Microsoft has teamed up with the University of Leeds to develop the UK's first undergraduate computer security module to focus on the skills which developers need write secure code.

The course kicks off in January 2004. Students will get hands-on experience of writing secure code and will learn to appreciate the fundamental role of security in software engineering. In addition to standard security topics, the module will cover threat modelling and basic security analysis of code, teaching students to identify potential weaknesses within their programs that could be exploited by unscrupulous crackers or virus writers.

Microsoft UK Chief Security Officer Stuart Okin said: "We are working with the University of Leeds because until now Computer Science graduates in this country were not obtaining adequate theoretical or practical experience. For instance, the module will educate students about buffer over-runs and how to avoid the pitfalls such as those exposed in the recent Slammer virus outbreak."

Professor Tony Cohn, Head of the School of Computing at the University of Leeds said he hoped the module help students to write better code while helping to give them an edge in the employment market on graduation.

John Harrison, an executive committee member of SAINT (Security Alliance for the Internet and New Technologies), has been working closely with the University of Leeds to promote information security within the curriculum.

"This is a very important step towards introducing security engineering into mainstream computer science and software engineering," said Harrison. "It is a serious omission that we have been training the next generation of software developers without this emphasis on security design principles and I hope other universities will follow this lead."
Microsoft is partly funding a Fellowship at the University. It is also working with the University of Leeds to develop the curriculum's content, which will "highlight the lessons learned from Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative".

The company hopes to team up with other colleges and universities to offer similar courses worldwide.

Microsoft's recently announced a deal with Hull University to develop the UK's first postgraduate course in .NET. ®

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