The following learning outcomes will be assessed:
- The ability to outline the principles and applications of cyber security, secure systems and network security system design and validation.
- The ability to apply the principles and techniques from cyber security to deal with the complex issues involved in effectively designing and implementing computer and network systems whilst identifying and minimising the security risks, effectively implementing a reliable and effective security protocols and identify suitable metrics to quantify and measure levels of security.
- The ability to apply the principle and technique form cyber security to deal with aspects and complex issues in web systems and digital forensics.
Important Information
You are required to submit your work within the bounds of the University (see your Programme Guide). Plagiarism, paraphrasing and downloading large amounts of information from external sources, will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely. Although you should make full use of any source material, which would normally be an occasional sentence and/or paragraph (referenced) followed by your own critical analysis/evaluation. You will receive no marks for work that is not your own. Your work may be subject to checks for originality which can include use of an electronic plagiarism detection service.
For this assessment you are asked to submit an individual piece of work, therefore the work must be entirely your own. The safety of your assessments is your responsibility. You must not permit another student access to your work.
Referencing for this assessment should be done using the Harvard referencing system. (see your Programme Guide).
Please ensure that you retain a duplicate of your assignment. We are required to send samples of student work to the external examiners for moderation purposes. It will also safeguard in the unlikely event of your work going astray.
Submission instruction:
| Submission Date and Time | See assignment submission page for submission date |
| Submission Location | Digital copy via Canvas |
| Document Format | A zip file containing the full source code for a fully operational system. The system should operate correctly.A Microsoft word document containing the rational of the your method and the relevant screenshots of your system indicating and illustrating the functionalities of the system.System demonstration. Your screencast should be in MPEG or MOV file format titled “studentID_screencast” Replace “studentID” with your university student ID. Submit the file in the allocated assignment submission windows on Canvas. |
| Maximum hours it should take to complete | 48 hours |
| Assignment weight | 60% |
| Other requirements | You must adhere to the above assessment requirements. Your report will be checked for collision/plagiarism. |
Assignment Specification
Part 1 – system design (50 marks)
Produce a computer programme (in your choice of language) for a prototype system which illustrates appropriate design of security systems and the application of programming principles to cybersecurity applications.
Participating in online communities require users to register on the platform to create a user account. The registration process should be secure to protect user information. One of the steps often involves using captchas to validate that the request for registration is made by a human user rather a machine, e.g., bot.
You are required to produce a computer programme containing the following features as minimum:
- A user interface to prompt a user to create an account by providing username and password.
- Algorithmically determine the strength of the chosen password by the user.
- Provides suitable feedback to user about the password strength. You should research password strength criteria and use your finding to help you with this task.
- Implement a captcha function to determine that registration request is made by a human user. For this task, you should research different types of captchas and implement one type.
Your prototype and prototype design should illustrate and embed good secure system design and apply appropriate cybersecurity principles and techniques showing your understanding and knowledge of secure system design. Where appropriate, you should make use of robust policies and procedures for password – for example (but not limited to) frequency of change, strength of password, preventing repetition of passwords, use of encryption etc.
Part 2 – report (25 mark)
Produce a report of about 750 words justifying your chosen approach to the implemented password and captcha features. You should support your chosen approach and decision by your literature research. For example, if you have chosen a specific type of captcha or password combination, support your decision for selecting them by using citing literature sources that highlight their strengths.
Part 3 – system demonstration (25 marks)
Prepare up to 10 minutes of recorded visual presentation with audio showing all the features and functionalities of your implemented software. Your presentation should show at least the following aspects of your system:
- Clear view of the user interface.
- All the system functionalities as stated in part one of the assignment.
- Clear view of the source code generating the user interface.
| Criteria | Fail (0-39) | Pass (40-49) | Good (50-59) | Very Good (60-69) | Excellent (70-100) |
| The full source code of the system (10%) | No zip file is submitted. Or, a zip file is submitted but it is missing most of the required and supplementary files. | A zip file is submitted but it is missing some of the required and supplementary files for the full operation of the system. | A zip file is submitted and it contains only the essential system files but it is missing extra/supplementary files, such as updated REAMDE.txt file | A zip file is submitted and it contains only the essential system files but it is missing some of extra/supplementary file, such as updated REAMDE.txt file | A zip file is submitted and it contains all the required and essential system files including extra/supplementary file, such as updated REAMDE.txt file |
| Correct functionality of the program. The original system functionality shouldn’t change, and your extended functionality should also work correctly. (50%) | The system functionality is incorrect and there is very minimal attempt at solving the problem. | Some of the system functionalities are correct and there is some attempt at solving the problem. | Most of the required system functionalities are implemented and work correctly. The logic of the implementation is confusing. | All of the required system functionalities are implemented and work correctly but the logic of the implementation is confusing. | All of the required system functionalities are implemented and work correctly. |
| A Microsoft word document containing your rational of your chosen approach for the system design (20%) | The document is unsatisfactorily presented. It doesn’t contain most of the extended code. The screenshots of the extended source code doesn’t clearly show the program code and there is lack of description. | The document is satisfactorily presented. It shows some of the extended code. Each screenshot of the extended source code shows the program code but there is lack of description. | The document is satisfactorily presented. It shows most of the extended source code clearly but not logically. Most of the screenshots show the extended source code but there is lack of description. | A well-presented document showing most of the extended source code clearly but not logically. Each screenshot clearly shows the extended source code and there is good description. | A well-presented document showing all the extended course code clearly and they are presented logically. Each screenshot clearly shows the extended source code and they are described well. |
| Demonstration (20%) | No coherent structure and organisation. Some irrelevant or poorly presented content | Relevant, little coherent structure and organisation. Some and acceptable presentation of content | Relevant, some coherent structure and organisation. Relevant content but there are major inconsistencies. Or sometime poorly presented content | Relevant, coherent and logically structured with no inconsistency or poorly presented content | Excellent and relevant, content, coherent and logically structured. Excellent use of headings and titles. no inconsistency and clearly presented content |
