Safe Exam Browser

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November 5, 2024

Deprecation Notice: The combined up- and download configuration value allowDownUploads ("Allow downloading and uploading files" under tab "Down-/Uploads" in the configuration tool) will be discontinued with the upcoming release versions 3.9.0 for Windows and 3.5.0 for macOS. Henceforth, down- and uploads can be enabled separately with the new configuration values allowDownloads and allowUploads respectively (which are to be found at the same location in the configuration tool).

October 25, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.4 for macOS released : This major update allows using third party applications in exams, fixes issues which might manifest mostly on macOS 14 Sonoma and implements the optional screen proctoring feature (requiring to run your own instance of SEB Server with SEB screen proctoring service

Support for running third party applications in macOS AAC Multi App Assessment mode (requires macOS 12 or newer).
Optional temporary upload & download directory to prevent free access to the whole file system when using additional apps.
Fixed a possible issue when sometimes SEB didn't open any window and had to be quit with cmd-Q. This seems to happen more often/only when running on macOS 14 Sonoma.
Fixed querying permissions for web applications to access microphone and camera.
Now injecting ConfigKey and BrowserExamKey into all iFrames.

Optional features, which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default:

Support for screen proctoring feature. This provides a live view of the screens of connected SEB clients and recordings with various searchable meta data. This feature requires to run your own instance of SEB Server with SEB screen proctoring service. SEB never connects to any centralized proctoring or other servers, this always has to be configured individually in case you want to use it.
Now generic exam systems are supported with SEB Server: You can enter the URL of any web based exam/test/quiz and use SEB Server to provide SEB settings created in its web backend. You can also monitor connected SEB clients, including an automated check for the integrity of each SEB client.

October 1, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.4 for iOS released. This update is fully compatible with iOS 18, allows to use the new optional screen proctoring feature and additional apps in exams on iPadOS 18.

When using the optional SEB Server, the new screen proctoring feature allows a live view and recordings for exam proctors of the screens of connected devices.

Now running on iOS 18 without having to use special setting.
Support for AAC Multi-App Mode starting iPadOS 18. This allows to use additional apps running alongside SEB in exams.
- You can add/edit which apps should be available in an exam session along with SEB in its in-app settings in the Additional Apps section.
- You need to enter the Bundle ID in the Identifier field. See this page to find out the Bundle ID of any iOS app.
Removed support and settings for classic WebView (UIWebView), as it isn't fully supported anymore in iOS/iPadOS 18 and newer.
Fixed a security issue with a shortcut.
Fixed querying permissions for web applications to access microphone and camera.

Optional features, which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default:

Added the optional feature Screen Proctoring (which requires to run your own instance of SEB Server and the SEB Screen Proctoring feature).
Now generic exam systems are supported with SEB Server.

See release notes for all changes.

IMPORTANT for SEB Integrations: The classic WebView (the iOS framework UIWebView) has been DEPRECATED by Apple years ago, it's no longer maintained and doesn't work correctly on iOS/iPadOS 18 anymore. It's crucial that assessment systems with SEB Integrations, which are using the Browser Exam Key (BEK) and Config Key (CK), transition to the SEB Javascript API to query these keys, as the modern WebView (iOS/macOS framework WKWebView) doesn't support transmitting the BEK/CK in HTTP request headers. See our documentation about how to adopt the SEB JS API.

September 26, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.8.0 for Windows released: This feature update provides production-ready screen proctoring functionality, a new configuration option for the lock screen background color and an improved network adapter implementation with new functionalities as well as important bug fixes and improvements. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

June 14, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.7.1 for Windows released: This patch update provides an important bug fix for a concurrency issue which caused the client application component of SEB to crash randomly. We recommend updating as soon as possible. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

May 28, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.3 for macOS released: SEB 3.3.3 contains important security fixes and therefore replaces all older versions (SEB 3.2.5, 3.3, 3.3.2), which should no longer be used and are no longer available. Please update soon!

Added new setting in Browser pane to reload the full page after a connection error (instead of loading the failed URL. This is a workaround for some LMS/assessment system issues e.g. in Moodle.
Fixed that disabling spell check and auto correct sometimes didn't work in WKWebView: Disabled it completely (can't be configured anymore for macOS/iOS).
Changed WebKit Networking process blocking to not lock SEB when a WebKit networking process is running with elevated user priority.
Fixed: Permissions for microphone-only access didn't work.
Fixed: Text Replacements can be used in SEB.
Prevent Keyboard Viewer to be used, which still shows Text Replacements.
Now detecting and denying to run when custom Cocoa Text System key bindings are set.
Fixed: Chrome video conferencing was no longer stopped when using current Chrome versions.
Fixed: Settings menubar menu and cmd - S were available during exam in some cases.
Now clarifying in locked exam lock screen that the quit password of the current session needs to be entered to unlock SEB.
Fixed an Xcode build error which caused SEB 3.3.2 to not run on macOS 10.13.

See release notes for all changes.

April 10, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.3 for iOS released. This minor update fixes a security and some UI issues when running on iPadOS/iOS 17.

Removed the Autofill Contacts/Passwords context menu item in text fields on iOS 17.
Fixed wrong browser toolbar height in iPhone landscape mode on iOS 17 and after rotating an iPad with iPadOS 17.
Fixed Search text icon had a text field background color on iOS 16/17.
Display deprecation warning when classic WebView is used.
Added setting in Browser Features pane to disable deprecation warning when classic WebView is used.
Now using an alternative method to add the SEB User Agent string in HTTP Headers with classic WebView. This avoids compatibility issues when an assessment system with SEB integration doesn't yet support the modern WebView (doesn't use the SEB Javascript API to query ConfigKey/BrowserExamKey).
This fix nevertheless is no reason to delay implementing support for the modern WebView in SEB integrations. Any iOS update may break support for the classic WebView (UIWebView) finally!
Added new setting in Browser Features pane to reload the full page after a connection error (instead of loading the failed URL. This is a workaround for some LMS/assessment system issues e.g. in Moodle.
Fixed: When using the optional SEB Server, locking the client didn't work.

See release notes for all changes.

IMPORTANT for SEB Integrations: The classic WebView (the iOS framework UIWebView) has been DEPRECATED by Apple years ago, it's no longer maintained and will at some point be removed completely from iOS/iPadOS. It's crucial that assessment systems with SEB Integrations, which are using the Browser Exam Key (BEK) and Config Key (CK), transition to the SEB Javascript API to query these keys, as the modern WebView (iOS/macOS framework WKWebView) doesn't support transmitting the BEK/CK in HTTP request headers. See our documentation about how to adopt the SEB JS API. SEB now displays a warning message if the classic WebView is used by your SEB settings, as it's now of upmost importance to move away from the classic WebView and only use the modern one.

April 3, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.7.0 for Windows released: This feature update introduces the optional screen proctoring functionality, resolves an issue with the isolated clipboard and adds various new configuration options as well as important bug fixes and improvements. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

January 30, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.2 for iOS released.This update allows exporting uncompressed configuration files (for example for directly importing it into Moodle) and corrects various issues.

Added option to share settings "for starting an exam" uncompressed as plain text. This is helpful for importing these configuration files into LMS/exam systems which don't support gzip compressed or encrypted config files (for example Moodle) or for manual editing.
Fixed: Cancel in Exam Password dialog didn't work.
Fixed keyboard shortcut for switching tabs (control-tab/shift-control-tab) didn't work on current iPadOS versions.
Fixed: Saving config files for MDM didn't use the .plist extension on iOS.
Fixed: Current BrowserExamKey/ConfigKey were sometimes not displayed in Settings together with the warning "Config was modified, keys won't match original state!" even when the current configuration wasn't changed.
Fixed: No error message was displayed when attempting to download/open SEB configurations while this was disabled.
Fixed SEB Server BrowserExamKey was not recognized by Moodle when classic WebView was used.
Added workaround for SEB Server bug to send BrowserExamKey (BEK) in HTTP headers when Server BEK is used, even if setting sendBrowserExamKey = false.
Remove the outdated setting allowWLAN (which causes problems when calculating the ConfigKey) when saving configurations.
Extended error message when the optional feature Zoom proctoring is enabled in settings with "Due to Zoom licensing issues, Zoom live proctoring is only available for SEB Alliance members. Please see https://safeexambrowser.org/alliance.".

See release notes for all changes.

January 19, 2024

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.2 for macOS released: This update fixes issues regarding file download, the Settings (formerly known as Preferences) window and allows exporting uncompressed configuration files (for example for directly importing it into Moodle). Also contains several security fixes: We therefore recommend to update soon!

WebInspector for debugging websites directly inside SEB using the modern WebView works now (no longer flickers if invoked on a website using the activated right mouse button and context menu option "Inspect Element").
Fixed some edge cases when the lock screen for "Prohibited process locked SEB" was displayed unnecessarily.
Fixed: Overriding security options in lock screen wasn't reset when reconfiguring.
Fixed that lock screen override for specific prohibited processes didn't work correctly.
Fixed: Wrong Browser Exam Key was displayed when starting SEB with alt/option key to directly display Settings (Preferences) window.
Fixed crash when downloading files.
Fixed: No error message was displayed when attempting to download/open SEB configurations while this is disabled.
SEB no longer freezes on Quit button in "System Security Feature Disabled" lock screen.
Fixed: Javascript pop-up was not opening with activated URL filter.
Fixed: Reconfiguration after login didn't close additional browser windows.
Now preventing display of "Browse Time Machine Backups".
Fixed SEB Server Browser Exam Key is not recognized by Moodle when classic WebView is used.
Added workaround for SEB Server bug to send Browser Exam Key (BEK) in HTTP headers when Server BEK is used, even if setting sendBrowserExamKey = false.

See release notes for all changes.

December 6, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.6.0 for Windows released: This feature update adds signature verification for third-party applications, provides version restriction by configuration file and adds an isolated clipboard implementation as well as important bug fixes and improvements. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

27. November 2023

Safe Exam Browser complies with the international Accessibility Standards WCAG

We are pleased to announce that our Safe Exam Browser products are now accessible for people with disabilities in accordance with the international accessibility standards WCAG.

Further information on the individual success criteria and conformance levels as well as information on limitations were outlined in the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template documents (VPAT WCAG edition):

November 14, 2023

Apple fixed iOS issue, which caused crashes with iOS 17: According to Apple's feedback and our testing, the issue causing SEB to crash when any text input field was being displayed or activated (taking input focus) was fixed in iOS 17.1. Therefore the easiest solution to fix these issues is to update to the current iOS version.

In the meantime we found the likely reason why it these crashes happened only on some devices and not on others: If Guided Access was enabled (iOS Settings / Accessibility / Guided Access), then these crashes happened in SEB with iOS 17 on our test devices (even though Guided Access itself was not being used with SEB). In one instance we observed similar crashes happening even with iOS 16.7. If you cannot update to iOS 17.1 or newer and observe seemingly random crashes with SEB, try to disable Guided Access.

September 26, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.3 for macOS and iOS released. This major update improves accessibility and security and allows to export SEB settings as configuration links or QR codes.

SEB 3.3 for macOS especially improves security by using new integrity checks. See release notes for all changes.

SEB 3.3 for iOS adds support for iOS 17 and in particular solves a security issue by adding a settings option (active by default) to block uploads and the file/photo selection dialog for the " Choose File" button in the modern WebView. See release notes for all changes.

Note: Due to an issue in iOS 17, SEB for iOS can crash on some devices when any text input field is being displayed or activated (taking input focus). This issue should be fixed in the final version of iOS 17.1. Unfortunately currently no workaround is known. Also see the discussion in this GitHub issue.

When using the optional SEB Server, the App Signature Key functionality allows automated application integrity checks similar to the manual use of the Browser Exam Key. Additionally, the new server-driven Browser Exam Key can be used for improved SEB Server integration with LMS/assessment systems like Moodle.

April 4, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.5.0 for Windows released: This feature update adds the App Signature Key functionality for server sessions, contains the new server-driven Browser Exam Key and brings a new configuration option for the file system dialog along with various accessibility improvements as well as important bug fixes. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

March 31, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.5 for macOS released. This update fixes one issue: Force Click lookup was working in the classic WebView on macOS 13 Ventura.

March 23, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.4 for macOS released. This update increases security in exams, further enhances the optional support for SEB Server and adds stability improvements:

Blocking AnyGPT by default.
Fixed: When starting SEB, a modal alert was sometimes displayed in the screen background and blocked SEB.
Security improvements.
Fixed download directory bug from SEB 3.2.3 for macOS.
Now also correctly handling PDF files in modern WebView when downloading is disabled (then PDF files even with a "download" link are displayed instead of downloaded).
Fixed "Choose file to upload ... by only allowing to upload the same file downloaded before" policy, which was not working in the modern WebView. Also resetting previous download paths when reconfiguring SEB.

Optional features which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default:

When using SEB Server, one or several SEB clients can be locked (with a red lock screen with optional, individual message) and unlocked again by the server.

See release notes for all changes.

March 10, 2023

Safe Exam Browser and ChatGPT
With Safe Exam Browser you are optimally prepared to embrace the opportunities of ChatGPT while effectively safeguarding against its challenges.

ChatGPT and other generative AI technology have raised many hopes and concerns in education. On the one hand, these new technologies have the potential to transform research, practice as well as education and enhance human performance. Accordingly, many organisations are scrambling to be among the first to integrate them into their teaching and learning. On the other hand, ChatGPT and other AI technologies have the potential to disrupt and threaten proven educational practices. Many of the most notable worries revolve around assessments and examinations.

Safe Exam Browser enables you to accommodate both concerns. Safe Exam Browser’s easily configurable kiosk component lets you …

… prevent access to unwanted resources thereby safeguarding assessments against copying, ghostwriting, collaborating, contract cheating, and other forms of dishonest behaviour.
… selectively enable access to digital resources thereby enabling the design of bespoke examination environments, where students answer questions and solve problems by drawing on web-based resources such as ChatGPT or local resources such as professional software in their workflows.

For more information, please refer to URL filtering allow/block rules (Windows/macOS manuals) and kiosk mode settings/working with allowed third party applications.

February 25, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.3 for macOS and 3.2.4 for iOS released. This maintenance update improves downloading in the modern WebView and stability:

Fixed downloads of website generated files (using "data:" protocol scheme) in modern WebView.
Now downloads of any file types and "blob:"-generated files are possible when using the modern WebView and macOS 11.3/iOS 14.5 or newer.
Another attempt to fix crash when closing some web pages.

SEB 3.2.4 for iOS: Files downloaded in modern WebView and iOS 14.5 or newer also use the original file name (this wasn't possible in the classic WebView)..

January 11, 2023

SEB Verificator 1.0.2 for macOS released: Minor update for the tool which can be run by proctors/invigilators at the start of an exam to verify that the correct, original and unmanipulated SEB version is used in BYOD exams (on location).

SEB Verificator now recognizes the code signature of current SEB versions
Improved UI feature parity of SEB Verificator Mac/Win:
- Added "Start with config ..." checkbox.
- A verified SEB version can now be started together with the first found SEB configuration file (alphabetically) using the Enter/Return key.

See Read Me for more information about how to use SEB Verificator and the section about using macOS safe mode for additional security.

January 9, 2023

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.2 for iOS released. This update enhances the optional support for SEB Server, improves MDM configuration and stability.

Now displaying camera & microphone permission dialogs for web applications and optional built-in proctoring before starting session. This is controlled with the new settings browserMediaCaptureCamera and browserMediaCaptureMicrophone (Settings / Browser Features / Media Playback/Capture / Allow Camera/Microphone Capture).
To access camera/microphone using WebRTC/getUserMedia() Web API on iOS 14.3 or newer, SEB must use the modern WebKit browser engine. If you're using an assessment software with a built-in SEB integration, make sure to use a version which is compatible with the SEB JavaScript API (for example Moodle 4.1/4.0.6 or updated plugin for manual installation in Moodle 3.9 or later).
Improved MDM configuration to better recognize configuration changes.
Fixed crash when configured via MDM: This happened when a config contained prohibited processes.
Fixed additional stability issues.

Optional features, which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default:

Massively improved error handling when connecting to SEB Server with better error messages which can help SEB Server and exam administrators to fix server-side issues.
Added support for fallback option when connecting to SEB Server fails completely. In that case, an alternative start URL can be configured and fallback optionally protected with a new fallback password.

See release notes for all changes

December 19, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.2 for macOS released. This update improves the optional support for SEB Server and adds many stability improvements:

Fixed: Force Click lookup was working in the modern WebView.
Fixed red lock screen after user switch disappeared without user action.
Fixed: Latest TeamViewer version wasn't blocked by default.
Fixed: Reload key shortcut not enabled correctly according to reload settings and selected window (main/additional).
Fixed a null reference exception in injected Javascript code, related to the "download" attribute on links.

Optional features which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default

Massively improved error handling when connecting to SEB Server with better error messages which can help SEB Server and exam administrators to fix server-side issues.
Added support for fallback option, when connecting to SEB Server fails completely. In that case, an alternative start URL can be configured and fallback optionally protected with a new password.

See release notes for all changes.

November 16, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.4.1 for Windows released: This patch update fixes an issue with downloads originating from data URLs. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

October 10, 2022

SEB Verificator 1.0.2 for Windows released: This feature update brings new functionality (e.g. logging and a single-select list of configuration files) as well as minor user interface and usability improvements.

October 5, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.1.1 for macOS and iOS released. SEB 3.1.1 is a maintenance update with various improvements and support for new capabilities:

SEB 3.1.1 for macOS solves various issues, supports screen sharing for web applications and improves support for the AAC Assessment (kiosk/lockdown) Mode. See release notes for all changes.

SEB 3.1.1 for iOS adds support for iOS 16, improves stability and allows to use VPN for Automatic Client Configuration by searching the network. See release notes for all changes.

August 29, 2022

SEB Verificator 1.0 for macOS released: This is a new tool which can be run by proctors/invigilators at the start of an exam to verify that the correct, original and unmanipulated SEB version is used in BYOD exams (on location). For example use a USB stick drive with SEB Verificator on it and either check randomly some or all student devices. You can also open specific configuration files with SEB which you copy to the directory SEB Verificator is started from. See Read Me for more information about how to use SEB Verificator and the section about using macOS safe mode for additional security.

August 5, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.4.0 for Windows released: This feature update introduces major accessibility improvements, fixes the parent-child relationship for popup windows, further improves the SEB-Server integration and provides various other important improvements. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

June 21, 2022

SEB Verificator 1.0.0 for Windows released: This is a new stand-alone tool which can be run by proctors before or during an exam to verify that the correct and unmanipulated official SEB version is in use on a particular device.

June 3, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.1 for macOS and iOS released. SEB 3.1 refines support for the modern WebKit browser engine, adds text search in browser windows and contains many other improvements. The SEB JavaScript API has been updated to fully support refactored and new SEB integrations in learning management and exam systems. SEB 3.1 is the first version for macOS and iOS/iPadOS built from a unified, common code-base. This allows better feature and release date parity for those two platforms and more efficient development of new features.

SEB 3.1 for macOS adds support for accessibility/VoiceOver. Also new is the optional support for SEB Server, for easy configuration and monitoring of exam clients. See release notes for all changes.

SEB 3.1 for iOS is an important stability update and improves the optional SEB Server integration.

January 31, 2022

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.2 for Windows released: This update adds a new JavaScript API to query the Browser Exam Key (BEK) and Config Key (CK), improves the optional SEB-Server integration and fixes various issues. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

October 22, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.1 for Windows released: This update improves the performance of the optional SEB-Server integration, adds a raise hand functionality for the optional live remote proctoring with SEB-Server and fixes various minor issues. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

October 11, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.0 for macOS released. This major update supports the modern WebKit browser engine and access to camera/microphone via WebRTC.

Support for the modern WebKit browser engine (WKWebView), which increases performance, stability and compatibility with web applications.
Access to camera/microphone via WebRTC on macOS 11.1 Big Sur and newer. You can use web-based video conferencing and remote proctoring solutions, as long as the requirements explained in release notes are met, so that SEB can use the modern WebView. Note: Apple currently doesn't support getDisplayMedia in WKWebView for screen sharing.
Due to refactored code using newer APIs, SEB 3.0 requires macOS 10.11 or later (using the modern WebView requires macOS 10.13 or later). We recommend to only use macOS versions which still receive security updates from Apple (the three most recent, currently macOS 10.14, 10.15 and 11).
Support for the new SEB JavaScript API for easier integration into exam solutions (currently for querying app version details, ConfigKey and BrowserExamKey security elements).
Support for restart session (Preferences/Exam/Link to quit SEB after exam/Restart instead of quitting) and quit SEB/session features, which are mostly interesting for managed Macs and kiosk environments: If client settings are secure (have a quit password set), SEB was not started with a seb(s) link or .seb file and an exam session is quit, SEB is not quit (terminated), but only the exam session (SEB is restarted with client settings).
Added setting in Preferences / Security / Check full macOS version number for full control about minimal allowed macOS version (major/minor/patch version numbers).
Use AAC kiosk mode only on macOS 15.4+ and 11.4+ (except 11.0 - 11.3, as there was an issue with DNS lookup. This caused pages with yet unknown domains to not load). The AAC Assessment Mode is more secure, as it blocks any other applications on the Mac to access the Internet/network and to capture the screen. You can activate it in Preferences / Security / Use Assessment Mode (AAC) if available.

See release notes for all changes.

June 15, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.0.1 for iOS released. This maintenance update runs by default on iOS/iPadOS 15 and fixes the issue, that a custom user agent and suffix wasn't updated when reconfiguring SEB.

The manual is currently being updated. There is an SEB for iOS GitHub Discussion for questions and discussions about the iOS version as well.

August 3, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.3.0 for Windows released: This feature update introduces optional live proctoring with Zoom, adds support for basic screen sharing in the integrated browser and fixes various issues reported by the community. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

June 15, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.0 for iOS released. This is a major update, supporting the modern WebKit browser engine, access to camera/microphone via WebRTC on iOS 14.3, optionally SEB Server and live remote proctoring:

Support for the modern WebKit browser engine, which increases performance, stability and compatibility with web applications.
SEB 3.0 for iOS can now also be started with seb(s) links to servers requiring authentication (including Basic Auth).
With the SEB integration in Moodle 3.9 or newer, you can now use the "Launch Safe Exam Browser" button to open the quiz in SEB for iOS.
SEB JavaScript API, currently for querying app version details, ConfigKey and BrowserExamKey security elements.
Fix for "Back to Safari" button/link function in visible Status Bar on iOS 14 before 14.5 in AAC kiosk mode.

Optional features, which need to be individually configured and are disabled by default:

Live remote proctoring using the free, open source video conferencing solution Jitsi Meet.
AI (machine learning) supported proctoring detects if candidates disappear from the camera view or if other faces show up. Also suspicious face movements are detected and displayed with warning symbols in the video stream. The face tracking features work on-device and respect privacy.
Support for SEB Server: In the web backend of SEB Server, an administrator can import exam metadata from a learning management system (LMS) and create SEB Server exams. The list of current exams is then displayed on the SEB clients connected to this SEB Server instance. During the exam, the clients can be monitored in the SEB Server web backend, SEB can be quit remotely etc.

See release notes for all changes. The manual is currently being updated. There is an SEB for iOS GitHub Discussion for questions and discussions about the iOS version as well.

June 7, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 3.2.0 for Windows released: This feature update introduces optional live proctoring with Jitsi Meet, enables WebRTC for the integrated browser engine and fixes issues reported by the community. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

March 29, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 2.3.2 for macOS released. This version is is a minor update for 2.3.1 with one bug fix:

When running on macOS 11 Big Sur on Intel CPU based Macs (tested on macOS 11.2.3), system processes displaying UI in the foreground were not recognized as system applications and terminated by SEB or locked SEB (displaying a red lock screen) if SEB couldn't terminate them. Now system processes should be identified correctly both on Intel and Apple Silicon based Macs.

See release notes for all changes.

March 22, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 2.3.1 for macOS released. This version is a maintenance update, which disables Automatic Assessment Configuration (AAC) macOS Assessment Mode in default settings, as it has a major issue when used on macOS 11 Big Sur. We recommend to not use AAC until this issue will be fixed in an upcoming macOS Big Sur update.

Changed default setting for AAC to disabled, using a new settings key enableMacOSAAC.
Blocks screen capture also when AAC is used (as AAC currently doesn't prevent screen capture reliably).
Fixed URL String from pasteboard to copy to Preferences/General/Start URL is not saved when SEB is started in AAC.
Clicking the close button of the running prohibited processes list window now quits SEB/the exam session.
Fixed force "Quit All Processes" alert was sometimes displayed behind process list window.
Fixed security issue with "Revert to Client Settings" and "Configure Client" in Preferences: Don't ask for client settings admin password if none is set.

See release notes for all changes.

February 23, 2021

Safe Exam Browser 2.3 for macOS released. This version is a major update, which improves security massively by supporting the Automatic Assessment Configuration (AAC) macOS Assessment Mode, available from macOS 10.15.4. SEB 2.3 also adds new capabilities, improves the user interface for students and exam administrators and fixes several issues:

Support for Automatic Assessment Configuration (AAC) macOS Assessment Mode. AAC is used by default if running on macOS 10.15.4 or newer. Assessment Mode blocks various macOS features which shouldn't be accessible during exams. Also no other applications and processes running in the background can access the network while Assessment Mode is active.
Optionally, the old SEB kiosk mode can be used also on latest macOS versions, as AAC doesn't support optionally enabling features like like screen capture/sharing, Siri and Dictation. Assessment Mode also cannot be used if you want to run a video conferencing solution in the background during an exam for proctoring.
New options to enforce using the internal (built-in) display of a MacBook or iMac but optionally still allowing to use the external display on a Mac without built-in display (Mac Mini, Mac Pro).
Fixed an issue when calculating the Config Key for configuration files containing prohibited processes entries for both macOS and Windows.
New battery indicator in the SEB Dock, automatically displayed on devices with battery when the macOS menu bar with its battery indicator is disabled. This specifically applies when using Assessment Mode, as then the menu bar is always hidden.
Full compatibility with macOS 11 Big Sur.
Native support for Apple Silicon.
Preferences window can be opened by holding the option/alt key when starting SEB (also when dropping a SEB configuration file onto the SEB icon).

See release notes for all changes.

January 1, 2021

SEB Alliance started. From 2016-2020, the successful SEB Consortium supported financing the SEB open source project. Due to changes in Swiss VAT regulations, which would have caused significant administrative overhead, we now discontinued the SEB Consortium.

On January 1st, 2021 we started the SEB Alliance instead. The SEB Alliance is the new legal entity which sustains the ongoing funding of the Safe Exam Browser open source project to continue its maintenance, development and support activities.

December, 17 2020

Safe Exam Browser 3.1.1 for Windows released: This update adds new functionality for the optional SEB Server integration with Moodle and fixes a few issues reported by the community. Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

November 9, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 3.1.0 for Windows released: This feature update adds basic, optional support for SEB Server, text search for the integrated browser and a first step towards feature parity of SEB for all three operating systems (Windows, macOS and iOS). Please visit the release notes for a list of all changes.

October 16, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.2.2 for macOS released. This version is a maintenance update for SEB 2.2.1, with some improvements and bug fixes:

Fixed that PDF documents were not displayed when Acrobat PDF viewer is installed.
Prevent Preferences window to be opened in Moodle 3.9 when using automatically generated settings (option "Configure manually"). SEB now uses the default setting allowPreferencesWindow=false in exam configurations (client configs still have allowPreferencesWindow=true as default setting).
Fixed: Cannot start SEB by opening .seb file on macOS <= 10.12.
Fixed false positive detection of not allowed process because of partial match of process executable name.
Now controlling resizing of Preferences panels and scrolling oversized panels to the top when displaying them the first time

See release notes for all changes.

October 6, 2020

We created the video Remote Exams With Safe Exam Browser, which is available on the new SafeExamBrowser YouTube Channel. It demonstrates the new, optional built-in remote proctoring features in Safe Exam Browser and SEB Server. Our goal is to replicate the situation in an exam hall, where proctors/invigilators walk around and observe students taking a test. The new live proctoring features allow to monitor exam candidates during the exam using the webcam and microphone in their devices. Proctors or an educator/teacher can also communicate by live video/audio stream or the built-in chat with exam candidates. They can for example give last-minute instructions before the exam starts. Or they can help single students in case of problems during the exam. Future versions will also support live viewing and recording the display of exam devices.

AI proctoring features allow to optionally track face movements and the number of faces visible in the camera stream. Face detection and tracking is performed on-device, not in any cloud service. Detected events are logged, displayed with a symbol in the video stream and send to a SEB Server instance if connected to one.

The new remote proctoring features are implemented by integrating the open source video conferencing solution Jitsi Meet into SEB clients and SEB Server. It is quite easy to set-up an own Jitsi Meet server. As SEB also doesn’t use any centralized cloud services, you have full control of privacy with this solution.

Currently these features are available in beta versions of SEB for iOS and developer versions of SEB Server. Remote proctoring with SEB is still in development, we will communicate availability in SEB versions for macOS and Windows at a later moment. If you want to test the beta version of SEB for iOS 2.1.50 with support for SEB Server and remote proctoring (requires an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch with iOS 11 or newer), see this forum page.

September 18, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.17 for iOS released. This version is a maintenance update, which runs by default on iOS 14, adds a scroll lock button for better usability in some question types and fixes minor issues.

SEB 2.1.17 runs by default on iOS 14, removed check for running on iOS beta.
New scroll lock button for better usability while using some drag-and-drop and drawing question types.
Now displaying a disclaimer about the requirement to add an issue description before sending log files to the SEB developers in the integrated mail composer.
Now writing SEB and iOS version and device info into log files.
Fixed that a different Config Key was calculated on iOS 9/10 than on iOS 13/14 with some rare configuration files containing a deprecated setting.
Error message in case AAC couldn't be started properly and device needs to be restarted will only show on iOS versions older than iOS 13.0.
Fixed that SEB assumed an opened URL could be a Universal Link if decrypting the config from that URL failed.
Fixed a common crash when the "Search Network" button in the Initial Configuration Assistant is tapped.

The manual is currently being updated. There is a forum section for questions and discussions about the SEB for iOS version as well.

August 31, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.2.1 for macOS released. This version is a major update, improving security by blocking prohibited processes, adding new capabilities and offering full compatibility to enhanced integrations with learning management systems, like the one available in Moodle 3.9.

Prohibited Processes settings for blocking specific processes and applications from running together with SEB.
Preset prohibited processes covering communication, screen sharing and recording apps. Let us know if you would like to suggest applications and tools to be added to those preset prohibited processes (we need information about the software and its name and Bundle Identifier (if applicable).
Added settings to allow to reconfigure SEB, even it is already running in a secure exam session.
Implemented setting keys to control clearing cookies when starting/ending an exam session (examSessionClearCookiesOnStart / examSessionClearCookiesOnEnd). This can be used to keep users logged in from the previous session after an exam session was started (and SEB reconfigured with new settings).
Added setting to enable Web Inspector (web developer tools) in Preferences/Browser (same settings key allowDeveloperConsole as in SEB for Windows 3.0. If enabled and right click isn't disabled (see Preferences/Security/Hooked Keys/Enable Right Mouse), you can right click/ctrl-left click on a web page element and open Web Inspector with 'Inspect Element'.
Added Mac-specific settings for blocking screen shots and screen recording. The separate settings allow to run SEB correctly in parallel with some remote proctoring tools.
Added separate Mac setting for the Private Clipboard feature.
Added Mac-specific setting for blocking screen sharing over the network (VNC): key screenSharingMacEnforceBlocked (default: false, then the value of the existing key allowScreenSharing is used).
Added all SEB for iOS settings in Preferences window.
Fixed that a wrong Config Key was calculated because of specific new default settings added in a new SEB version. This was the cause why SEB 2.1.4 did not work correctly with the new SEB integration in Moodle 3.9.

See release notes for all changes. The user manual has been updated for SEB 2.2.1 and contains important information about new features and settings in SEB 2.2.1, which might require you to update your SEB configuration files.

July 7, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.4.1 for Windows released: This is a maintenance update, which can be used if the refactored, more modern version SEB 3.0.1 misses a feature you need. SEB 2.4.1 fixes an issue which was reported to happen when using the SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration (available by default in Moodle 3.9 and as plugin for Moodle 3.7 and 3.8):

Fixed issue when the old browser window stayed open while reconfiguring with seb(s) link, together with the Firefox file open dialog. This should fix issues when using SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration.
Implemented fix for VMware Windows Registry error.
Added Zoom to list of prohibited applications. If you want to use Zoom together with SEB, you have to set its "Active" property to false (Applications / Prohibited Processes).
Added expansion of environment variables in path of permitted processes. This allows to configure applications to run as permitted process, which need to be installed in subdirectories of the user directory, for example %AppData%.

See release notes for all changes.

June 26, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 3.0.1 for Windows released: This update contains a fix for the issues some users of SEB 3.0.0 observed specifically in BYOD environments. The new version should prevent that anti-malware software falsely identifies SEB 3.0 as malware (false-positive detection using heuristics and similar algorithms).

SEB 3.0.1 does no longer access the Windows Registry by default. This means that power options (shutdown, reboot) are no longer disabled and the options is the Windows Security Screen (accessed by Ctrl+Alt+Del) are not removed.

SEB still prevents the TaskManager to be used. If you prefer the current behavior, you can disable the new setting "Ignore SEB Service" (setting key sebServiceIgnore = false). If you are using the SEB Windows Service, some of your students might again have to disable or uninstall anti-malware tools to run SEB, unless that software correctly recognizes SEB and doesn’t block it. We requested vendors of reported anti-malware applications to correct the false-positive detection of SEB 3.0 and so far got a positive answer from Avast and Bitdefender. Please inform us if you about other anti-malware products which block SEB (product name and version).

June 11, 2020

A small number of the around 130'000 users which already downloaded Safe Exam Browser 3.0 encountered issues when starting it. We investigated these issues and it seems that in all cases anti-malware software caused these. Some of these security software tools falsely identified SEB 3.0 as malware (false-positive detection using heuristics and similar algorithms). This most likely has to do with the improved security features in SEB 3.0, like constant monitoring of the Windows Registry settings which SEB changes during an exam. The affected anti-malware tools block parts of SEB, like the SEB Windows Service. Then SEB either can't start or cannot restore some of the Registry settings (the latter might only happen when Windows tried to run the system update process at the same time SEB was started).

We are working on solving these issues and also requested vendors of reported anti-malware applications to correct the false-positive detection of SEB 3.0. To prevent such issues, we recommend using SEB 2.4 for the moment.

June 04, 2020

Chrominimum 1.0.0 for Windows: As SEB 3.0 does not yet support WebRTC functionality (e.g. access to the webcam by web applications), we implemented a barebone browser which has WebRTC enabled and can be used as third-party application in a SEB configuration. Chrominimum can be downloaded from GitHub.

May 28, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 3.0.0 for Windows: The next major version for Windows has been published. SEB 3.x for Windows is completely refactored and uses Chromium as integrated browser engine. This allows better integration of browser functionality into the SEB application and increased stability, security and performance. The up-to-date Chromium browser engine also guarantees great compatibility with modern e-assessment web applications.

Below a list of the most prominent new features and changes:

New, embedded browser engine (Chromium Version 79.0.3945.130 for SEB 3.0).
Dedicated builds for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Supports kiosk mode switch when reconfiguring (e.g. from Create New Desktop to Disable Explorer Shell).
Action Center (side menu) with same functionality as taskbar (i.e. access to applications and system controls).
Lock Screen, which is activated if a prohibited application can’t be terminated.
Access to developer tools of browser engine (for web developers).
Real-time access to SEB application log (e.g. to test features like the URL filter).
New settings to control browser session (for SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration).
Improved user interface with new features (e.g. thumbnails of open windows in task view [ALT+TAB]).
Completely automated build system with unit tests.

SEB 3.0 does not yet provide the complete feature set of SEB 2.x. See release notes for details.

May 2, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.16 for iOS released. This version adds keyboard shortcuts, improves accessibility, security & MDM deployment and facilitates integration into learning management systems. It is fully compatible with the SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration, coming in Moodle 3.9!

Improved accessibility when using VoiceOver.
Now supporting hardware keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-Tab/Shift-Ctrl-Tab) to switch browser tabs.
Added keyboard shortcut Cmd-M to toggle left side menu (show/hide).
Improved reconfiguration with MDM Managed App Configuration, to facilitate deployment of SEB settings.
Added new option to lock SEB when it's attempted to capture the screen.
Added new option to lock SEB when closing an iPad case on iOS <13, as the displayed iOS lock screen could contain a cheat sheet.
Implemented separate settings to control clearing cookies when starting/ending session. This allows users to stay logged-in, for example when starting an exam with individual settings in some learning management and exam systems.
Fixed issues when calculating the Config Key hash with specific settings. Compatible assessment systems can use this hash value to automatically verify that an exam is accessed with correct settings.
Allow to open SEB config files from iCloud Drive (using Files app).
Fixed URL filter didn't treat query strings consistently between SEB versions on other platforms.

See release notes for all changes. The manual is currently being updated. There is a forum section for questions and discussions about the SEB for iOS version as well.

April 14, 2020

Safe Exam Browser 2.4 for Windows released. This version is the last feature update before we switch completely to SEB 3.x. It supports the Config Key and new session cookie settings, compatible with the SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration, coming in Moodle 3.9!

New in SEB 2.4:

Config Key feature, hash checksum value to verify settings used by SEB. The Config Key can be generated automatically by a compatible exam system together with the SEB config to be used for an exam. All SEB versions supporting the Config Key generate the same key, as long as the same SEB config file is used.
Implemented setting keys to control clearing cookies when starting/ending a session (examSessionClearCookiesOnStart / examSessionClearCookiesOnEnd). This can be used to keep users logged in (SEB started with client settings) after an exam session was started.
Now TLS 1.2 is supported for downloading .seb files using sebs:// links.
Added more default prohibited processes.
Private clipboard should now also work correctly with rich-text editors like TinyMCE (fixed double pasting of text).
Additional bugfixes.

See release notes for all changes.

March 17, 2020

Public beta of SEB 3.0.0 for Windows: The next major version for Windows is now in public beta and can be downloaded from GitHub. SEB 3.x for Windows has been completely refactored and uses Chromium as integrated browser engine. However, SEB 3.0 does not yet provide the complete feature set of SEB 2.x (e.g. no Additional Resources). Below a list of the most prominent new features and changes:

New, embedded browser engine (Chromium Version 79.0.3945.130 for SEB 3.0).
Dedicated builds for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Supports kiosk mode switch when reconfiguring (e.g. from Create New Desktop to Disable Explorer Shell).
Action Center (side menu) with same functionality as taskbar (i.e. access to applications and system controls).
Lock Screen, which is activated if a prohibited application can’t be terminated.
Access to developer tools of browser engine (for web developers).
Real-time access to SEB application log (e.g. to test features like the URL filter).
New settings to control browser session (for SEB-Moodle Deeper Integration).
Improved user interface with new features (e.g. thumbnails of open windows in task view [ALT+TAB]).
Completely automated build system with unit tests.

Please note that development and bug fixing is still in progress, so the beta version is in no case meant to be used in a production environment! If you find anything, feel free to create an issue on GitHub. The final release is currently scheduled for the first week of May 2020.

March 9, 2020

The Safe Exam Browser Consortium is now offering a new Platinum membership level, which is important if you plan to build a customized Safe Exam Browser version. The new membership level has following benefits: Suggest SEB development goals, build a feature list for SEB, get direct, personal consultancy by the SEB developers (including for customizing SEB), logo of institution is placed on consortium website. In addition to extended consultancy, the Platinum Membership allows individual code signing of a customized SEB version, while being able to use all security features.

The SEB Consortium is the body which sustains ongoing funding of the Safe Exam Browser open source project to continue its development, maintenance and support activities. ETH Zurich and the SWITCH foundation launched the SEB Consortium in 2016, which currently consists of 20 members from Europe, Australia and the USA. The Consortium invites further bodies, which may range from educational institutions to companies and public authorities, to join and work together on the promising future of the SEB open source tool: safeexambrowser.org/consortium.

October 31, 2019

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.4 for macOS released. This version enhances exam security and improves usability, for example when using additional resources in multiple browser windows. Please update as soon as possible, to maintain best possible security and compatibilty with new macOS versions. As communicated before, we don't support older versions anymore. Before asking any support question or reporting a bug, please install the latest SEB version and try to reproduce the issue with the most recent version.

SEB 2.1.4 is fully compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina.
The SEB application is now notarized and uses the Hardened Runtime security feature.
Implemented key shortcuts for switching between open browser windows.
Left Alt (Option) Key - Tab: Cycle forward through open browser windows
Left Alt (Option) Key - Left Shift Key - Tab: Cycle backwards through open browser windows
The default minimum required macOS version was set to 10.11 El Capitan. This means, if you want students to be able to use older macOS versions, you need to adjust that setting if you didn’t had it set in your config already.
SEB 2.1.4 uses the final implementation of the Config Key, to verify that an exam is using a correct, unmodified SEB configuration. The Config Key can be generated automatically by a compatible exam system together with the SEB config to be used for an exam. All SEB versions supporting the Config Key generate the same key, as long as the same SEB config file is used. Currently SEB for iOS supports the Config Key as well, a compatible Windows version will follow later this year.
Custom App Controls and Quick Actions in Touch Bar, also with enabled Control Strip, are now disabled, even if BetterTouchTool is used.
Implemented blocking macOS screen recording (Cmd+Shift+5) introduced in Mojave, controlled with setting Preferences / Security / Allow screen capture.
Selecting multiple files for upload is now possible, controlled by the HTML input element (multiple-attribute).
Fixed: Media player app (iTunes etc.) can block SEB, when set to full screen and started using the Play key. The previous implementation didn't work properly on Mojave and newer.
Fixed downloads not working and an issue with the default location for the Downloads directory on macOS 10.14 Mojave or newer.
Fixed downloading and opening of SEB config files defined inline on a webpage with "data:" URL didn't work.
Fixed: JavaScript confirm dialog didn't return false when cancel (or any secondary) button was clicked.
Red lock screen for "SEB process was stopped" is no longer displayed when Mac is set to sleep mode.
Improved preventing a modal lock (SEB freezes) when a webpage tries to download a font (displaying a dialog hidden by SEB's kiosk mode). When SEB doesn't have the needed Accessibility permissions to close the dialog, it is now terminated after saving information on which webpage the font download was attempted (title and URL or placeholder). This is then displayed when SEB is started next time.

See release notes for all changes.

September 19, 2019

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.15 for iOS released. This version runs on iOS 13 by default and contains some minor bug fixes:

It's now possible to start an exam with individual settings or to reconfigure SEB even if using client settings with a quit password, as long as no exam is running.
Tapping Cancel in the "No Kiosk Mode Available" alert now displays the "Exam Session Finished" alert instead of asking to activate AAC Single App Mode immediately again.
Fixed that a Quit Link with a trailing slash "/" didn't work.
Now clearing cookie store when starting SEB, to prevent that some authentication logins persist.

See release notes for all changes of the previous 2.1.14 feature update. The manual is currently being updated. There is a forum section for questions and discussions about the SEB for iOS version as well.

August 30, 2019

Safe Exam Browser 2.3 for Windows released. SEB 2.3 for Windows offers new features which increase security and usability significantly.

Please note our new update policy: We will only support the latest SEB version and will remove all older SEB versions after a grace period. Only with updated SEB versions you can achieve the best possible security and stability of e-assessments. Before asking any support question or reporting a bug, install the latest SEB version and try to reproduce the issue with the most recent version.

New in SEB 2.3:

Implemented private clipboard (optional, see Security tab). When enabled, cut/copy/paste works only with content inside the SEB browser, the private clipboard doesn't accept content from other applications or tools.
Added zooming of browser windows using the Ctrl +/- shortcuts.
Downloading and uploading files in the browser can now be disabled.
Enabled SpeechSynthesis API.
Fixed issue when opening a PDF with a link to be opened in a new browser window (target = _blank or JavaScript open), a second, empty browser window was opened.
Deactivated printing in the built-in PDF.js viewer, as that opened a security hole.
Now it's possible to open an embedded PDF file (embedded Additional Resource) when starting a SEB session, instead of a Start URL.
mailto: links are now being ignored.
Fixed security issue with quitting SEB when Firefox was running.
More eligible SSL/TLS certificates are displayed in the list "Choose TLS/SSL certificate to embed into configuration..." and the one for CA certificates in SEB Config Tool / Network / Certificates.

See release notes for all changes.

August 27, 2019

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.14 for iOS released. Despite the minor change in version number (which is due to harmonizing SEB features and version numbers throughout the supported platforms), this release includes major improvements. These allow to run web-based exams on iOS devices with the best security possible. SEB 2.1.14 for iOS offers almost all features of the desktop versions of Safe Exam Browser and should be fully compatible to exam and learning management systems with built-in SEB support. Some new features and improvements are currently only available in the iOS version, but will be added to future releases of the Mac and Windows versions of SEB.

SEB 2.1.14 adds these important SEB features:

The Browser Exam Key and the new Config Key hash values are generated by SEB for iOS and sent with HTTP requests. Compatible assessment systems can use these values to verify that an exam is accessed with an approved version of SEB and deny access if a regular browser is used, if SEB is used with wrong settings or if a manipulated version of SEB is used.
SEB for iOS now supports the URL filter feature to restrict access to websites/pages/web resources. Use the desktop versions of SEB to generate config files containing such URL filter rules.
SEB now uses the full native resolution when running on iPad Pro devices with Face ID.
SEB now supports Slide Over and Split View when not running in Single App Mode (for open book exams or when using SEB together with other apps in exams on managed devices).
On iPad devices supporting picture in picture video (PiP), video plays in a movable and resizable overlay window. If not running SEB in Single App Mode (open book exams, using other apps in exams on managed devices), PiP video keeps playing even if switching to other apps.
Added options to allow media auto play and to control if video can be played inline on a web page or only in full screen.
SEB for iOS now optionally supports downloading website generated files (using the data: scheme) . This feature allows saving encrypted exam results in case network connection fails. Such downloaded files can be accessed in the Files app ("On My iPad/iPhone" location) and with iTunes.
Added support for encrypting SEB config files with identity certificates. These certificates have to be distributed to exam devices by embedding them into a client config file. SEB exam config files encrypted with this certificate can afterwards be opened without students having to enter an SEB exam settings password.
New identity certificates for encrypting and decrypting config files can easily be created in the built-in settings editor. They can even be automatically created and auto-selected for encrypting exam configs.
Added options for links requesting to open in new tab: open in same or new tab, always block or block when on another server.
The Quit Link feature can now optionally restart an exam session instead of quitting it.
Exam sessions can now optionally be reconfigured before having to first quit the running exam session.
Clearing of session cookies can now optionally be disabled, allowing users to stay logged in if they already were in a previous session.
Deep linking for exams now also works with sebs:// links (in addition to Universal Links).
SEB for iOS now saves log files, which can help when analyzing issues. Those logs can be emailed to the SEB developers or to an exam administrator.
Improved reliability of MDM Managed Configuration, important for iPads owned, deployed and managed by an institution.
Added iOS 13 to the "Allow Running on iOS Beta" option.
SEB 2.1.14 fixes an issue in SEB 2.1.13 which occurred when checking app integrity.

See release notes for all changes. The manual is currently being updated. There is a forum section for questions and discussions about the SEB for iOS version as well.

March 4, 2019

List of antivirus/anti-malware software, which is compatible with SEB for Windows published. In our extensive test, most of the antivirus tools worked together with SEB. Only one product wasn't working at all with SEB and has to be uninstalled before starting an exam secured with the Browser Exam Key check. See the list on our FAQ page. In case you should observe issues using SEB and one of these antivirus/anti-malware products or you are using other products successfully together with SEB, let us know.

February 23, 2019

Safe Exam Browser 2.2.3 for Windows released. SEB 2.2.3 for Windows is an important security update for SEB 2.2.x and SEB 2.1.8.

PLEASE UPDATE TO THIS VERSION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! WE WILL REMOVE ALL OLDER SEB VERSIONS SOON.

Our new policy is: We will only support the latest SEB version and will remove all older SEB versions after a grace period. Please adjust your procedures accordingly. Only with updated SEB versions you can achieve the best possible security and stability of e-assessments. Therefore you have to keep your exam environment up to date, there is no alternative to regular updates.

Fixed an issue when calculating the Browser Exam Key (BEK) on Windows set to Swedish and probably Turkish. A different BEK was calculated on Windows set to such languages since SEB 2.2 and the check for detecting additional (irregular) files in SEB's program directory displayed a warning in SEB 2.2.2.
Added settings option to switch off detector for RDP/remote session (SEB Config Tool / Security / Allow screen sharing).
Security improvements important mainly when running SEB on managed computers.
The dialog "Open File With... Safe Exam Browser" is no longer displayed when downloading and opening .seb files.
Closing the download dialog while loading a seb(s) link doesn't prevent further reconfiguring anymore.
Added settings options for all settings of the macOS 2.1.3 version to Config Tool / Security pane.

See release notes for all changes.

January 31, 2019

The Safe Exam Browser Consortium is now open to worldwide membership. Safe Exam Browser (SEB) is being used to secure exams running in various commercial and open source e-assessment solutions and learning management systems. It is already the product of choice for many educational organizations around the world, enabling millions of fair and safe exams. The SEB Consortium is the body which sustains ongoing funding of the Safe Exam Browser open source project to continue its development, maintenance and support activities.

ETH Zurich and the SWITCH foundation launched the SEB Consortium in 2016, which currently consists of 16 members from all over Europe. The Consortium invites further bodies, which may range from educational institutions to companies and public authorities, to join and work together on the promising future of this impressive open source tool: www.safeexambrowser.org/consortium.

January 3, 2019

Preview version of Safe Exam Browser 2.1.13 for iOS released. This version adds important SEB features which were missing in the iOS version until now. If you are using SEB for iOS in your institution or distribute it with your own assessment solution, please contribute to the improvement of the SEB open source software by testing the new SEB 2.1.13 features mentioned below and their compatibility with the desktop versions of Safe Exam Browser.

Testing the compatibility of especially this beta version with all exam systems is crucial, because it uses some custom networking and web request handling code.

As the SEB app is updated automatically on student's iOS devices as soon as a new version is available in the App Store, it's important that SEB users test the beta version and report issues BEFORE the final version is released. So if you are using SEB for iOS in your institution or distribute it with your own assessment solution, participating in its beta testing helps you to avoid possible issues when the new version is released publicly.

The Browser Exam Key and the new Config Key hash values are generated by SEB for iOS and send with HTTP requests (if enabled in Settings/Exam Session). Compatible assessment systems can use these hash values to verify that an exam is accessed with an approved version of SEB and deny access to the exam if a regular browser is used, if SEB is used with wrong settings or if a manipulated version of SEB is used.
SEB for iOS now supports the URL filter feature to restrict access to websites/pages/web resources. Use the desktop versions of SEB to generate config files containing such URL filter rules.
SEB 2.1.13 uses the full native resolution when running on the new iPad Pro devices with Face ID.
SEB for iOS now saves log files, which can help when analyzing issues. Those logs can be emailed to the SEB developers or to an exam administrator.
Improved reliability of MDM Managed Configuration, important for iPads owned, deployed and managed by an institution.

See the testing repository page about how to get access to the TestFlight beta testing of this and future versions. That page also lists all new features and changes. There is a forum section for questions and discussions about the SEB for iOS version as well.

October 19, 2018

Safe Exam Browser 2.2.2 for Windows released. SEB 2.2.2 is a maintenance update for SEB 2.2 and contains two bug fixes for SEB 2.2.1. If you're using the Browser Exam Key (request header check) to verify if the correct SEB configuration and SEB version is used, you should definitely update to SEB 2.2.2.

Fixed an issue in calculating the Browser Exam Key in the SEB Config Tool, which happened with specific config files.
Added a check for detecting additional files in SEB's program directory (which might have been left there when updating from an older SEB version) and displaying a warning in that case. Such left over files cause a wrong Browser Exam Key as well.
Fixed an issue when en-US was always selected as spell checking language, even if not allowed in settings, when starting SEB first time or after the contents of the Firefox Profiles folder were removed.

See the updated SEB 2.2.2 manual and release notes for all changes.

September 25, 2018

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.12 for iOS released. SEB 2.1.12 runs on iOS 12 and makes use of the full screen size of all iPhone X devices. In addition it contains improvements for configuring SEB clients and starting exams. Most of these features will be available in future SEB versions for all platforms. These configuration improvements are particularly helpful for developers and exam administrators integrating SEB into their assessment environments.

SEB is now running on iOS 12.
Supports full screen size on all new iPhone X devices.
The Initial Configuration Assistant now allows to search the local network for SEB settings by just tapping a button (when an institution supports this feature).
Improved information for users in some of the dialogs displayed when configuring SEB and finishing an exam.
QR codes can now contain an optional query string, for example to identify a specific user or exam.
Specific assessment systems can be accessed using Universal Links:
- Regular web links to a supported system open directly in SEB.
- If SEB isn't installed yet, the link opens in Safari and a smart banner shows a button to install SEB from the App Store.
- Universal Links also work with QR codes: You can print one QR code which users can scan with the camera app (starting with iOS 11). This will then allow examinees to install SEB and start an exam on your system with just one QR code.
The title of the currently visible webpage tab is displayed underlined in the left side menu.
Stability and security improvements.

See release notes for all changes.

September 5, 2018

Safe Exam Browser 2.2.1 for Windows released. SEB 2.2.1 is a maintenance update for SEB 2.2 with some new features and many improvements. Safe Exam Browser 2.2.1 should be used from now on, we won't provide support for older versions anymore.

Added spell checking with configurable languages, additional dictionaries can be embedded into SEB config files.
Added context menu for displaying word suggestions and selecting spell checking dictionary. Note: You might have to enable the right mouse button in your settings ("Hooked Keys" config tool tab).
Resolved issue with sometimes missing power options after SEB was quit.
Added new options for additional resources
Fixed that the URL filter didn't treat query strings in URLs consistently in SEB for Windows 2.2/macOS. Added option to explicitly forbid any query part in checked URL.
Fixed Browser Exam Key (BEK) check wasn't working correctly with some exam systems (because a trailing slash "/" was removed from the URL used to hash the BEK)
Fixed that SEB couldn't quit Firefox when starting.
Prevent that SEB browser can be used to finish an exam if SafeExamBrowser.exe is terminated: The browser displays a red lock screen in this case, requiring to enter the quit/unlock password.
Improved setting and resetting of Registry keys (for Ctrl+Alt+Del Security Screen and power options), including when the SEB Windows Service tries to reset Registry settings after rebooting the machine. Added group policy update to registry resetter to reset power options reliably.

See release notes for all changes.

July 23, 2018

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.3 for macOS released. This version includes important security and stability improvements, updating soon is highly recommended.

New "Config Key" feature allowing an exam system to verify that the correct settings are being used. The Config Key can be generated server-side and doesn't change if same settings are loaded in a new SEB version which adds new setting keys.
Added settings to disable Siri and dictation.
Now blocking Touch Bar typing suggestions (predictive keyboard) during an exam.
Improved compatibility of URL filter between SEB for macOS 2.1.3 and Windows 2.2.1.
Implemented functionality for separate Allow Reload / Show Reload Warning / Allow Navigating setting for exam and additional browser windows.
Facilitated configuration of managed SEB Mac clients which are used by multiple users.
Fixed that SEB in some cases didn't switch off automatic spelling correction.
Improved startup process and reconfiguration, for example double clicking a .seb config file several times can't lock SEB anymore.

See release notes for all changes.

February 20, 2018

Safe Exam Browser 2.2 for Windows released. SEB 2.2 for Windows is a major update with new features and many improvements. Using the powerful new feature Additional Resources, specific webpages, full or partial websites, HTML5 web applications and documents can be accessed securely and easily in exams. Those resources can either be located on external servers or embedded into SEB configuration files. In the first case, the improved URL filter with its simple filter rules effectively allows access to specific content and blocks all other. In the second case, resources embedded in SEB configuration files allow fully offline exam scenarios. See the SEB 2.2 manual and release notes for all changes.

This version is replacing the SEB 2.1.x branch, with which it is compatible with one important exception: If you defined URL filter rules in SEB 2.1.x for Windows, then you'll have to re-enter those in the 2.2 SEB Config Tool, following the new filter rule scheme. URL filter rules created and saved with SEB for macOS are already compatible with SEB 2.2 for Windows.

December 21, 2017

Developer documentation published, which covers resources and information particularly for developers of learning management systems and e-assessment solutions looking to integrate SEB into their environment.

December 1, 2017

Important update Safe Exam Browser 2.1.8 for Windows released, which increases security and stability. This SEB version re-introduces the "Create new desktop" kiosk mode, which reliably blocks notifications from various applications like some web browsers. This became possible because the mouse pointer offset problem which occurred with SEB 2.1.5, "Create new desktop" and a recent Windows Creators Update was solved now.

We recommend an immediate update if you're using SEB 2.1.6/2.1.7. If you manually changed your settings to use the "Disable Explorer Shell" kiosk mode with these two SEB versions, then you can change it back to "Create new Desktop" again. You can also remove the default prohibited browser processes from your settings which were added by SEB 2.1.7.

In addition, SEB 2.1.8 blocks new default prohibited processes like some screen sharing and communication tools, fixes the severe "Sticky Keys" security issue and a rare bug which made it possible to switch applications using the shortcut Win + Tab on some devices. Note: In this final release version the SEB client has the version 2.1.8.1. If you installed an earlier build of 2.1.8, then update to this final version now.

September 27, 2017

Important security update Safe Exam Browser 2.1.7 for Windows released. This SEB version fixes a problem with Chrome and some other web browsers which could display notifications while SEB was running. This security issue was induced by SEB 2.1.6 for many SEB users. We recommend an immediate update if you're using SEB 2.1.6 or you configured SEB to use the "Disable Explorer Shell" kiosk mode. If you cannot update right now, make sure that Chrome and Chromium-based browsers (for example Vivaldi) and also Firefox are quit before starting SEB. If you're starting exams with SEB links from other browsers, use Edge, Internet Explorer or Opera for this. On managed computers, reboot your computers and start SEB directly, before students take a seat at the exam client (in BYOD scenarios this might not be easy to achieve, so updating to SEB 2.1.7 is the best fix for this issue).

In addition, SEB 2.1.7 improves handling permitted and prohibited processes in general and blocks prohibited processes more securely.

September 21, 2017

SafeExamBrowser 2.1.11 for iOS is available in the App Store. SEB is now fully compatible with iOS 11. A security issue when running SEB on iOS 9.3.5 and starting an exam from Safari or another app was solved too.

August 3, 2017

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.6 for Windows fixes a problem with the mouse cursor introduced by the recent Windows 10 Creators Update, adds support for webcam and microphone access with new settings and improves compatibility to config files generated with the upcoming major release SEB 2.2.

June 16, 2017

SafeExamBrowser for iOS is now available in the App Store. SEB for iOS opens a web browser without an address and search bar, loads a pre-configured webpage and locks an iPad (or iPhone or iPod Touch) into a single app kiosk mode. This kiosk mode is built into the iOS operating system and therefore provides a high level of security. Students cannot switch to other apps, access other websites or communicate with other students during an exam. Notifications, FaceTime/voice calls and screen shots are also blocked. SEB for iOS works both on unmanaged iOS devices like students' own iPads as well as on iOS devices owned and managed by an institution.

SEB for iOS is compatible with the existing versions for macOS and Windows. You can use the same SEB config links and files to start exams in SEB from Safari or Mail or to configure SEB to display your institution's exam system start/portal page. This first version contains some new features currently unique to the iOS version and some features of the macOS/Windows versions are not yet available. Please check the compatibility of SEB for iOS version 2.1.10 with your exam system.

Check out the SEB for iOS manual which explains all features. In addition, we published a first version of a tutorial which will help exam administrators to better understand how to configure and use SEB for iOS. It also includes how SEB for iOS can be used together with the Apple Classroom app. More topics will be added to this tutorial over time.

June 5, 2017

The first version of SafeExamBrowser for iOS will shortly be released in the App Store. You can already now get access to pre-release versions if you are interested in testing and in giving us feedback. Check out the manual and a tuturial about SEB for iOS.

May 2, 2017

Thanks to financial support from the SEB Consortium we have been able to welcome a further SEB developer to the team: Damian Büchel. Damian will be working on the SEB Windows platform (desktop und tablets).

April 24, 2017

Although SafeExamBrowser and its source code is freely available without requiring any registration with personal details, we received a few requests for a privacy statement for the SEB application. The fact that SEB only connects to the exam server that you configured is actually one major advantage of SEB compared to commercial secure exam solutions. Using SEB is probably the best practice for data privacy available in the market, especially for organizations where privacy regulations are strict and exam candidates' data needs to stay inside the organization.

April 13, 2017

We published a revised and updated technical report about competence-oriented exams using virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This description of a general concept for exams using VDI and Safe Exam Browser contains process descriptions for planning and conducting exams using even complex Windows third party applications in a secured environment. Checklists and technical details on how to configure and use VDI with SEB are also included. How to use third party applications in exams is also covered generally in an updated section in the SEB user manual.

April 5, 2017

The minor maintenance update Safe Exam Browser 2.1.5 for Windows contains bug fixes for using specific permitted third party applications and fixes minor problems and usability issues in the SEB Config Tool.

March 2, 2017

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.4 for Windows released. This maintenance update contains usability and stability improvements. Mass deployment on managed computers is significantly facilitated, with changes in the SEB installer and improvements in the management of config file encryption using X.509 certificates.

November 17, 2016

We added a new subpage to our website: Publications on the Use of SEB. Besides technical reports you can find links to scientific papers there, which cover pedagogical, organizational and technical aspects of e-assessments using Safe Exam Browser. These articles give more insights on how SEB can be used in different examination scenarios.

November 1, 2016

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.2 for macOS fixes some issues of the recent release SEB 2.1.1 which could occur in non-default screen configurations and when starting SEB by opening specific settings. It also contains a usability improvement: When starting SEB by opening a .seb config file or a seb(s):// link, the start URL from persistent settings of the SEB client isn't opened first anymore, instead the new settings are directly applied. In case loading or decrypting these settings isn’t successful (load error, canceled by the user, wrong decryption credentials etc.), SEB quits instead of continuing with the persistent client settings.

See release notes for all changes. The updated manual covers all SEB 2.1.2 features.

October 26, 2016

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.1 for macOS offers new features, usability enhancements and includes major security improvements:

Fully compatible with macOS 10.12 Sierra
Implements support for embedded TLS/SSL & CA certificates and certificate pinning for enhanced security when connecting with exam servers.
SEB is now using a private clipboard, so utilities running in the background and Universal Clipboard (on macOS 10.12 Sierra) cannot be used to copy-paste contents into or out of exams.
WebAudio API is enabled now.
Added blocking panels and windows opened by third party tools running in the background.
Added detection for macOS ScreenSharing.
Added deactivating display mirroring and a new setting option for a maximum number of displays which the user is allowed to use. This can prevent wireless displays to be used to cheat or leak exam content.
Added full support for Basic/Digest and NTLM Authentication.
Loading seb(s):// linked settings from authenticated servers is possible now, even with indirect links (not containing the config file name with the .seb extension, like for example sebs://example.com/download.php?id=2352). Therefore a SEB exam config file can be stored for example into the same Moodle course as the quiz. The login session is remembered, students don't have to login twice in SEB if you start SEB/an exam using a seb(s):// link to a config file on an authenticated server.
Added a new settings option to enforce SEB being used with a specific minimal macOS version.
On a trackpad supporting Force Touch, the lookup feature (invoked by strongly pressing the trackpad while the cursor is over a word or text selection) is also blocked now.
Fixed various minor issues.

See release notes for all changes.

September 22 and 23, 2016

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at the Inspera Seminar 2016, Scandinavia's leading e-assessment seminar which took place on September 22 and 23 in Oslo, Norway. The seminar gathered e-assessment specialists and users from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Germany and other countries. SEB was subject in four presentations and workshops.

July 7, 2016

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.3 for Windows adds support for using Windows system proxy settings and fixes some important issues:

Current versions of Internet Explorer, Edge and Windows 10 complained about an invalid signature of the SEB 2.1.2 installer when downloading or starting it, as Microsoft doesn't accept insecure SHA1 code signatures anymore. SEB 2.1.3 is signed with a new code signing certificate with a secure SHA-256 signature.
Added support for system proxy settings (the existing option in SEB Config Tool / Network / Proxies is functional now).
Fixed SEB Windows service didn't start properly on some machines and might have caused SEB influencing some other installed applications.
Improved stability of resetting registry settings when SEB quits or is started/quit again after not being exited properly.

See release notes for all changes and read the manual which covers all SEB features.

July 1, 2016

Safe Exam Browser Consortium launched. Deployment of online examinations at traditional educational institutions and beyond has been increasing steadily, together with the recent rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs). The Safe Exam Browser (SEB) is a secure and reliable lockdown browser, which is already the open source product of choice for many educational organisations in this context. SEB is known for versatility, its software quality and its engagement with the user, standards and development communities.

However, SEB requires ongoing funding for its maintenance, development and support activities. For this reason ETH Zurich and the SWITCH foundation have decided to launch the SEB Consortium. The Consortium invites further bodies, which may range from educational institutions to companies and public authorities, to join and work together on the promising future of this impressive open-source tool: www.safeexambrowser.org/consortium.

March 24, 2016

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.2 for Windows supports the native HTML5 full screen mode, hardware acceleration in the browser and fixes some minor problems.

See release notes for all changes and read the manual which covers all SEB features.

December 3, 2015

Safe Exam Browser was presented at OEB 2015, formerly known as Online Educa Berlin, the global, cross-sector conference on technology supported learning and training. The Discovery Demo "Safe Exam Browser, the Modular Freeware Solution for Secure E-Assessment" had following content: "If you are ready to completely replace paper and pencil to electronic devices for e-assessment, this demo will show how SEB makes sure that online examinations can be secure, even when using examinee's own devices (BYOD). Experience how SEB runs on Windows tablet computers and how an electronic pen can be used for freehand drawings in Moodle exams." See presentation slides for some of the discussed topics.

November 26, 2015

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.1 for Windows is compatible with Windows 10, contains improvements when running on Windows 8.1/10 tablets and increases general stability:

Safe Exam Browser 2.1.1 is fully compatible with Windows 10, there is no delay when starting up on Windows 10 anymore and Windows updates are paused correctly while SEB is running.
Improvements in the touch optimized mode for Windows tablet computers, as better behavior when the on-screen keyboard is displayed and the web page scrolls a text field into the visible area or when moving the cursor in and between text fields.
A new setting allows to switch off the on-screen keyboard manually or automatically when a hardware keyboard is connected.
Fixed bug which caused SEB being opened multiple times by quickly double clicking more than once.
Fixed show keyboard layout SEB task bar widget which couldn't switch to other keyboard layouts in Windows 7.

See release notes for all changes and read the manual which covers all SEB features.

November 6, 2015

Safe Exam Browser 2.1 for macOS offers new features, usability enhancements and includes major security improvements:

Buttons for restarting exam, reloading page and a display for the current time improve usability in exams.
Full compatibility with OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
Now it is possible to configure if you want examinees to be able to use the spell and grammar checker and the macOS dictionary lookup feature.
Zooming the entire web page is also possible in addition to only changing text size. Zoom can be disabled completely as well.
SEB now detects when the examinee tries to switch to another user account and locks itself down.
SEB 2.1 can be configured to always use the more secure internal PDF viewer instead of the Acrobat Reader plug-in.
Individual browser user agent strings can be used per exam, SEB also identifies its version now in the user agent.

See release notes for all changes. The updated manual covers all SEB 2.1 features.

September 24, 2015

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at the Inspera Høstseminar 2015, which took place on September 24 in Oslo, Norway. The seminar gathered e-assessment specialists and users from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and other countries and gave insights on how rapidly exams taken on computers are expanding in the educational sector of these countries. The presentation slides cover interesting details about SEB news and future roadmap, as well as an introduction to the SEB Consortium. We also explain how competency oriented exams using third party applications are conducted at ETH Zurich using SEB together with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

August 19, 2015

Safe Exam Browser 2.1 for Windows includes new features, usability, stability and security improvements:

SEB 2.1 is the first Safe Exam Browser version featuring a touch optimized mode for Windows tablet computers.
Buttons for restart exam, reload page, change keyboard layout and a display for the current time improve usability in exams.
New feature which monitors processes and hinders all non-permitted applications to open, become active and display windows while SEB is running.
Individual proxy settings, URL filters and server certificates can be used per exam.
The SEB Config Tool has been re-engineered and now allows comfortable editing and testing of SEB configuration files.

See release notes for all changes and read the updated manual which now covers all SEB 2.1 features.

July 23, 2015

The Safe Exam Browser project is moving from the open source project hoster SourceForge to GitHub. Unfortunately there have been several cases where the project resources like this website, the source code repositories, SEB releases and discussion boards haven't been accessible, the last such server downtime just happend in the past 7 days. We will be moving project resources gradually to the new infrastructure, we already started with the website and the repositories. Until further notice there should not be any significant changes for our users.

February 28, 2015

Safe Exam Browser 2.0.3 for Windows improves stability, allows to control Flash, Java and JavaScript use and fixes Flash issues with SEB's kiosk modes. See release notes for all changes.

December 30, 2014

Safe Exam Browser 2.0 for macOS is a re-engineered, major update with new features, superior usability and strongly improved security. New features include:

Comfortable built-in editor for the platform-independent SEB configuration files, which can also set all additional individual settings for the Windows version. See manual for more information.
SEB 2.0 now also blocks the screenshot feature of macOS.
SEB 2.0 features an optional dock/task bar displaying an icon for the SEB browser with controls for its open browser windows and a quit button.
Additional functionality allows new use cases and improves usability (for both examinees and exam administrators).

See release notes for all changes.

December 10, 2014

Safe Exam Browser 2.0.2 for Windows contains several important bug fixes which increase stability and some new features like a browser log. See release notes for all changes.

August 21, 2014

Safe Exam Browser 2.0.1 for Windows updates the integrated browser, contains several bug fixes and new functionality for removing the embedded browser session data (cache, cookies, local browser storage etc.) when exiting SEB. See release notes for all changes.

June 2, 2014

The much anticipated final release of Safe Exam Browser 2.0 for Windows 7 and 8 is now available. Check out the completely re-engineered SEB 2.0 with a full range of new features and superior usability. Please let us know about your experiences using SEB 2.0 especially in BYOD exam environments. SEB 2.0 for macOS is on its way to be released later this year, the current stable preview version is already compatible with the final release version for Windows.

March 21, 2014

In the stable preview version SEB for macOS 2.0pre3 the format of .seb setting files was adapted to be compatible with SEB 2.0 RC Windows. You can now use the same .seb files for starting exams on Windows and macOS exam client computers. The Browser Exam Key authentication for insuring that the correct exam settings are used for a specific exam is now also compatible with the release candidate version of SEB 2.0 for Windows.

February 14, 2014

Safe Exam Browser 2.0 RC for Windows released. This release candidate of SEB 2.0 is a completely re-engineered, modern .NET application, including new features, superior usability and improved stability. It offers the same major features like individual encrypted configuration per exam, authentication for exam systems with SEB 2.0 support to insure that a particular, unaltered SEB version and the correct exam settings are used. This facilitates secure exams both on unmanaged computers like students' own laptops (BYOD) as well as in managed environments.

February 6, 2014

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at LEARNTEC, the Leading International Trade Fair and Convention for Learning with IT, which took place from 4 to 6 January 2015 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

October 18, 2013

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2013 in Anaheim, USA. Slides of the presentation "E-Assessment Challenges: How to conduct secure e-exams with open source solutions and BYOD" are online now.

August 28, 2013

Safe Exam Browser will be presented at the following conferences:

September 9: DeLFI 2013 at "Interaktive Vielfalt" in Bremen, Germany. Poster session and live demonstration of competence-oriented exams with virtual desktop infrastructure and Safe Exam Browser.

October 18: EDUCAUSE 2013 in Anaheim, USA. Presentation and webcast: "E-Assessment Challenges: How to conduct secure e-exams with open source solutions and BYOD".

May 23, 2013

New Bugfix Version of SEB Windows 1.9.1 Final Release fixes a bug in the XULRunner browser component. The User Agent String in the "config.json" file has been changed from "SEB" to "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:19.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/19.0 SEB" because some web pages checked it and complained.

April 30, 2013

Safe Exam Browser 2.0 offers an individual configuration per exam, which is protected by a strong encryption against manipulation. Thanks to a new authentication feature the exam system can verify that a particular, unaltered SEB version and the correct exam settings are used for an examination. This facilitates secure exams especially on unmanaged computers like students' own laptops.

The second stable preview version SEB for macOS 2.0pre2 contains following new features:

The Browser Exam Key allows an exam module to authenticate the connecting SEB version and its settings. For the learning management system Moodle a beta version of a plug-in offering this functionality has been released.
New options in the user interface: Size and positioning of browser windows (main window with the quiz and additional browser windows) can be preset. A new indicator shows network activity.
SEB can optionally display the standard macOS menu bar and a tool bar in browser windows, functions like "About SEB", quit, open preferences, reload page, zoom text and browsing back/forward are therefore easier accessible (if desired).

This preview of SEB version 2.0 includes all configuration functionalities of the final release (see the detailed documentation), but some functions will be activated only after extensive testing in upcoming releases. Please test this preview version and provide us with feedback. This version runs on OS X 10.7 and 10.8 only. More information.

April 19, 2013

A full-day workshop entitled 'Online Assessment using the Safe Exam Browser' took place at ETH Zurich on April 19, 2013.

Participants included the Swiss eduhub and international e-learning communities, faculty interested in the online examination topic, staff of e-learning support centres and university IT personnel. The afternoon programme offered two separate tracks, one focusing on technical topics, the other on examination methodology and organisational issues.

The event showcased the prevailing strong interest in the Safe Exam Browser and online assessment, and received very positive feedback.

Slides of most sessions are available electronically.

April 16, 2013

On the occasion of the approaching release of Safe Exam Browser version 2.0 we would like to announce the future operating system support:

Windows: SEB 2.0 will support Windows 7 and above. Windows XP and Vista will not be supported officially anymore.
macOS: SEB 2.0 will support OS X 10.7 (Lion) and above. Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) will not be supported anymore.

By concentrating on current operating systems, our resources for development and testing (which has been intensified recently) can be used more efficiently. Furthermore we can use new technologies of current systems in SEB 2.0 and future SEB versions. Questions and feedback about the future operating system support? Discuss it in our forum.

March 28, 2013

New Final Release SEB Windows 1.9.1 contains numerous improvements compared to previous versions:

New installation program:
A new SEB Windows installer was created, which is more reliable and stable. Superfluous input dialogs were removed from the installation routine. Moreover, the installation file is now digitally signed.
Improved configuration program:
The configuration tool SebWindowsConfig.exe was reworked thoroughly and now offers better comfort and a better user interface. Security settings (like enabling/disabling the Task Manager) can now be defined for inside and outside SEB.
New browser component:
with improved, updated XULRunner. Additional browser windows can now be opened and popup windows do work correctly (starting up not in fullscreen mode but partially filling the screen, with the option to minimise or maximise).

After a comprehensive testing phase, we hereby provide the Final Release of version 1.9.1, which offers (in comparison to 1.9.1 Beta Release) some minor improvements regarding the browser component XulRunner (e.g. regarding popup windows).

January 30, 2013

SEB has been presented at eduhub days 2013. The electronic poster session illustrated how the new Safe Exam Browser 2.0 enables BYOD for exams and explains one possible scenario of how SEB can be used on students' computers.

December 31, 2012

Safe Exam Browser 2.0 facilitates secure exams on unmanaged computers like students' own laptops as well as in managed environments and will be relased until end of 2013 for both platforms Windows and macOS. The first public preview version SEB for macOS 2.0pre1 contains following new features:

Adds support for encrypted .seb setting files which allow to individually configure SEB per exam.
New feature to quit SEB after the exam is submitted (without having to enter a quit password) by specifying a quit link and placing this on the summary page displayed by your LMS after submitting the exam.

This preview does not contain all features of the final 2.0 release yet. Please test it and provide us with feedback. This version runs on OS X 10.7 and 10.8 only. More information.

December 20, 2012

New public beta release SEB Windows 1.9.1 contains numerous improvements compared to previous versions:

New installation program:
A new SEB Windows installer was created, which is more reliable and stable. Superfluous input dialogs were removed from the installation routine. Moreover, the installation file is now digitally signed.
Improved configuration program:
The configuration tool SebWindowsConfig.exe was reworked thoroughly and now offers better comfort and a better user interface. Security settings (like enabling/disabling the Task Manager) can now be defined for inside and outside SEB.
New browser component:
with improved, updated XULRunner. Additional browser windows can now be opened and popup windows do work correctly (starting up not in fullscreen mode but partially filling the screen, with the option to minimise or maximise).

Since the tests are very comprehensive and have not yet been finished, we hereby provide a beta version, which can be tested by interested users. The final release is planned for mid of January.

November 30, 2012

SEB has been showcased at Online-Educa 2012 in Berlin. The presentation at the 18th International Conference on Technology Supported Learning & Training which is the "the largest global e-learning conference for the corporate, education and public service sectors" and a publication in the Book of Abstracts titled "The Safe Exam Browser: Innovative Open Source Software for Online Examinations" raised awareness about SEB at an international level.

November 15, 2012

Released a patch which fixes the exam mode in Moodle 2.3.x used with Safe Exam Browser: The navigation links to other parts of the LMS are not displayed during an exam. The fix will be included in Moodle 2.4.

October 8, 2012

New public beta release SEB Windows 1.9.0 contains numerous improvements compared to previous versions:

New installation program:
A new SEB Windows installer was created, which is more reliable and more stable (e.g. Rollback in case there is a problem during the intallation).
Improved configuration program:
The configuration tool SebWindowsConfig.exe was reworked thoroughly and now offers better comfort and a better user interface.
New browser component:
with improved, updated XULRunner which can open additional browser windows now and popup windows are opening correctly.

Since the tests are very comprehensive and there is demand for an improved installer, we hereby provide a beta version, which can be tested by interested users. The final release is planned for later.

September 12, 2012

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at the anual conference of the "Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft" GMW 2012 at TU Vienna.

August 15, 2012

Questionmark released Questionmark Secure for Mac in the Apple Mac App Store.

Questionmark Secure is a lock-down browser based on Safe Exam Browser for macOS and is used in conjunction with an organization's Questionmark OnDemand service or Questionmark Perception on-premise software. Questionmark OnDemand/Perception and Questionmark Secure are designed to work together to provide a secure environment for online exams and reduce risks to the integrity of exam results when deployed along with other defenses to combat impersonation, content theft and cheating.

With this collaboration, Safe Exam Browser technology will help to improve security of online tests and exams for the businesses, governmental organisations and educational institutions worldwide that currently use Questionmark's assessment management technologies.

July 24, 2012

SEB Windows 1.8.2 is, according to initial tests, compatible also to the desktop mode of the upcoming operating system Windows 8, which is going to be officially released on October 26. The tests were executed under Windows 8 RC (Release Candidate). Futher, more detailed tests (also in conjunction with Metro) are planned.

February 28, 2012

SEB MacOSX 1.5.2 is now also available in the Mac App Store.

February 20, 2012

SEB Windows 1.8.2 fixes a bug: Reloading / Refreshing the current page in the browser window by pressing the F5 key did not work. Now it is possible, provided that the F5 key is admitted. The new default setting for the F5 key is therefore "enabled".

February 13, 2012

SEB Windows 1.8.1 fixes two bugs:

Clicking on the SEB icon of the user's desktop in some cases launched the SEB installer rather than the actual SEB application. Now the SEB installer creates a shortcut to the SEB application on the common desktop. Thus the SEB icon and shortcut are visible to all users, and clicking on this icon launches the SEB application as intended.
When finishing, SEB restored the default registry values for Task Manager etc. (on the blue Windows Security Screen). Now, SEB instead restores the previous registry values (= the values before SEB was started).

January 31, 2012

SEB MacOSX 1.5 supports additional browser windows and improves integrity of the SEB environment by elevating all SEB windows on a higher windows level, improving suppression of other applications opening alert windows, requesting to become active and switch to foreground. New security features include clearing the clipboard, blocking browsing forward/backward, preventing possible security holes in Flash content, offering fine grade settings for opening and blocking links in new browser windows and in addition the upload of files edited in third party applications was made easier and more secure.

December 22, 2011

SEB Windows 1.8 easens the configuration for the teacher. It is now possible to do the configuration in a new GUI editor called SebWindowsConfig.exe using mouse clicks, without directly editing the initialisation files SebStarter.ini and MsgHook.ini. The file format of these ini files has been simplified and is now better human-readable. In addition to the full version of SEB (installation via .msi file), a classic portable version can be built (copying of a zip file without installation), which has less functionality.

November 14, 2011

SEB MacOSX 1.4.1 fixes two bugs when when running on OS X 10.7.2 Lion.

November 7, 2011

In the Safe Exam Browser Workshop at ETH Zurich, mainly technical aspects about using SEB were discussed. You can find the presentations in German language here.

September 12, 2011

SEB MacOSX 1.4 easens the deployment of the application including an individual configuration. The adapted preferences can be written into the application bundle. Then the modified application can be distributed on all exam Mac's and will start up with the right settings (Start URL, passwords etc).

August 25, 2011

SEB Windows 1.7 easens the configuration and deployment for the teacher. It is now possible to modify the configuration files before rather than after installation, so the students can directly install SEB without patching it by additional configuration files after installation. Also, an Administrative Install via network is now possible. Downloading a zip file, as in former SEB versions up to 1.4.1.

July 19, 2011

Safe Exam Browser 1.3.1 for macOS is now available to download from this site and the Mac App Store. Install this version for better compatibility with the soon to be expected OS X 10.7 Lion.

July 18, 2011

Now you can subscribe to the SEB news also as a RSS feed, so you won't miss any new program versions in future.

July 6, 2011

SEB Windows 1.6.1 simplifies the configuration. The ini files and log files are now located in the program data directory (Windows 7) or in the common application data directory (Windows XP), respectively. See user documentation.

June 30, 2011

The latest versions of SEB for Windows and macOS can detect if they were started in a virtual instead of a native environment and refuse to start up. This VM Detector hinders manipulating SEB when used in unmanaged environments.

SEB Windows 1.6 is multilingual (German, English, French menus and error messages) based upon the current user default input language and contains further usability refinements, the VM Detector and improvements in the built-in XULRunner browser.

SEB MacOSX 1.3 features the VM Detector and enhanced compatibility with OS X 10.7 Lion.

June 16, 2011

Safe Exam Browser 1.2.1 is now also available in the Mac App Store, the online shop from Apple for Mac software. From there SEB can be downloaded for free and automatically installed (you need to use a current macOS and have a Apple ID). Future SEB updates can be easily installed through the Mac App Store. SEB MacOSX will of course still be available on this website too.

June 3, 2011

In SEB MacOSX 1.2 down- and uploading can be allowed. Downloaded files can be opened automatically. This is useful when running additional applications during an exam in a separate, managed OS X user account.

May 12, 2011

SEB Windows 1.5.1 further simplifies SEB installation by automatically starting the Windows Service at the end of the installation (no computer reboot or manual start of Windows Service as administrator required anymore).

April 30, 2011

SEB MacOSX 1.1 features a new preferences window with panes, which offers additional configuration options. It is now possible to run additional applications during an exam together with SEB MacOSX.

April 29, 2011

The user documentation and other information about SEB for Windows and macOS on the SEB website have been revised and are completely translated to German.

April 28, 2011

SEB Windows 1.5 has been released. Its main feature is a new Windows Service component, which enables also Windows 7 to successfully suppress the Task Manager etc.

March 31, 2011

The SEB MacOSX source code has been released. Please see the developer manual for information about the architecture of Safe Exam Browser for Mac OS X, about getting the SEB and WebKit sources, linking the components and how to build SEB. In addition how to localize SEB for other languages.

March 25, 2011

In SEB MacOSX 1.0.2 French localization has been added. Alerts (including browser error messages), text and buttons in preferences window (including tool tips) are displayed in French when SEB is started on a macOS system set to French language.

March 24, 2011

SEB has been presented at the eduhub days 2011 in Lugano. The national meeting of e-learning executives, support center leaders and members of the Swiss eLearning Community gave an ideal plattform to discuss with professionals existing and possible future use of SEB at their institutions. We also discussed some future features of SEB and got feedback about what professional users think about the further development of SEB.

February 9, 2011

SEB was demonstrated at the Workshop E-Assessment at ETH Zurich. Besides a tutorial how to use SEB, enhancements planed in the new project SEB2012 were presented and community questions answered. Here can find the presentations in German language.

January 26, 2011

New SEB version 1.3.4 and SEB version 1.4.1 eliminate a potential problem regarding write permissions of the logfile. Since the logfile functionality was contained in both the Portable Firefox version 1.3.3 and the XULRunner version 1.4, both versions were replaced by the new bugfixed versions.

January 18, 2011

New SEB version 1.4 is based on XULRunner rather than on Portable Firefox.

December 23, 2010

In SEB MacOSX 1.0.1 German localization has been added. Alerts (including browser error messages), text and buttons in preferences window (including tool tips) are displayed in German when SEB is started on a macOS system set to German language.

December 22, 2010

New SEB version 1.3.3 adds logfile functionality (set the variable LOG_FILE in Seb.ini).

December 14, 2010

The general release of stable version SEB MacOSX 1.0 brings many improvements in security and usability.

December 2, 2010

Structure of the SEB website has been rebuild to improve access to information for both system architectures SEB is available for now (Windows and macOS). Visual appearance and navigation has also been improved. The SEB demo movie now can be watched as MP4 or Flash movie.

October 30, 2010

The first release candidate RC1.0 for the stable version of SEB MacOSX is released.

September 13 - 15, 2010

SEB is presented at GMW'10 in Zurich. The yearly congress of the society for scientists and professionals in the field of digital media use in universities and other higher education institutions was reflecting about the use of media in research and teaching.

September 7, 2010

New SEB version 1.3.2 bugfixes problems when starting up SEB version 1.3

August 19, 2010

The first beta version of SEB MacOSX is released.

July 22, 2010

After it got evident that XULRunner cannot be embedded under macOS while maintaining kiosk mode locking of the system, it was decided to use the WebKit browser rendering engine for SEB on macOS instead of XULRunner/Mozilla Gecko. A first beta version of SEB for macOS will be released soon.

July 15, 2010

New SEB version 1.3 also supports Windows 7.

April 7, 2010

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at Netzwerk E-Learning at Zürcher Fachhochschule.

March 24 and 25, 2010

Safe Exam Browser has been presented at OpenExpo 2010 in Berne.

March 17, 2010

User documentation improved, mainly the ambiguous explanation of shortkeys to quit SEB. A new table shows how the function keys are coded in MsgHook.ini to define the SEB exit sequence.

March 2, 2010

Daniel Schneider joins the SEB team. He is mainly responsible for porting SEB to macOS.

January 12, 2010

Dirk Bauer joins the SEB team, mainly being responsible of improving SEB and porting it to Windows 7.

January 1, 2010

The AAA/Switch Project for further development of the Safe Exam Browser starts.

April 29, 2009

Safe Exam Browser in combination with Moodle is presented in the eLearningForum at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

April 1, 2009

Safe Exam Browser is presented at Open Expo Berne.

Open Expo Berne 2009

March 19, 2009

Safe Exam Browser has been successfully introduced to the Moodle Community at Moodlemoot 2009 in Bamberg by Thomas Korner.

The presentation is available here (registration required).

Safe Exam Browser at Moodlemoot

February 20, 2009

Safe Exam Browser has been downloaded more than 1000 times so far.

January 15, 2009

The project Safe Exam Browser will attend the ILIAS Forum at Learntec 2009 in Karlsruhe on February 4.

January 8, 2009

The first exam in computing labs at the ETH Zurich with SEB has been carried out successfully.

December 1, 2008

Extensions fitting the Learning Management Systems Moodle and ILIAS are now available.