Hey actually i just thought of something, how about a leader board like you have with microcorruption, where everyone can share their solutions and discuss different ways to approach the attack? That way the people who want to share the wealth can, and it would encourage a culture of learning rather than straight copy.
I actually really like this idea, decrypting a solution would mean you would of had to come up with one first, then you could check against the preferred method.
I realize however you do it would be a compromise of some sorts, for what its worth how you explained it here seems to be the best solution, thanks for the explanation!
Thanks malcom, to be honest im actually looking for things that help me move from my modest scripting background in system administration into understanding the actual systems programming level that malware operates at. Linux Systems Programming is a book i just picked up for example, so something that goes closer to the metal rather than the advanced stuff is what im after. Thanks a lot for the tip though.
slightly off topic but, like your appsec reading list above, are there any crypto resources you value for someone taking the self learning route into real world crypto?
Thanks colin. Truthfully, id love to do those challenges, i saw the link about three months ago and emailed cryptopals at matasano around then, and again about a month ago, sadly i havent had any response (which considering its a free service is completely understandable) so im trying to piece together a good pathway for progression on my own.
I would of hoped that faulty crypto wouldnt be implemented, although there is that old saying that properly implemented DES can be stronger than poorly implemented AES.
Truthfully i dont know enough about cryptography to answer that, hence the OP.