Buffer overflow
Show on a deliberately vulnerable C program how an overflow corrupts memory, then fix it.
All pathsDiscover Coursera PlusAfter step 2 After step 3 After step 5
Computer science · 39Intermediate
Application Security
Developers specialising in cybersecurity.
C and Linux to understand memory and the system, RSA cryptography, secure software design and OWASP security testing.
422hours of coursework
43weeks at 10 h
5steps
24courses
5universities
Target skills
Programming PrinciplesAlgorithmsProgram DevelopmentSoftware DesignSoftware EngineeringFile I/OMemory ManagementDebuggingSoftware TestingCommand-Line InterfaceData StructuresC
Skill labels as listed on Coursera.
Target jobs
- Application security engineer
- Penetration tester
- Security developer
Progression
- 1Duke UniversityBeginnerC
Stated prerequisites: No prior programming experience required
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Programming Fundamentals Beginner 19 h 4.7 (7,054) Writing, Running, and Fixing Code in C Beginner 20 h 4.3 (837) Pointers, Arrays, and Recursion Beginner 21 h 4.3 (352) Interacting with the System and Managing Memory Beginner 24 h 4.2 (182) - 2Dartmouth College & Institut Mines-TélécomBeginnerC, Linux, Build Tools
Show the 7 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) C Programming: Getting Started - 1 Beginner 11 h 4.6 (272) C Programming: Language Foundations - 2 Beginner 14 h 4.7 (110) C Programming: Modular Programming and Memory Management - 3 Beginner 10 h 4.8 (62) C Programming: Pointers and Memory Management - 4 Beginner 7 h 4.7 (67) C Programming: Advanced Data Types - 5 Beginner 8 h 4.4 (59) Linux Basics: The Command Line Interface - 6 Beginner 8 h 4.7 (36) C Programming: Using Linux Tools and Libraries - 7 Beginner 9 h 4.7 (36) - 3University of California San DiegoBeginnerPython
Stated prerequisites: Basic math (fractions, squares), basic Python (functions, loops, recursion)
Show the 5 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Mathematical Thinking in Computer Science Beginner 42 h 4.4 (2,289) Combinatorics and Probability Beginner 23 h 4.6 (874) Introduction to Graph Theory Beginner 21 h 4.5 (1,073) Number Theory and Cryptography Beginner 17 h 4.5 (610) Delivery Problem Beginner 13 h 4.7 (376) - 4University of Colorado SystemBeginnerJava, NetBeans, JUnit, IBM Rhapsody
Stated prerequisites: Knowing how to code in some language; workplace software development experience helpful
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Software Design as an Element of the Software Development Lifecycle — 11 h 4.6 (253) Software Design as an Abstraction Intermediate 16 h 4.7 (135) Software Design Methods and Tools — 14 h — Software Design Threats and Mitigations Intermediate 19 h 4.6 (94) - 5University of MinnesotaIntermediateJava, JUnit, Cucumber, Gherkin, Selenium, OWASP
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Introduction to Software Testing Intermediate 30 h 4.3 (839) Black-box and White-box Testing Intermediate 26 h 3.8 (117) Introduction to Automated Analysis Intermediate 19 h 4.2 (87) Web and Mobile Testing with Selenium Intermediate 20 h 3.7 (111)
With Coursera Plus
This path takes 422 hours, about 10 months at 10 hours a week. A Coursera Plus subscription gives access to most of its courses during that time.
Projects to build
RSA from scratch
Implement RSA with key generation, then show why small keys break.
Application audit
Test a deliberately vulnerable app (OWASP Juice Shop) and write a vulnerability report.
Free textbooks
Modern CJens GustedtFree PDF, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Mathematics for Computer ScienceE. Lehman, F. T. Leighton, A. R. Meyer (MIT)Free, CC BY-SA
Software Engineering at GoogleT. Winters, T. Manshreck, H. Wright (eds.)Free online, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0