Amazing what you can learn in college

[wenwilder]

What if you could go to college to learn how to write virus'? And if you could, would you? If you attend the University of Calgary you can. University of Calgary Professor John Aycock has been including a bit of virus writing in his course, "Computer Viruses and Malware."

Should it be something that is taught?

[Burf.com]

Well if you know how they are written then you will now how to protect yourself better

Only my 5p worth

[pedstersplanet]

Well, (profesionals) hackers can get training, so why cant virus writers... For ledgit purposed, of course, but no doubt, most will/are exploit(ing) (pardon the pun ;)) it.

[netman4ttm]

Heck yes.
The writing of a virus is probably the best way to learn security. If you don't know how to do it, you don't know how to defend against it.

[wenwilder]

You can also go to school to become a hacker - I should know I signed up for the course ;)

Through the course it helps you understand what ports hackers try to access the computer through. How they get your logons and other vital information. What I have learned so far and what I still have to learn are completely fascinating. Teaching a bit of virus writing is nothing! Well, it is controversial. If a school can teach hacking and other courses, then a touch of virus writing should not only be allowed but welcome.

Yes, people may use it for the wrong reasons, but you can find information on writing viruses, as well as the code, any where on the net. I would rather see a teacher teaching it.

[urknighterrent]

LMAO @ Ledgit purposes.

"Thank god for that virus I picked up."

Seriously, though. You can't hide from knowledge. If we know it, we should teach it. You can't just not teach particle physics because you're afraid of nukes.

[tenkiya]

Originally Posted by wenwilder

What if you could go to college to learn how to write virus'? And if you could, would you? If you attend the University of Calgary you can. University of Calgary Professor John Aycock has been including a bit of virus writing in his course, "Computer Viruses and Malware."

Should it be something that is taught?

Yeah, absolutely this should be taught. There's no way to train people in security without them knowing how to write viruses, which for a 3rd year comp sci major, would take about 1 hour to learn. It's a program that uses the Windows API, that's about it. It's not like a bunch of web designers are going to write one with their Dreamweaver...haha. Anyway, People who don't know C++ and the Windows API inside and out are wasting their time trying to learn this stuff.

[Safety Guy]

What is the legitimate use of a computer virus ?

[wenwilder]

Take a look at the sasser and mydoom(?) virus writters. Within their virus war they had a fairly valid goal. To shut-down each others virus. The basic goal is commendable, the way they went about it.... was extreme to say the least. In the end the virus contained removal instructions. A handy thing to know if infected.

We know what happened to the Sasser virus writer Sven Jaschan. There is no guarantee that there will be no new versions of either virs, the code is readily available on the internet.

You can't lump virus writers into one catagory and say "they write viruses, they're bad". Once in a while they're just misguided.

[mikmik]

What is the legitimate use of a computer virus ?

Proof of concept? Testing security? Other reasearch?



How about a vaccine? If AV programs become intelligent enough to learn from experience they may be able to incurr a type of immunity against general command types instead of just specific ones, like hueristics are used now.

You know what? I really need some sleep.

I can see a purpose in certain areas for teaching this type of programming, of course.

But, is it proper to teach break and enter? Not likely, except for security and alarm work.

Same with Viruses, I would imagine.

[bebarrett]

Of course, the problem comes when someone's final project accidently gets out and shuts down everything.

[CoyoteDesigns]

I've got an idea. In addition to teaching students to create viruses, why don't they teach the same students how to create nuclear bombs and the basics of hijacking B-53 bombers? To me, they have the same ethical merit.

[jawn_tech]

The value of haphazardly teaching virus writing publicly is largely outweighed by the inherent danger.

This type of training should be provided to those in the field of defending against it, as in the realm of anti-virus utilities, or law enforcement/security.

Or, a better approach may be to simply study viruses that have already been written, and students are encouraged to look at similarities and write programs that defeat them.

In agreement with CoyoteDesigns -- Apply the same concept to post 9/11 concerns. I have trouble seeing the legitimacy of teaching a class on how to build nuclear bombs, wmd's. Even (and especially) the security around pilot training has been given a much different approach, with good reason. Viruses are much more than an annoyance to domestic users, they can be (and have been) a security issue as well.

[netman4ttm]

Well lets see someone obviously knows how to build a nuclear bomb. And someone has figured out how to hijack an aircraft. So the rest of us will remain blissfully ignorant of how that is done; so the people who can build bombs and hijack airplanes won't have to worry about us stopping them. Great logic.
"What we have is a failure of imagination." (Col. Frank Borman) The only way you can prevent anything is to fully understand how it is accomblished.