A web application security testing course developed by the US Berkeley Information Security Team has been recognized as well as appreciated in the industry. The team created the security testing course in collaboration with the School of Information Master of Information and Cyber Security.
Through this program graduate students from the Master of Information and Cybersecurity Program are exposed to application security testing, focusing on both technical and business methodologies.
This initiative allows the US Berkeley Information Security Team to conduct testing on around nine applications that are critical on an annual basis. This is done at a cost slightly exceeding $7,000 which is a lot less than the average costs as reported by NetworkAssured.
To establish the program, the organizers collaborated with UC Berkeley’s legal and policy teams to formulate a student code of conduct along with the IT service teams to develop a virtual machine environment for testing purposes.
In addition to this, they also partnered with Portswigger, a vendor that offered complimentary software licenses for its web attack proxy tool, Burp Suite Professional which resulted in around $7,000 in annual savings.
Over the course of four semesters, students have evaluated 12 applications across different technology stacks such as Java, PHP and others, uncovering 123 vulnerabilities and showcasing the instructional effectiveness of the program.
The Web Application Security Testing program has been labelled as a model in the 2024 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report| Teaching and Learning Edition which was a finalist for the 2023 Gartner Eye on Innovative Award for Education. It also got the 2023 California College Personnel Association Outstanding Use of Technology Award.
The Web Application Security Testing Program at Berkeley continues to flourish with the plans to expand testing services to some more UC campuses. The team members behind the same include Information Security Analysts ISO, Course Instructors MICS, Academic Director MICS, etc.
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