"Smashing the stack" was required reading for the final lab project of a 300-level course at IU. As a TA for that class I saw it go right over lots of people's

"Smashing the stack" was required reading for the final lab project of a 300-level course at IU. As a TA for that class I saw it go right over lots of people's heads. When I took the class myself, I was the only one to finish the assignment (implement a basic buffer overflow attack over serial on some embedded system); the first time I taught that lab, only one person finished as well. Everyone who finished really got it, though. I'll always have fond memories of that article.