[paperclipmuffin]

I saw this article:http://www.newsweek.com/id/150465

Is it right to teach students that? Personally I think so, as long as they are very trustworthy.

What do you think?

[firebolt]

The temptation is there for them to use it at a higher level.

[xclite]

Companies refusing to hire his students are downright stupid. If they're worth the price of their software, these companies do the same things that his students are doing.

[Nykc]

This could be a good discussion however I would lose the script kiddie title.

When a bird learns how to fly, they walk to the edge of a tree and start flapping its either oh shit I am not ready, or they start to fly in moderation. What better way to learn something than to dive in and get some hands on. Of course there is always a chance to use this for evil purposes but are you insinuating that developers aren't hackers?

The problem is publications and mainstream media coin hackers as these evil basement dwellers. Most hackers I know are professionals in the computer world that create great software and do amazing things with computers.

[Bocard]

as long as there is nobody making any actual damage, but just learn how to do it and how to protect against it i think is pretty great. i wish i had some teachers like that

[xCraftyx]

I think it's a good idea for a class like that to be available to CS students who want to be security professionals, as they are more likely to put that knowledge to good use. However if is available to any CS student then it could be pretty dangerous knowledge to be handing out.

I think it's a good idea for a class like that to be available to CS students who want to be security professionals, as they are more likely to put that knowledge to good use. However if is available to any CS student then I can see why it's being criticized; that's dangerous knowledge to be handing out.

[BetaWar]

It could be quite useful. As the article said, if a college student is able to hack McAffee and Norton why should we buy them? I mean the students aren't even making money off it, they are just learning. Think aabout someone who is looking for credit card information and passwords - what is stopping them?

Personally, I think it would be awesome to learn about hacking is only to help protect one's own computer. I don't really think the idea of jail time would be worth it

[paperclipmuffin]

Yes, to beat someone you often need to think like them.

[quicksilverprince]

That's brilliant! Finally, someone understands that in order to make a remedy, you must go to the depths of the problem. If you don't understand what a virus is, how can you ever hope to cure it? I know for a fact much of the security does about as good as a safety blanket, it makes you feel better, but it won't do much against a nuke.

[Thorian]

I am impressed that someone is actually teaching these guys real world skills instead of just hours of BS thory that gets them no where.

[NeoTifa]

I think the best way to learn to prevent it is to know how to do it ... see on the criminals level. The best prevention is usually made by someone who is 1337 at it themselves. And besides, it's good to have approved, trained employees to try to constantly hack secure websites. It helps so they can find security holes.

This post has been edited by NeoTifa: 21 July 2009 - 09:38 AM

[stev3]

seems logical to me.

i'm actually a little jealous

[Jaakuuta]

It seems like it'd be useful. Of course, as with anything else, learning how to do something malicious can give people the ability to do it. However, you can say that about just about anything really. It all just depends on who is doing it. Like it was said, if somebody wants to be a security professional, then it's more likely it will be used for good, I certainly would want somebody who knows what they're doing working for a security company. At the same time though, they know how to do it and might actually do it themselves. That's not to say that anybody with the right mindset is not capable of doing something malicious with their careers... You could even have chefs and the like purposefully undercooking food and the like if they were malicious enough. Just because they know how, doesn't mean they're going to.

[mocker]

If you are a security professional working to devise solutions to protect against these attacks, it would be foolish to not know how they work. You'll find that at the top skill levels of the white hats and black hats, they both have very similar skills and knowledge.
The fact that companies like McAfee feels threatened by these students, instead of trying to recruit them, just goes to show how their philosophy is "close your eyes and pretend it isn't there", as opposed to really trying to provide quality software. If these kids can crack their software, then black hats or even script kiddies probably won't have much of a problem.

offtopic: McAfee and Symantec products ARE awful, and shouldn't ever be considered as any sort of actual defense. They market to the clueless.

[Israel]

You can't stop attacks if you don't know how they get in or how they work. DUH!