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Networking and Security Practice
Networking and Security Practice – Recorded Demonstration
This assessment for the MSc Cyber Security module Networking and Security Practice is a practical recorded-demonstration coursework designed to assess students' ability to configure, secure, troubleshoot and monitor a virtualised sandbox network. The assessment contributes 60% of the module mark and consists of four recorded demonstration videos, with each video limited to a maximum of five minutes. The completed videos are submitted through a Moodle quiz as video files or accessible links. The practical environment uses virtual machines running Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop on VirtualBox or UTM. Students deploy a four-machine architecture consisting of a Gateway, Webserver, Workstation and Zabbix-Server. The Gateway acts as the router, firewall and NAT gateway; the Webserver hosts an Nginx web server; the Workstation is used for administration and testing; and the Zabbix-Server provides network monitoring. The architecture requires appropriate network interfaces, IP addresses, routing and communication between the different internal networks. The coursework develops practical networking and system administration skills through several phases. Students install and configure operating systems, allocate virtual machine resources, configure static IP addresses, enable IP forwarding and NAT masquerading, and implement firewall rules using iptables. They also develop command-line proficiency using networking, DNS, security, remote-access and web tools including ping, traceroute, ss, nslookup, dig, nmap, Wireshark, netcat, SSH, SCP, rsync, curl and wget. Students must also configure secure remote access and deploy an Nginx web server. SSH must be hardened by disabling password authentication and root login, while key-based authentication is used for secure access. The Webserver must contain a customised landing page showing the student's name and student ID, which is accessed from the Workstation. The monitoring component requires installation and configuration of Zabbix, deployment of agents across the virtual machines, host monitoring, a customised dashboard containing at least five live-data widgets and configured alerts or triggers. Students must explain what their selected monitoring elements measure and why they are operationally useful. The traffic-analysis component uses Wireshark to capture and examine HTTP, ICMP and DNS traffic. Students apply appropriate filters, identify protocols using the Protocol Hierarchy and discuss the security implications of unencrypted HTTP traffic, including secure alternatives such as HTTPS and DNS over TLS. The security-evaluation component uses Nmap within the isolated virtualised sandbox to identify open ports and services, assess vulnerabilities and recommend mitigations. Students must also demonstrate iptables forwarding and NAT masquerading rules. The four videos cover Network Infrastructure, Network Monitoring, Traffic Analysis and Security Evaluation. The assessment is marked out of 100, with 35 marks allocated to Network Infrastructure, 25 to Network Monitoring, 20 to Traffic Analysis and 20 to Security Evaluation. Students are expected to provide clear voice narration, explain commands and outputs, demonstrate technical understanding and critically relate their work to network security. The assessment develops employability skills in Linux administration, remote system management, network troubleshooting, security hardening, packet analysis, port and service scanning, virtualisation and network monitoring. It also requires students to conduct security testing ethically within their own isolated virtualised environment and prohibits unauthorised scanning of university networks, public websites or other systems.
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Network Systems and Administration
3,500 words
Network Systems and Administration – Linux System and Network Administration Portfolio
This assessment is an individual portfolio for the Network Systems and Administration unit. It consists of two quizzes and a report based on a case study involving the development, implementation, configuration, testing, maintenance, and evaluation of a network solution using an industry-standard network operating system. The report requires students to justify their design and implementation decisions, provide a detailed testing strategy, develop a maintenance and disaster recovery plan, and critically evaluate the completed solution. The case study concerns Piranha, a small organisation in which the business owner has been maintaining a server containing information relating to finance, management, production, and sales. The student is required to undertake the role of Network Systems Administrator and configure an appropriate Linux-based network environment. The practical work includes creating a new user account with root access, confirming root privileges, verifying access to company files, and configuring group-based access controls for finance, management, production, and sales directories. Students must then establish a client-server network by installing a Linux distribution on a separate virtual machine in VirtualBox. SSH connections are required to verify user access and the configured file permissions. The assessment also requires students to use Wireshark to observe network traffic during SSH sessions, report on packet types and encryption, identify potential security vulnerabilities, and recommend improvements such as SSH keys and unique passwords. A maintenance schedule and a brief disaster recovery or backup strategy must also be proposed. The final report must document the practical work with clear explanations and screenshots showing commands, user accounts, and results. The report should be between 1,500 and 3,500 words. The assessment also includes Linux Essentials and Networking Essentials final grades. The marking criteria cover system and network administration, the maintenance plan, reflection and report writing, screenshots, references, and Harvard referencing.
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Cloud Computing / Big Data Technologies / Cyber Security
2,500 words
Cloud and Big Data Security Application: Design, Implementation and Evaluation
This assessment for the Cloud and Big Data Technologies module requires students to design, implement and evaluate an individual cloud-based or distributed data application. The project focuses on practical solutions involving the complex transformation, processing, storage and security of big data within cloud environments. Students are expected to demonstrate how distributed data can be organised in the cloud, how data pipelines can be used to access or process distributed databases, and how appropriate security controls can be incorporated into the resulting architecture. Students have considerable freedom when selecting their application. Suggested project directions include developing a data-science solution using SQL or MongoDB with cloud storage and an appropriate security policy; implementing privacy-preserving distributed processing using techniques such as Differential Privacy; creating multi-party authentication and group-based access-control mechanisms; or designing Multi-Level Security, Attribute-Based Encryption or Role-Based Access Control solutions. Projects may also examine distributed or cloud applications using security protocols such as SSH, SSL or IPsec. Creativity and originality are explicitly encouraged. The written component is a Design and Implementation Document of no more than approximately 2,500 words. It should present the project aims and objectives, application concept, cloud and security technologies, functional and security requirements, architecture and design decisions, protocols, access-control mechanisms, implementation process, achievements, problems encountered and overall evaluation. Relevant diagrams, such as interaction or sequence diagrams, may be used to explain system behaviour and architecture. The assessment also requires submission of the functioning Cloud and Big Data Security application and a 7-minute highlight demonstration video. The video should demonstrate the application's major features, implementation details, security functionality and, where appropriate, attack scenarios. Assessment places strong emphasis on the quality of the design and implementation documentation, originality, use of advanced features, and the overall effort and technical quality of the completed application. Students are therefore expected to demonstrate independent development rather than simply reproduce an existing tutorial.
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