Learning Computer Security

On Thursday and Friday, I took a web security course at work. We were required to go, and I suspected that, as with many required classes, it would be boring. It was not. The class was taught by Jerry Hoff of Aspect Security. He is quite a good teacher and made the class interesting. I learned quite a bit about how hackers attack web applications. There are a surprising number of potential weaknesses that can be exploited if developers code carelessly.

One organization that we learned about is called OWASP. It is a consortium of companies and people concerned about security. I'll have to check it out and see if they have a group here.

There is always a danger of forgetting what you learned in a class like this. I'm going to review the material and check out the tools that Jerry recommended we get. Unfortunately, I'm already displaying forgetful senility. I took in my personal ergonomic keyboard to protect my arms while typing the assignments. We did not do that much typing, and when I left, I walked out without my keyboard. I hope that it is still there when I get back. So now I am typing on the regular laptop keyboard, doing my best to preserve my arms and avoid tendonitis.