Krebs: Why So Many Top Hackers Hail from Russia

Parent Cafe
1

Interesting post from Brian Krebs:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/06/why-so-many-top-hackers-hail-from-russia/

One major problem with his analysis is that he confused AP Computer Science Principles with AP Computer Science A. The AP-CSP course is a gentle introduction to CS, emphasizing broad basics and a little JavaScript (a horrible language to start with). My D18 took AP-CSP last year and I think it great as an introduction (except for the JavaScript part). D18’s large public HS just added a “Computer Science” pathway to its list (it already had Healthcare, Biotech, Marketing, Business, etc. pathways).

I guess one college-related issue is: if we increase the interest in CS at lower grade levels, are colleges prepared to handle the large increase in CS applicants? I’ve seen numerous posts here saying that kids applying for CS faced a difficult time getting accepted to their choice colleges.

Note: don’t read too many of Krebs’ posts or you’ll never use your computer or credit cards again!

2

Given the year range of 2005 to 2016, it presumably means either the A exam (the only one offered all of those years), or all variants.

The other variants are the AB exam that was discontinued in 2009, and the principles exam that was added recently.

Yes, CS department capacity is a limiting factor in many state flagship and similarly selective schools.

3

Yes, Krebs gives the test numbers for AP-CS-A while comparing the course material for AP-CSP to the Russian system.