Computer hacking in this class is a good thing
Posted: Monday, November 10, 2008
MADISON, S.D. (AP) -- Figuring out computer passwords and hacking into secure systems is a learning experience at Dakota State University.
Students learn all about hacking so they can develop prevention programs when they graduate.
It's one of 86 sites the U.S. government has picked to shore up essential protection in information systems. The university applied for the designation in 2003. The government looked at curriculum and labs among 30 criteria.
It helped that "we were the first university in the country to offer a degree in computer network security," said Kevin Streff, director of the DSU Center for Information Assurance. The government named DSU its center for information assurance in 2004 and gave it a five-year extension of that status in 2007.
The program has grown to 125 undergraduates with information security majors and about the same number in related fields. They make up close to one-tenth of the university's total enrollment of 2,870.
"The marketplace is gobbling them up," Streff said of the graduates.
"The FBI says our next big war will be a cyber war," Streff said.
DSU focuses on computer security in financial services.
The curriculum covers network security, information protection laws and business applications needing analytical thinking and understanding of human nature. Digital forensics labs teach how to handle a data breach in a way that would stand up in court.
"The hot shots we're looking for have business, technical and soft skill aptitudes -- not just the bits and bytes guys," Streff said.
The training is done in a secure lab where students learn the art of breaking into computer accounts to steal information, corrupt records or send bogus communication. In a recent exercise, instructor Patrick Engebretson asked 13 students to set up three computer passwords that were easy, medium and hard. Then they changed seats with another student and try to crack the passwords.
Students in the class abide by strict discipline. Streff said some situations have required discipline.
"In one situation, we had a student threaten to hack the grade book," Streff said. "He said he was joking, but you can't even talk like that. We managed that very aggressively. That guy was talked to by the professor and by me, and we made sure the problem was clear, and he agreed."
Students learn all about hacking so they can develop prevention programs when they graduate.
It's one of 86 sites the U.S. government has picked to shore up essential protection in information systems. The university applied for the designation in 2003. The government looked at curriculum and labs among 30 criteria.
It helped that "we were the first university in the country to offer a degree in computer network security," said Kevin Streff, director of the DSU Center for Information Assurance. The government named DSU its center for information assurance in 2004 and gave it a five-year extension of that status in 2007.
The program has grown to 125 undergraduates with information security majors and about the same number in related fields. They make up close to one-tenth of the university's total enrollment of 2,870.
"The marketplace is gobbling them up," Streff said of the graduates.
"The FBI says our next big war will be a cyber war," Streff said.
DSU focuses on computer security in financial services.
The curriculum covers network security, information protection laws and business applications needing analytical thinking and understanding of human nature. Digital forensics labs teach how to handle a data breach in a way that would stand up in court.
"The hot shots we're looking for have business, technical and soft skill aptitudes -- not just the bits and bytes guys," Streff said.
The training is done in a secure lab where students learn the art of breaking into computer accounts to steal information, corrupt records or send bogus communication. In a recent exercise, instructor Patrick Engebretson asked 13 students to set up three computer passwords that were easy, medium and hard. Then they changed seats with another student and try to crack the passwords.
Students in the class abide by strict discipline. Streff said some situations have required discipline.
"In one situation, we had a student threaten to hack the grade book," Streff said. "He said he was joking, but you can't even talk like that. We managed that very aggressively. That guy was talked to by the professor and by me, and we made sure the problem was clear, and he agreed."
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