Unit Cybersecurity
Unit code
ISYS1002
Assignment 2 Security consultation report and guideline.
Due Date
Learning 24 September 2021 11:00 PM
Outcomes
Graduate 3, 6
Attributes 3, 4 & 5
Weight 30% of overall unit assessment
Suggestion This assignment is developmental and cumulative. You are strongly advised to start doing this assignment from Week-6 in your study. Leaving your starting date to the week before the due date is a very poor strategy for success in the unit.
Marks A marking scheme will be posted on MySCU to help you direct your efforts successfully.
Task Description
You are hired by Southern Cross University as a cybersecurity consultant to work on a security program to address the contemporary and emerging risks from the cyber threats the university is facing. Your tasks are the following:
• Task 1: The university is currently using a password based authentication system to control the user access to the university’s information system. However, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy recently implemented by the university has raised some security concerns. As a security consultant, assess the risk from the BYOD policy to the university's information system.
• Task 2: After the assessing the risk from the BYOD policy, you suggest the university to replace the current password-based authentication scheme with a Certificate-Based Authentication. To justify your suggestion, write a technical report to explain the working principle of the Certificate-Based Authentication mechanism and discuss why the university should use the mechanism in this case by comparing it with the password-based authentication mechanism. Use figure when necessary to support your answers.
• Task 3: You have identify Spamming is among the top cybersecurity threats facing by the university. Use the Spam Act 2003 and available online resources to develop a guideline for the university students and staff to combat with the threat. The guideline will include the following:
o Definition of spam and its distinctive characteristics. o At least three (3) real examples of spams showing the spam characteristics. o An instruction to the users of how to recognise and safely handle a spam. o An instruction to the IT administrator of how to minimize the spam threat.
Assignment-2 guideline
Task 1: BYOD risk assessment
To complete this task, use the following guidelines:
• Identify the most critical components of the university's information system - the critical information assets.
• Identify what threats the BYOD policy may bring to the identified critical assets.
• Identify potential vulnerabilities of each asset against the identified threats.
• Assess the risk to the university's information system using either quantitative or qualitative risk assessment approach and document the risk assessment process.
Task 2: Certificate-based Authentication
To complete this task, use the following guidelines:
• Perform necessary research to understand the working principle, pros and cons of the Certificate-based Authentication mechanism. Document all reference sources.
• Write a technical report to explain the working principle of the Certificate-based Authentication mechanism. Compare the certificate-based authentication against the password-based authentication and highlight the features you think are useful for combating the threats from the BYOD policy.
• Note that you are not allowed to copy and paste from online resources. Use your own words and figures. Acknowledge all reference sources.
Task 3: Anti-spam guideline
To complete this task, use the following guidelines:
• Read and understand Spam Act 2003. The Spam Act 2003 document is available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00614. The Act will help you to define what type of electronic messages should be treated as spams, what are the distinctive characteristics of a spam and what act is considered as spamming?
• Search for 3 representative examples of spams or use your own spams as examples.
• Use samples from reputable online resources to help you with the development of spam handling instructions. The instructions should be clear, concise and precise.
Assignment-2 Marking Rubric
A spreadsheet that will be used for the marking of your site is provided (co-located with this assignment specification) on MySCU to itemise exactly what tutors will be looking at in relation to marking your assignment. It contains a detailed breakdown of the marking criteria for this assignment. I strongly suggest you peruse this spreadsheet.
Submission Format
When you have completed the assignment, you are required to submit your assignment in the PDF/DOC format. The file will be named using the following convention:
filename = FirstInitialYourLastName_ ISYS1002_A2.pdf
(i.e. FJones_ ISYS1002_A2.pdf)
Original work
It is a University requirement that a student’s work complies with the Academic Policy, Chapter 4.20 on Student Academic Integrity. It is a student’s responsibility to be familiar with the Policy.
Failure to comply with the Policy can have severe consequences in the form of University sanctions. For information on this Policy please refer to Chapter 4.20 on Student Academic Integrity at the following website: http://policies.scu.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00141
As part of a university initiative to support the development of academic integrity, assessments may be checked for plagiarism, including through an electronic system, either internally or by a plagiarism checking service, and be held for future checking and matching purposes.
Retain duplicate copy
Before submitting the assignment, you are advised to retain electronic copies of original work. In the event of any uncertainty regarding the submission of assessment items, you may be requested to reproduce a final copy.
School Extension Policy
In general, I will NOT give extension unless where there are exceptional circumstances. Students wanting an extension must make a request at least 24 hours before the assessment item is due and the request must be received in writing by the unit assessor or designated academic. Extensions within 24 hours of submission or following the submission deadline will not be granted (unless supported by a doctor’s certificate or where there are exceptional circumstances – this will be at unit assessor’s discretion and will be considered on a case by case basis). Extensions will be for a maximum of 48 hours (longer extensions supported by a doctor’s certificate or alike to be considered on a case by case basis).
A penalty of 5% of the total available grade will accrue for each 24-hour period that an assessment item is submitted late. Therefore, an assessment item worth 20 marks will have 1 marks deducted for every 24-hour period and at the end of 20 days will receive 0 marks.
Students who fail to submit following the guidelines in this Unit Information Guide will be deemed to have not submitted the assessment item and the above penalty will be applied until the specified submission guidelines are followed.
Marks and Feedback
All assessment materials submitted during the semester will normally be marked and returned within two weeks of the required date of submission (provided that the assessment materials have been submitted by the due date).
Marks will be made available to each student via the MySCU Grade book.