A Hacker Haven Grows in Brooklyn
- IEEE Career Alert April 17th, 2013
- Source: http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=553787169&message_id=2588965&user_id=IEEE_JOB&group_id=690402&jobid=13772150
Part of the path to a degree in cybersecurity at Polytechnic Institute of New York University, in Brooklyn, is Hack Night, a weekly event where professors, grad students and undergrads hunker down in a tiny room on the school’s Brooklyn campus to hack into computer networks. The aim: honing the ability to spot, replicate, and defend against the most common means hackers use to break into computer networks. “Since actual hacking is illegal,” says a Times of India article, “the students can't just sneak into a webpage and poke around for learning's sake. So industry experts, professors and the school's very own ‘Hacker In Residence,’ Dan Guido, collaborate to create exercises that expose the students to real-world hacking scenarios.”
“Becoming good at security involves doing these challenges, exercises that put you in the context even if it's artificial and made up,” Nasir Memon, director of the school’s Information Systems and Internet Security laboratory told the Times of India. “There's something in front of you that you have to overcome and reach your goal—very much like athletes or military soldiers.”
