Puzzle for January 4, 2002
A hypothetical computer science department provides a Hypothetical Computer Science Instructional Facility. Students do their homework on the HCSIF computers. Suppose a student in a beginning programming class writes a program but fails to use the protection mechanisms to prevent others from reading it. A second student reads the first student's program.
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If the security policy of the HCSIF says that students are not allowed to read homework-related files from other students, has the second student violated security? Has the first?
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If the first student had used the protection mechanisms to prevent other students from reading the file, but the second student figured out a way to read the file, would your answer to part 1 change? If so, how?
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If the first student told the second student to "feel free to look at my answer, just don't copy it," would your answer to part 1 change? If so, how?