Exams regulator Ofqual has asked exam boards to introduce new security measures, its chief regulator has said. It follows police investigations being launched after cyber attacks at three exam boards last summer. Sir Ian Bauckham, Ofqual chief regulator, said 鈥渃learly examinations cannot be fair if some people get access to secure examination materials beforehand鈥. He said it was 鈥渃ritically important鈥 that the sector focused on 鈥渕aintaining the security of the IT systems that are used to hold and communicate important examination materials鈥.聽 鈥淚 know that all of you, if you鈥檙e running schools or trusts or colleges, will be very focused on the security of your own systems as well and the resilience of those systems under pressure. 鈥淲e鈥檝e asked exam boards to introduce additional security measures this year, including multi-factor authentication for accessing exam sites to make sure that those are only accessed by people who are authorised to access them.鈥 He recognised this could 鈥渁 bit annoying鈥 when you鈥檙e 鈥渨orking under pressure and add a few minutes of extra time鈥. But he added: 鈥淚 think all of us would understand that is an important process to go through to ensure that these materials are secure鈥. Police investigating the cyber attack at AQA said there were 鈥渘o further positive lines of enquiry鈥 to pursue. A separate investigation by Cambridgeshire Police into cyber attacks at exam boards OCR and Pearson is continuing. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of theft, fraud and computer misuse. He has been released under investigation. ‘Rigorous checks’ on digital exams All exam boards have set timelines to move towards on-screen examinations. But AQA announced this week that it has delayed its plans to 鈥済et this right and maintain public confidence in our exam system鈥. Ofqual has to approve the plans. Bauckham said the regulator will make 鈥渞igorous checks鈥 to make sure they are fair and the stability to make sure 鈥渟ystems are not going to be at risk of falling over and messing up examinations鈥. He pointed to the Oxford University admissions test, where candidates were unable to sit entrance tests properly after problems with the online assessment, 鈥淟o and behold schools were beset with freezing screens and impossible log-ins and refusals to move onto the next question,鈥 Bauckham said. 鈥淚n fact the whole thing had to be abandoned.鈥 鈥淲e cannot afford either a large scale failure nor can we afford to have innovations in assessment which accidentally introduce unfairness. He added: “You only get one chance when you鈥檙e 16 taking your GCSEs. Failures in IT systems are not going to be acceptable as an excuse for your child鈥檚 GCSEs being messed up.鈥澛 Asked by Schools Week how long the approval process would take, Bauckham said they 鈥渃an鈥檛 be certain鈥 at the moment but they are going to 鈥渕ake absolutely sure that we don鈥檛 take any risks with any of those areas.鈥