Filter by keyword, subject, or both. Updates live as new model answers are added to our portal.
Cyber Security / Digital Forensics
3,877 words
Digital Forensics Investigation: USB, Memory and Windows Registry Analysis
This Digital Forensics Investigation Report presents a multi-source forensic examination involving removable media, volatile memory and a Windows disk image. The work is undertaken within an MSc Cyber Security context and demonstrates the application of forensic procedures, specialist analysis tools and evidential reasoning to investigate suspected criminal and malicious activity. The report places particular emphasis on maintaining evidence integrity, reconstructing activity across different forensic sources and correlating artefacts to produce defensible investigative findings. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash The first part investigates a FAT32 USB forensic image associated with suspected video piracy and other potentially criminal activity. The examination uses tools including FTK Imager, Autopsy, Sleuth Kit, ewfmount, cryptographic hashing utilities and VeraCrypt. The methodology includes pre- and post-examination hash verification, read-only mounting, filesystem enumeration, deleted-file analysis and low-level sector examination. The investigation identifies deleted artefacts, portable anti-forensic utilities, browser evidence and an encrypted VeraCrypt container concealed within unallocated disk space. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash The USB investigation also demonstrates the importance of evidence integrity and chain of custody. MD5 and SHA-256 hashes are used to establish and later confirm the integrity of forensic copies, while analysis is conducted without modifying the original evidence. The report examines filesystem structures, deleted files, anti-forensic tooling and encrypted data and records evidence handling through a formal chain-of-custody process. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash The second part focuses on volatile-memory forensics using a Windows memory image. Volatility 3 is used to identify the operating-system profile, reconstruct process hierarchies, inspect process ownership and security identifiers, and extract suspicious process memory. Particular attention is given to AtomicService.exe, which is observed running with SYSTEM privileges and associated with the Atomic Red Team framework and MITRE ATT&CK technique T1543.003 – Windows Service. The investigation also considers PowerShell activity, process execution timelines and indicators of suspicious behaviour. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash The third part conducts Windows Registry forensic analysis on the WinRegEvidenceP3.vhd image. Registry artefacts are examined using RegRipper, with analysis covering SYSTEM, SOFTWARE, SAM and NTUSER.DAT hives. The investigation evaluates system configuration, user accounts, application execution and persistence evidence using artefacts such as Run keys, BAM, Prefetch and scheduled tasks. These findings are then correlated with evidence recovered from volatile memory to reconstruct the sequence of suspicious activity. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash Across the report, evidence from disk, memory and the Windows Registry is combined to reconstruct malicious activity and identify persistence mechanisms, elevated processes, suspicious user accounts and adversary-simulation tools. The analysis maps relevant behaviour to the MITRE ATT&CK framework and considers both technical findings and their evidential significance. The report therefore demonstrates practical competence in forensic acquisition principles, artefact analysis, timeline reconstruction, malware and process investigation, evidence correlation and professional reporting. Important for the Reference Library: this upload contains an actual student name on the cover page and detailed case evidence. Since your Reference Library says there is no student record behind uploaded past work, I would use the generic title and overview above rather than copying the student-identifying cover-page information into the public metadata. DF_Report_Sathiyaprakash
Read Model Answer →
Cyber Security / Applied Cryptography / Secure Systems Design
2,500 words
Secure Property Contract Exchange: Cryptographic Protocol Design, Threat Modelling and Post-Quantum Readiness
This Applied Theory of Cyber Security and Secure Design coursework places students in the role of a cyber security consultant engaged by Hackit & Run LLP, a legal firm specialising in UK and international property transactions. The firm wishes to implement a secure digital system for handling, exchanging and legally signing property contracts. Students must design and evaluate a secure communication protocol supporting interactions between the buyer’s solicitor, the seller’s solicitor and the buyer while addressing both first-time communications and previously established secure relationships. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… Section A – Cryptographic Protocol Design, worth 45%, requires a complete secure communication protocol. Students must explain how trust is initially established, how later communications can be simplified without weakening confidentiality, integrity or availability, and how the buyer can digitally sign a contract in a manner enforceable under UK law. The design must justify specific cryptographic algorithms for functions such as key exchange, bulk encryption, digital signatures and hashing. The protocol must be presented through both a sequence diagram showing message flows and cryptographic operations and pseudocode explaining the key algorithmic stages. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… Section B – Threat Modelling, worth 20%, requires a focused analysis using the STRIDE methodology. Students identify three realistic threats from different STRIDE categories and analyse the attack vector, asset at risk and potential effect on the legal transaction. Each threat must then be connected back to specific protocol defences, with residual risks acknowledged where controls cannot provide complete mitigation. The guidance encourages consideration of issues such as social engineering, insider threats, key-management failures and availability risks in addition to purely cryptographic attacks. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… Section C – Security Evaluation Against Standards, worth 15%, requires students to evaluate the proposed system against a recognised cybersecurity standard or framework. Options include ISO/IEC 27001:2022, Common Criteria (ISO/IEC 15408) and the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard. Students select three or four directly relevant controls or requirements, assess whether the proposed design satisfies them, identify gaps and recommend specific improvements. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… Section D – Post-Quantum Readiness and Critical Reflection, worth 15%, examines how a future quantum-capable adversary could affect the protocol. Students identify vulnerable cryptographic components, discuss the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography standardisation programme, and examine replacement algorithms such as ML-KEM for key establishment and ML-DSA for digital signatures. They must also evaluate a hybrid migration strategy combining classical and post-quantum algorithms, considering performance overhead, backward compatibility and the legal admissibility of post-quantum digital signatures. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… The remaining 5% evaluates professional report quality, logical structure, technical language, integration of diagrams and consistent CUHarvard referencing. Higher-quality work is expected to demonstrate a sophisticated trust model, clear traceability between threats and controls, precise standards mapping, practical security recommendations and well-evidenced analysis of post-quantum migration. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a… Important for the public Reference Library: the brief states that the assessment document is intended only for Coventry University Group students and must not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Therefore, publish only an original high-level description such as the overview above; do not upload or reproduce the original assignment brief publicly. 11b17febb9eeb4570f76f6ca95a831a…
