Following a request, the NSA delivered its training material to Python for a developer.
The NSA is often put forward for its cybersecurity capabilities. But like any business, the American agency trains its employees in IT professions and in particular in development. For this, it has specific training modules on certain languages such as Python. The problem is that these courses are not accessible to the general public.
Developer Chris Swenson, aka Cupcake on Twitter, has requested access to this training under the FOIA. This 1966 law provides for the right to information and requires federal agencies to transmit their documents to anyone who requests them, regardless of nationality. The NSA responded to Chris Swenson by providing a redacted version of the Python course, known as Python COMP 3321.
400 page material
The document is 400 pages long and has been put in PDF format by the developer on a Digital Ocean storage space. In the file, we learn that a teaching module can be done in class over a period of 45 or 90 minutes. Ideally, training can be done over two weeks with 10 weekly modules. In the course, students use the Python distribution Anaconda3 in version 4.0 and can run Python on the command line or on a Jupyter notebook from a browser.
Lovers of secrets will be disappointed because the training does not reveal much. A Python developer, Kushal Das, went through the document and noted a few points: an internal Jupyter gallery in HTTPS, an internal Python package index, a Gitlab instance, the git installation instructions are for CentOs, RHEL, Ubuntu, Windows but not for Debian.
my-courses.net
