Secure Coding mailing list archives
Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum?
From: u3902 at siliconkeep.com (Olin Sibert)
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:16:17 -0400
I'm mostly a lurker here, and I'm a practitioner rather than a professional educator, but there's a viewpoint I haven't seem much of that I want to support, namely: Exploits are FUN. Teach from that angle, and I think you'll get more traction. I've given a fair number of "basic security" talks to commercial audiences. Invariably, a significant fraction of the audience, whether they are professional programmers, inexperienced interns, marketing types, managers, etc., end up wanting to understand how exploits actually work and how they are prevented. I can't help thinking that this would be true of even the freshest of programming/compsci students. Heck, I've even gotten that reaction from some of my kids' high school friends. Not everyone thinks that way, but I think if we can get students to think "hey, that's pretty clever" instead of teaching security as something you _must_ do because it's good for you even though it's not obviously related to getting the job done, odds for success are higher. Rigor needs to come eventually, but I think it is absolutely appropriate to include some exploit-based entertainment even at the earliest stages of education. We should be selling sizzling steak, not cod liver oil. Olin Sibert Oxford Systems, Inc.
Current thread:
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum?, (continued)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Andy Murren (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Andy Steingruebl (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Goertzel, Karen [USA] (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Pravir Chandra (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Benjamin Tomhave (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Goertzel, Karen [USA] (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Wall, Kevin (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Benjamin Tomhave (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Wall, Kevin (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? McGovern, James F (HTSC, IT) (Aug 27)
- Message not available
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Olin Sibert (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Kenneth Van Wyk (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Goertzel, Karen [USA] (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Matt Bishop (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Benjamin Tomhave (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Matt Bishop (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Benjamin Tomhave (Aug 25)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Mike Lyman (Aug 26)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Mike Lyman (Aug 21)
- Where Does Secure Coding Belong In the Curriculum? Mike Lyman (Aug 21)