Don't be a Brute: A Programming Assignment for Exposing Undergraduate Students to Computational Complexity and Heuristic Problem-Solving Approaches

摘要

A programming assignment that was developed for an undergraduate course in computer security in which students simulate a brute force password guessing attack is described. This exercise helps students to understand issues of computability, re-enforces the basic mathematics of combinatorics, and provides a springboard for discussions of heuristic versus brute-force problem-solving approaches. In the context of a course on computer security, the assignment serves to tangibly demonstrate issues with password selection and user policies that apply to this issue. Undergraduate students in Computer Science Technology and Information Engineering Technology do not receive the same training in the formal analysis of algorithms that students in standard theory based Computer Science programs do. It is clear, however, that IT students must develop a basic understanding of problem complexity issues and heuristic problem solving approaches to be successful in their careers. The exercise described in this paper gives students a hands-on feel for computational complexity through a programming assignment which simulates a brute-force, password-guessing attack.