University of Sunderland
School of Computer Science
CET324 – Advanced CyberSecurity
Assignment 2
2024-2025
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
Infringement of Assessment Regulations (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 See date and time on CanvasUniversity of Sunderland
School of Computer Science
CET324 – Advanced CyberSecurity
Assignment 2
2024-2025
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
Infringement of Assessment Regulations (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 See date and time on Canvas
Time
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 give the rational for
the approach you used to design the and implemented the system (e.g., the
chosen programming language, framework, architecture etc.) and the way you
evaluated for robustness and performance. You should support your chosen
approach 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 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/supplementar
y 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/supplementar
y 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,
implementation
and evaluation
(20%)
The document is
unsatisfactorily
presented with
little, no or
irrelevant rational
for the used
approach to
system design,
implementation
and evaluation.
No use of the
literature, citation
or references.
The document is
satisfactorily
presented with
little but partly
irrelevant rational
for the used
approach to
system design,
implementation
and evaluation.
Little use of the
literature, citation
or references.
The document is
satisfactorily
presented with
relevant rational for
the used approach
to system design,
implementation and
evaluation.
Satisfactory use of
the literature,
citation or
references.
A well-presented
document showing
good rational for the
used approach to
system design,
implementation and
evaluation. Good
use of the literature,
citation or
references.
A well-presented
document with
excellent rational
given for the system
design,
implementation and
evaluation. Excellent
use of the literature,
citation or references.
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