Microsoft takes code to the classroom
C|Net | at | by Mike
The University of Leeds in the United Kingdom has received partial funding from Microsoft to teach would-be developers to write secure code. The class will be available to 100 undergraduates at Leeds starting January 2004. Nick Efford, who is designing the syllabus, said it will differ from classes at other universities. "They have traditionally emphasized network security, cryptography and things like that," he said. "Our course is emphasizing secure coding and software security. We will still cover cryptography, but that will not be our focus."
Efford said the course will cover areas such as vulnerabilities of software, design principles and coding techniques. "We will illustrate all of these with case studies, classic security problems that have emerged...for example, Melissa and Slammer...looking in each case at what gave rise to the problem in the first place and how it was dealt with."