Crypto 101 – Introductory course on cryptography
When I was taking Aikido, there was a day when the sensei was going through all of our techniques and showed how the <i>uke</i> (initiator of the attack, receiver of the technique) could turn things around on the <i>tori</i>. (receiver of the attack, initiator of the technique) It seemed like there were a half dozen ways each that a technique could go seriously wrong, and that many of them didn't require much skill, only determination and the opportunity provided by a mistake. That day made me question the validity of the entire notion of self defense.<p>I wonder if there shouldn't be a software engineering class where people try to set up a secure web app, with their own homegrown algorithms and protocols, which is then attacked by a tiger team which includes a conspirator on the inside? Perhaps there are such classes now.