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Hacking 101: It's for your own good

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

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Sep 19, 2002
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An article in the Charlotte Observer reports on a new course at UNC Charlotte's College of Information Technology, which teachers students to be hackers because "the best defense is a good offense".

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To beat a hacker, one must think like a hacker, the school believes, so it's teaching students how to be one. Homework assignments include cracking into a computer network or propagating viruses, worms and other nasty Internet scourges that wobble hard drives.

"This particular course will expose our students to dark side techniques so they gain insight on how bad guys can penetrate systems and how to effectively protect them," said Bill Chu, a UNCC professor of information technology.

The school asked the course's students to sign a legal agreement, promising not to use any of the techniques or information they learn malevolently. Students typically go on to work for companies' IT staffs.
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Doctor Q said:
An article in the Charlotte Observer reports on a new course at UNC Charlotte's College of Information Technology, which teachers students to be hackers because "the best defense is a good offense".

Note: Free site registration may be required.
Click to expand...

At the University of Delaware we have a CompSci class that basically teaches how to hack for the same purpose. From the course description, you wouldn't know it because they package it nice and neat.
 
That's just stupid, IMO. Why not just tell them what hackers do instead of teaching them how to do it and giving them the resources to do it? We have enough hackers as it is... and for PC users... I guess it's not so bad because I mean what is one more virus or worm ontop of like 20 others? :D
 
haiggy said:
That's just stupid, IMO. Why not just tell them what hackers do instead of teaching them how to do it and giving them the resources to do it? We have enough hackers as it is... and for PC users... I guess it's not so bad because I mean what is one more virus or worm ontop of like 20 others? :D
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Wow, I just read the article and well...WOW. At UD, our course doesn't really teach how to create a virus or take down a pc or anything like that. It teaches how to find open ports that could be weakness in security. It teaches how to circumvent a firewall. Things of that nature, that way when you create a network or security system you know what hackers look for. Teaching how to create a virus may be overkill.
 
haiggy said:
That's just stupid, IMO. Why not just tell them what hackers do instead of teaching them how to do it and giving them the resources to do it? We have enough hackers as it is... and for PC users... I guess it's not so bad because I mean what is one more virus or worm ontop of like 20 others? :D
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The same reason you don't just tell a student what an engineer does, you let them program/build/design something. I understand almost nothing about how hacking or viruses work. You can tell me what they do and I will learn very little about what is actually happening and how to prevent it. If you show me how to hack and show me the code for a virus, I will know a lot more about how to protect myself. I would really like to take a class like this. If they show old security holes and simple, known viruses, the risk wouldn't be as bad as it sounds.
 
haiggy said:
That's just stupid, IMO. Why not just tell them what hackers do instead of teaching them how to do it and giving them the resources to do it?
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You know all those security updates we keep seeing for OS X? most of those are the direct result of reports from people outside Apple who have developed exactly that sort of knowledge.

If software can't be invulnerable, then it's absolutely necessary that the good guys understand this stuff too.
 
This is a good, real world course - pretty cool that they offer it. You can buy plenty of books on the subject as well and I know that one of our IT guys at my old office got certified for antiHacking - which is pretty much what this course is all about.

D
 
Defensive Hacking 102- Navigating the Apple Store
Defensive Hacking 103- Selecting a Macintosh
Defensive Hacking 104- Purchasing a Macintosh

I belive that will protect most students...
 
Mechcozmo said:
Defensive Hacking 102- Navigating the Apple Store
Defensive Hacking 103- Selecting a Macintosh
Defensive Hacking 104- Purchasing a Macintosh

I belive that will protect most students...
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I think you are way off here. Your mac is so secure because apple has good programmers. I'm sure their security people take pride in learning the in's and out's of hacking. If CompSci majors don't learn how to hack, some nitwit sitting in their basement with no friends and no life will learn it and have full access to your mac.
 
Doctor Q said:
Another guy who's seen both sides of the fence: Kevin Mitnick now runs a security company named Defensive_Thinking.
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Very important information to point out Doctor Q. It does seem that some in the security arena have been on the wrong side at one time. This would be a better way. I'm sure that many have an interest in this area that don't want to learn illegally.
 
Grape that is a very good point. I know one of the hackers was on tech tv about a month ago. He works for some big company now as a security type guy. His name escapes me at the moment.
 
i think its a great idea to give students these tools, sure they may be used for bad purposes and a agreement doenst mean they wont break it, but chances are they will probably stick to legit purposes

u need to understand how a system works not only to break it but make that system better
 
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