Viewing Unit History

The information below is relevant from 09/03/2020 to 09/07/2023
Click Here to view current information

COIT20262 - Advanced Network Security

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will learn how to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and network services in business organisations. You will study the fundamental cryptographic techniques that many of the security mechanisms are built upon. You will also study network security attacks, including malware, denial of service, and application vulnerabilities, and the corresponding countermeasures. Through computer laboratory activities, you will gain hands-on experience in analysing attacks and deploying defences, including securing web applications, establishing access control mechanisms, and applying encryption in wired and wireless networks.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: COIT20261 Network Routing and Switching

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 1 - 2022

Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney

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).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate 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

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 35%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 25%
3. Written Assessment 40%

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%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

To view Past Exams,
please login
Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 91.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 42.86% 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: Analysis by Unit Coordinator
Feedback
While students can give high level overviews of different cyber-attacks, the detailed operations of cyber-attacks are difficult for students to understand.
Recommendation
Include demonstrations of cyberattacks (e.g., denial of service) in the tutorial activities to help students understand how a cyberattack works.
Action Taken
DoS attack demonstration has been included in Week 2 Tutorial. Additionally, activities related to penetration testing have also been introduced.
Source: Student emails
Feedback
Virtual Box was difficult to use on the latest Mac version.
Recommendation
Make it clear that Windows is the only environment supported by the teaching team as the computer labs only have Windows. Explore the possibility of migration to the cloud environment from VirtualBox.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Teaching team
Feedback
Update the assessments to improve the complex computing coverage.
Recommendation
Review the assessments and update it with more open-ended and analytical questions.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain vulnerabilities and attacks, as well as their countermeasures
  2. Use and compare cryptographic techniques for securing computers and networks
  3. Design security controls for organisations, such as firewalls, authentication, and access control
  4. Develop and deploy network security technologies, including encryption software, VPNs and wireless security
  5. Assess emerging threats and security controls.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is adopted by organisations, governments and individuals in many countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles. ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile.

This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA 7 (the SFIA code is included):

  • Information Security (SCTY)
  • Security Administration (SCAD)
  • Information Assurance (INAS)
  • Specialist Advice (TECH)

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • •
4 - Research • •
5 - Self-management • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • •