Security Injections@Towson

Abstract

Despite the critical societal importance of computer security, security is not well integrated into the undergraduate computing curriculum. Security classes and tracks treat security issues as separable topics as opposed to fundamental issues that pervade all aspects of software development. Recently, there has been an increasing focus on security as a cross-cutting concern across the computer science curriculum. The Security Injections@Towson project provides resources and effective strategies to incorporate secure coding in the early programming classes. We describe the development, assessment, and dissemination of more than 40 lab-based security injection modules designed to be injected into courses with minimal impact on the curriculum. We include assessment results from 1,135 students across five diverse institutions demonstrating that the security injections help students retain, comprehend, and apply secure coding concepts in the introductory programming courses.