Teaching Hacking in College

Hackers are people that are generally rogue computer programmers that like to look for vulnerabilities in systems that are connected to the internet. Their main objective is to infiltrate systems and expose information that would otherwise be private or to spread viruses that render systems unusable. In recent years, some colleges and universities have been teaching classes to students within the Computer Science major how to hack into computer systems and create viruses so they can be better prepared to protect their systems from hackers. Shelly & Vermaat (2010, p. 681) state that courses like these “enable the next generation of security experts to think like malicious hackers, thereby helping to stop the spread of malware.” It should be a requirement for all college students attempting to receive a Computer Science or Network Security degree to learn how to hack into a computer system or database, or to learn how to program a virus.

In recent years, hackers have been able to access information in databases that includes bank account information, social security numbers, credit card numbers, names, addresses and other personal information that can be used to steal someone’s identity. They have been able to do this because passwords on the database were not changed, or the software for the database was not updated to protect against specific vulnerabilities. Hackers will install software on their own systems and work tirelessly trying to find vulnerabilities in the software or backdoors that allow them to get access to secured information. Many flaws that hackers continuously exploit are “common coding errors that continue to turn up in software applications that run Web browsers, media players, and website computer servers.” (Byron, 2009) Teaching future programmers how to hack into systems will combat this. When a programmer writes an application program or database, they are generally writing the application based on the requirements given to...