College will teach how to write a virus

[VulcanRider]

"While many students would be expelled from their computer science programs for writing a virus, the University of Calgary plans to make writing such malicious programs a part of the curriculum."

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2135325,00.html

Their argument is that programmers will be better able to combat viruses if they have personal experience creating them. Although I can understand their argument, I still think it's a bad idea. I doubt it'll significantly change the number of viruses written, but if it changes the quality of the code -- harder to debug, better able to replicate themselves, etc. -- that'll make things harder on everyone. Basically, if I have to deal with someone who wants to cause me problems, I'd prefer they be dumb as a brick. Stupid crooks are easier to handle...

Opinions?

[philip]

could go two sides: virus programmers go to college to learn how to write them 'better'. other way is that antivirus will work better

[wellard]

And art students will be taught how to spray graffiti on walls. to teach them the best way of removing it afterwards.

[Xen]

Originally posted by philip: could go two sides: virus programmers go to college to learn how to write them 'better'. other way is that antivirus will work better

I hope that the antivirus will work better. I hate hackers/crackers/anyone how makes a virus and send it to you.What did you ever done to the guy?

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Originally posted by wellard: And art students will be taught how to spray graffiti on walls. to teach them the best way of removing it afterwards.

That really isn't a fair comparison; virus's ARE programmes - but they're harmful as opposed to "Normal" programmes. Personally, I think its a good thing - then the students will have more knowledge of viruses, and knowing how they work will allow them to write other programmes to counter them - of course, this does have its downside as well.

[Vaskez]

The difference is you can't get a job writing viruses whereas you can writing anti-virus software. I think most students will put the knowledge to good use.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by VulcanRider: Their argument is that programmers will be better able to combat viruses if they have personal experience creating them. Although I can understand their argument, I still think it's a bad idea. I doubt it'll significantly change the number of viruses written, but if it changes the quality of the code -- harder to debug, better able to replicate themselves, etc. -- that'll make things harder on everyone. Basically, if I have to deal with someone who wants to cause me problems, I'd prefer they be dumb as a brick. Stupid crooks are easier to handle... Opinions?

I agree with the downside to your argument, V.R. While most of the students may use the knowledge to write better anti-virus software, others may use it to write better code to get around the new, improved anti-virus software. You and I both know how "competitive" programmers can be. I can see this really backfiring. You put 20 students in a closed network lab and let them write viruses...then you have them write anti-virus software to contain the new viruses they created. The next thing that will happen (without any guidance from the professor), is the students going back in the lab to try and bypass the NEW anti-virus software. And so on, and so on.

I think the article said it best - "People who write viruses generally aren't good programmers..because good programmers get hired to write programs." You don't need a class in virus writing to create an interest among students for better anti-virus software. How many of them will actually be hired to write anti-virus software?? Some will develop an interest in it, and they will study the virus software on their own and figure out new ways to stop it. Then they will package their own software and sell it.

OK, the shortened version is that I agree this is a bad idea. The LAST thing we need are smarter virus-programmers that know how to write better and more sophisticated code.

[pritchke]

It probably isn't so bad.

If you think about it pretty much anyone with any knowledge of languages, and how they can be applied to systems can write a computer virus. It is much harder to write programs to combat virus because you have to take so much into account and most anti virus programs are being continuously changed to combat the new viruses that people make.

I once accidentally created a minor virus on my computer when trying to make a program. I can't remember what I was doing but it had something to do with either modifying or removing files. It did not work the way I intended and voila, a computer virus due to flawed logic. Fortunately it was on my home system (not work) and I cleaned up my system and went back and fixed my program to work correctly. I could have been evil and sent it to people I did not like to run on their systems though.

If the focus was more on preventing viruses than actually creating a virus I might be OK with it but this course does not sound great. Overall I think it is just the University trying to do something no one else is doing to give them an edge.

[ 06-05-2003, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Firestormalpha]

Here's a way to look at it. The Government will have a list of people to harass in the event some kind of improved virus is detected. At least in the US it's a federal crime to distribute any kind of malicious programs. Last I heard they were going to make it an act of terrorism, and that kinda puts virus makers in deep.

[pritchke]

Looks like they could be hired by the US government to install viruses into people pirating software and music.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Illegally download copyright music from the Internet once, or even twice, and you get a warning. Do it a third time, and your computer gets destroyed.

That's the suggestion made by the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a Tuesday hearing on copyright abuse, reflecting a growing frustration in Congress over failure of the technology and entertainment industries to protect copyrights in a digital age.

The surprise statement by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that he favors developing technology to remotely destroy computers used for illegal downloads represents a dramatic escalation in the increasingly contentious rhetoric over pirated music.


http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/20...114120-ap.html