Unit Synopsis
As the Internet becomes more pervasive, so do the threats to the security of our computer systems and communications. This unit provides you with grounding in security technology. You will study common network security attacks, then the technologies to defend against those attacks. These technologies include cryptography, access control, authentication, firewalls, and wireless network protocols. This unit provides security knowledge that is required for industry standard certification exams, such as CompTIA.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite: COIT12206 OR COIT13147 Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 82.35% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.24% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Student and Teaching Team Feedback
Lack of network security practical demonstration in lectures.
Include examples of relevant network security practices in some lectures.
Incorporated one practical exercise into each weekly lecture.
Source: Student Feedback
The Cisco Packet Tracer tutorials were not reflected in the unit's assessments.
Incorporate tasks involving Cisco Packet Tracer for cybersecurity configuration into the final assessment.
Revised the final assessment to add requirements for the use of Cisco Packet Tracer for cybersecurity configuration tasks.
Source: Student Feedback
Students request clear and constructive marking feedback.
Prepare a detailed marking guideline to help markers provide more valuable and constructive feedback on assessments.
The marking guidelines and reminder emails were enhanced to help markers deliver more constructive, detailed feedback to students.
Source: Discipline Reflection
Assessments in this unit may be vulnerable to inappropriate use of AI tools.
Submit a UUP request to design and revise all assessments.
In Progress
Source: Student Feedback
I liked the knowledge quizzes in the lectures and think they should be used more often, with more time given for students to think before answering.
Add more interactive quizzes in lectures to improve student engagement.
In Progress
Source: UC Reflection
The lecture slides were developed three years ago, and a new version of the textbook has since been published; therefore, the teaching content should be updated accordingly.
Submit a UUP request to update the teaching content.
In Progress
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.