3 ms·

The place I would start is not with offensive skills, but on the defensive side. Learn how to: - Know when you might be introducing software vulnerabilities

The place I would start is not with offensive skills, but on the defensive side. Learn how to: - Know when you might be introducing software vulnerabilities - Find and repair bugs that might turn into vulnerabilities (things like static analysis and fuzzing, but also identifying code smells and where to inspect) - Identify and avoid phishing attempts - Identify (and, ideally, mitigate) places where resource exhaustion attacks are likely to be most effective - Identify (and, ideally, mitigate) places where a process is dependent on external infrastructure that is controlled by another party - Teach others how to do these things These things are of high value in the day to day life of a software developer anyway, and there are lots of reputable resources available to learn and practice. In the future, if it turns out that you need offensive skills, that will work out OK too -- there's quite a bit of overlap, though not 100% overlap.

itake 5y ago
All of 0 of these skills will help the current situation as this developer probably does not control any of the critical software himself. This sounds like a great list if you're CTO currently building software for critical infrastructure and have the power to enforce trainings across the org.
- jka 5y ago
  It's increasingly difficult to tell what's going to be critical infrastructure and what isn't. The same is true in the real world; a defender or a belligerent alike might hope that the grain mill in the village will be functional when winter rolls in. Whether it is or not could depend on the work of someone who isn't even aware of the concept of a job title.
- amalcon 5y ago
  I'd understood from the OP (though granted this is not explicit) that they are not so much looking to help Ukraine with their current conflict, as looking to learn skills that may be useful if they are asked to aid in some future conflict. Frankly, if you want to help the Ukrainian people right now, it would be better to use your computer skills to earn some money and donate it to a humanitarian NGO. If, on the other hand, you're looking to start down a path that might have you doing useful things in a similar situation in 2032, this seems to me like a reasonable place to start.

itake 5y ago

All of 0 of these skills will help the current situation as this developer probably does not control any of the critical software himself. This sounds like a great list if you're CTO currently building software for critical infrastructure and have the power to enforce trainings across the org.

jka 5y ago
It's increasingly difficult to tell what's going to be critical infrastructure and what isn't. The same is true in the real world; a defender or a belligerent alike might hope that the grain mill in the village will be functional when winter rolls in. Whether it is or not could depend on the work of someone who isn't even aware of the concept of a job title.
amalcon 5y ago
I'd understood from the OP (though granted this is not explicit) that they are not so much looking to help Ukraine with their current conflict, as looking to learn skills that may be useful if they are asked to aid in some future conflict. Frankly, if you want to help the Ukrainian people right now, it would be better to use your computer skills to earn some money and donate it to a humanitarian NGO. If, on the other hand, you're looking to start down a path that might have you doing useful things in a similar situation in 2032, this seems to me like a reasonable place to start.