Sam Bowne: Teaching Hacking at College

Published: Jan. 9, 2006, 11:10 p.m.

Last semester I taught a new course in "Ethical Hacking and Network Defense" at City College San Francisco. I had legal, ethical, and practical concerns about this class, so I took several precautions to prevent the students from one another, and others from them. The course was a success--it was full and popular, and there were no security problems (at least none that I found out about).
We have built hacking into our Computer Networking and Information Technology program. The topic is important and exciting for the students, and reinforces their security knowlege. I encourage other college teachers to do the same. "Degrees: B.S. in Physics, Edinboro University of PA; Ph.D. in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign Industry Certifications: Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, Network+, Security+, Certified Fiber Optic Technician Sam Bowne has been teaching at CCSF since 2000.