Read Model Answer →
Digital Forensics / Cyber Security
3,000 words
Digital Forensics Investigation of a USB Device: Evidence Acquisition, Analysis and Reporting
This Digital Forensics assessment requires students to undertake a simulated professional investigation of a USB storage device while acting as a digital forensic trainee for a fictional forensic-services organisation. The nature of the suspected wrongdoing is initially unknown, requiring the investigator to apply appropriate forensic methodologies, tools and analytical techniques to identify suspicious activity, recover relevant artefacts and determine whether evidence of malicious or unauthorised behaviour exists. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… The investigation begins with authorisation, evidence handling and chain of custody. Students must demonstrate secure receipt and management of the USB device, operate within the authorised scope of the investigation and maintain records covering each stage of the evidence lifecycle. Forensic acquisition requires use and validation of a software write blocker, creation of bit-for-bit forensic images and cryptographic hashing to demonstrate that working and evidential copies maintain integrity. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… The analytical stage involves examination of the working forensic image using appropriate digital-forensic tools. Students investigate file-signature mismatches, password-protected files, registry artefacts, USB history, user activity, metadata and timeline relationships. Where suspicious executable files are discovered, static and/or dynamic malware analysis may be undertaken. The investigation can therefore span documents, images, applications, executables and registry hives. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… Students must maintain objective and chronological forensic case notes documenting evidence acquisition, preservation, analysis and interpretation. These records should support reproducibility and potential evidential admissibility. The final forensic report summarises findings, explains and justifies the tools and methodologies used, records integrity-verification results, discusses relevant legal, ethical and professional principles and provides appropriate recommendations for further action. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… The assessment also encourages advanced forensic analysis where relevant, including OSINT, password recovery or decryption, data carving, regular-expression searching, advanced registry analysis and static or dynamic malware investigation. Professional practice is assessed through adherence to recognised forensic methodologies, industry best practice, legal and ethical obligations, chain-of-custody records and evidence-handling procedures. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… Overall, the coursework integrates forensic acquisition, evidence preservation, artefact analysis, advanced investigation techniques, professional documentation and legally defensible reporting within a realistic digital-forensics case-study environment. Important for your public Reference Library: this brief explicitly states that it is for Coventry University Group students' own use and must not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. 7070SCN_Assessment Brief_2526MA… So use the metadata and an original high-level overview like the one above, but do not upload or publicly reproduce the assessment brief itself.
Read Model Answer →
Secure Design and Development
2,000 words
Secure Design and Development – PixelForge Nexus (UITS)
This assessment for Coventry University’s Secure Design and Development module requires students to design and develop a functional secure online system with the aid of a Large Language Model (LLM). The assignment is based on a practical scenario involving Creative SkillZ LLC and its proposed “PixelForge Nexus” system. The submission combines a functional prototype, an individual 2,000-word report, source code hosted in the Coventry University GitHub environment, and a video report demonstrating the completed prototype. The PixelForge Nexus prototype is intended to provide secure project management and basic asset and resource management for a game-development environment. Core functionality includes adding and removing projects, viewing active projects, assigning developers to projects, allowing developers to view their assigned projects, uploading project documents, and allowing authorised users to access documents associated with their projects. The system must implement privilege separation between Admin, Project Lead and Developer roles. Security is a central requirement of the assignment. Administrators are responsible for managing projects and user accounts, Project Leads can assign developers and upload project documents, while Developers can view assigned projects and associated documents. The system must include a robust login mechanism with secure password hashing and storage, with Multi-Factor Authentication recommended as an additional security measure. Proposed pages include Sign In/Register, a role-based User Dashboard, Account Settings and a Project Details page. The practical assessment evaluates four major areas: System Design, Security Testing and Analysis, System Development, and Formal Methods. System design requires consideration of secure design principles and their application to the development lifecycle. Security testing requires critical evaluation of security techniques, identification of issues and proposed mitigation measures. System development requires a functional prototype that follows the proposed design and considers legal and ethical requirements. Formal methods require a behavioural model and appropriate verification techniques to establish whether the system meets its specification. The individual report must document the methods and techniques used to develop the prototype and discuss the stages of the development lifecycle, including specification, design and development. It must also explain the deployment and testing approach, limitations of the prototype, possible improvements, security techniques and the formal model used. The submission must include links to the Coventry University GitHub repository and Microsoft OneDrive video, while the required appendix contains the LLM prompt history and other resources used with APA-style referencing.
Read Model Answer →