Teaching information warfare with lab experiments via the Internet

Abstract

Iowa State University has offered a course in information warfare for the past 8 years to both on campus and off campus students via streaming media. The class looks at computer security from an attack/defend viewpoint. We study attacks and look at methods to stop the attacks. The course has several lab experiments where student try out attack tools and defense mechanisms. Both on-campus and off-campus students access the lab via the Internet which creates a unique set of challenges of trying to keep the attacks off the Internet. The largest lab experiment is where the students are given the Web site address to a company that was designed for the experiment. They are to break into the company and gather as much information as they can about the company and its employees. The students must submit a report where they document every step they took to break-in and then develop a plan to fix the problems.