Grants:Project/Rapid/SecurityCodeCamp

statusineligible

Rapid Grants

SecurityCodeCamp - An Open Source learning portal for information security

An Open Source Security Learning Program, inspired by freeCodeCamp

targetEnglish

start dateJuly 5, 2017

end dateJanuary 5, 2018

budget (local currency)120000 Rupees

budget (USD)1860.64 USD

grant typeindividual

non-profit statusYes

grantee• VarunramGanesh

contact(s)• varunramganesh@gmail.com or vrg2009@ymail.com• vrg2009@ymail.com

organization (if applicable)• Individual

website (if applicable)• github.com/Varunram

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Project Goal

Briefly explain what are you trying to accomplish with this project, or what do you expect will change as a result of this grant. Example goals include, "recruit new editors", "add high quality content", or "train existing editors on a specific skill".

The basic idea of my project is to make people identify a vulnerable system. The major problem and the lesson we learn from ransomware like WannaCry is that people are unaware of the dangers exist and might infect their systems if not identified and this is the void that my project seeks to accomplish.

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing?

My project is divided into two parts - the first part would comprise of coding exercises in security, aimed at programmers in general, similar to the one FreeCodeCamp has for Web Development. FreeCodeCamp has a wonderful short summary of the concept and requires the learner to apply the same. My project would follow the same pattern. This would encourage people to know more about Systems, Networks and Security in general and enable them to see the potential harm that can be inflicted.

The second one and would be a fully Open Source software suite comprising of various tools like Nmap, Metasploit, Wireshark and other security tools. As an active contributor to the Nmap Project, one thing which I notice most frequently is the lack of interlinking between these amazing tools. By running all these tools from a suitable interface, we can extract what is mot important from all these tools and display them to the users in a user-friendly format like graphs or visualisations.

The problem with security right now is not that there aren’t tools to detect the same, rather it is the dilemma as to which one should be chosen to identify a desired vulnerability. Another problem is that even if people do identify the tool, they are at a lack of ability to use them properly. My project would act on both frontiers and bring the gap between information security professionals and conventional programmers even closer. It would also prevent incidents like WannaCry in the future.

How will you let others in your community know about your project (please provide links to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions)? Why are you targeting a specific audience?

I’m sure that the community would welcome the idea of a Open Source Scanner with large hands and support me in my cause. Through reddit, IRC, bitter and other platforms, I’d promote my product so that other developers get familiar with it. Being an active OSS developer has also given me the chance to meet some amazing people who, I’m sure will endorse my product on Social Media and other platforms.

What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?

The minimum price for a Security Suite tool is upwards of 200USD p/m. This isn’t affordable for most companies, including startups and this is why they choose to neglect security, even though it is an integral part of the internet. My project would be fully Open Source and free for all, thus enabling companies which do not have the luxury of paying for the current tools to enter the world of Security. Being Open Source would also make my project even better since the community would start using them even more and incorporate new features.

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets and feel free to add more specific to your project:

1. Number of total users: 100,000+

My wish to enable each user of the internet be more aware of the security threats facing them in today's world.

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is the organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

I am a student, therefore I do not have a source of income and thats why I request the Foundation to sponsor me for the same.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense:

• Setting up Server - I would need to setup Docker containers for my learning platform. The free resources provided by the hosting companies have various bandwidth limits, which constrain their applciation to an open soruce project. This is the primary reason as to why I request the Foundation for a grant.
• Books - Making these tutorials requires a large variety of references in addition to the ones I currently have. In addition to books, I also plan to consult industry experts regarding their view on how to improve the course curriculum.