actions
You agree NOT to:
- Impersonate another candidate or have another person sit any part of the exam for you
- Use notes, external websites, messaging, remote-access tools, or any unauthorized software or hardware
- Photograph, film, or otherwise capture the exam or your screen
- Disable, obstruct, cover, or tamper with the webcam, microphone, screen sharing, or proctoring software
- Leave the camera frame or the exam without a permitted reason
- Attempt to defeat, bypass, or manipulate the proctoring, timing, or scoring systems
6. Recording & Monitoring
You consent to webcam and screen recording and to automated and human proctoring for the full duration of the sitting. Recording is mandatory and continuous.
Disabling a device does not pause your exam
If your camera or screen sharing stops, you will be asked to re-enable it, but the exam clock keeps running. Only a confirmed problem on our side may result in a pause or additional time. How you handle this and the full data-handling terms are set out in the Certification Program Agreement.
Collected data may be reviewed at any time for identity assurance, exam integrity, and forensic review, and is handled under the Privacy Policy.
7. Violations & Consequences
A violation of this Code, whether detected during the exam or during forensic review, may result in any of the following:
- A voided or withheld exam result
- Denial or revocation of the related credential, even after it has been issued
- A temporary or permanent ban from the Empire Cybersecurity Credential program
- Forfeiture of exam and program fees, which are non-refundable
Where a result is held for forensic review, you will be given the opportunity to respond before any final adverse decision, and an inconclusive review is resolved in your favor. The review process, timelines, and your right to respond are described in the Certification Program Agreement.
8. Contact & Reporting
To ask a question about this Code, or to confidentially report suspected exam misconduct or leaked content, contact us: