As more colleges shift to online courses and exams, the potential for cheating grows. But new technology is on the rise that authenticates students’ identities with something that can’t be shared — their bodies.

With the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner on the Apple iPhone 5S in 2013 and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 in 2014, a key biometric technology has already gone mainstream.

Using this and other unique body identifiers as authentication, there are a variety of ways biometrics can be implemented to change or augment security measures.

Biometric Signature ID, a Lewisville, Texas, company, has found some success in higher education through its eponymous handwriting and gesture-based security program.

BioSig-ID builds a profile for each student based on how they write, sign, or gesture using a pen or mouse.

This profile is used for comparison when the student takes an online test. Another authentication feature of the program asks students to memorize a sequence of clicks made on an image.

In one example, an image of a kitchen had three apples. Students would click on each apple in a sequence. The image is then tilted and students would click on those same apples again at a different angle.

Security in use at Georgia Southern University takes a different approach to biometrics — one generally associated with private security systems and the military.

While waiting in line at the school?s dining halls, students forgo swiping the traditional plastic ID card, and instead look into an iris scanner for less than two seconds to confirm their identity.