We have an exciting event coming to the Chicago and Milwaukee user group communities. On May 17th (in Downers Grove, IL) and May 18th (in Milwaukee), Microsoft in conjunction with InnerWorkings will host a developer make-over event called “Hacked or Be Hacked”. Developer make-overs are all about “making-over” your skill set – increasing your knowledge base through fun and interactive exercises. This particular make-over event will detail some of the common security vulnerabilities found in today’s web applications followed by a hands-on coding challenge that will help you learn how to mitigate these security vulnerabilities.

To participate in the hands-on portion of this event, it is recommended that you bring your own machine with at least Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Editioninstalled. Visual Studio 2005 Standard edition, Professional edition and any Team System role editions will work as well. Once you have VS2005 up and running, we’ll be able to download the InnerWorkings Web Application Attacks module. The great thing about InnerWorkings training modules is that they integrate directly within the Visual Studio development environment.

The InnerWorkings training engine maintains a score level on how well you perform in the exercise. With this scoring ability, we will keep a running scoreboard to determine who is “Top Coder”. We will run the coding challenge for a week following the event. For those of you not able to make it to the meeting, you can still participate by still registering.

The stakes are high including a copy of Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition to the winner of the coding challenge. Also, just by registering for the coding challenge, you will be entered into a drawing for a $200 Amazon gift certificate courtesy of InnerWorkings.

The event dates are as follows:

May 17th, 2006
Microsoft Corporation
3025 Highland Parkway, Suite 300
Downers Grove, IL.
Click to Register

May 18th, 2006
Medical College of Wisconsin
10000 West Innovation Dr.
Milwaukee, WI.
Click to Register