I'm preparing to go into my final year of a Forensic Computing & Security Degree and looking for ideas for a final year project.<p>The project involves writing a piece of software. Although this can apparently be 'proof of concept' as long as it has the basic functionality.<p>I'm also reading the 'Tangled Web'[1] and have 'The Web Application Hackers Handbook'[2] but haven't started the latter yet. Also participating in 'Matasano's Crypto Challenges[3] based on recommendations from other HN comments. I also subscribe to a couple of podcasts such as 'Security Now'[4] etc etc.<p>The obvious choices are things like GUI wrappers for CLI tools. ack, nmap, snort etc etc.<p>At the other end would be something like a new secure email protocol. Whilst far more interesting (imo) than a wrapper or fuzzer this maybe be more than I can achieve in the time available.<p>Ideally it needs to be somewhere in between. Interesting, useful but also achievable in the time allowance of 6-7 months a long side a well documented report and other modules.<p>If the idea can adapt i.e. features can be added/dropped depending on how the project is progressing that would be extremely useful as it provides some breathing room on either side.<p>I would really like to hear from Forensic/Security/Network professionals especially about tools they would actually find useful in their fields and any suggestions would be appreciated.<p>Also just general useful suggestions, links to web resources/podcasts/books etc that could be useful for inspiration are welcome.<p>[1] http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/tangled/
[2] http://mdsec.net/wahh/
[3] http://www.matasano.com/articles/crypto-challenges/
[4] http://twit.tv/sn