COIT 20246 : Information and Communication Technology

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this
assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using
the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not
use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file,
inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the
formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number
Tutor’s Name

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There is a
table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required.
Note: Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.
Week 1
The text discusses how modern CPUs function. Recently a critical flaw in microprocessor
design has been discovered that allows two extremely serious security exploits: Spectre and
Meltdown. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how either of these exploits
work. The resource (and your summary) should focus on what is occurring in the CPU that
allows these exploits to occur.
Title: Exploit of Spectra and Meltdown
Reference: Meltdownattack.com. (2018). Meltdown and Spectre. [online] Available at:
https://meltdownattack.com/ [Accessed 12 May 2018].
Summary:
The main focus point which is related to the topic is that how the meltdown and Spectre
basically exploits the security of a system. The above resource is selected due to the aspect
that it explains in basic language about the two security vulnerability.
Meltdown can be considered as an isolation which is related to the user application and the
operating system. The main focus point of the attack is to allow the program to directly access
the memory and thus allow the secret access to the operating system and other programs. If
the user’s system has a processor which is vulnerable and the system is unpatched it is not
safe to work with the sensitive data due to the factor that the attack which is related to the
meltdown can easily access the system.
Spectre on the other hand is a concept of breaking of the isolation which is between different
applications. It directly allows the attacker to trick program which are error free which follow
the practice into the secret leaking. It can be stated here that the checks of the security
relating to the best practices directly increase the surface area of the attack and make the
application more susceptible to the attack of the spectre.
Spectre can be considered to be harder to exploit than meltdown on the other hand harder to
mitigate. Software patches are very much available which would be preventing the system of
the user from the exploits which are based on spectre.
Week 2
Prior to 1985, there were very few Operating Systems (OSes) that used Graphical User
Interfaces (GUIs). Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these GUI
operating systems. The OS must have been release prior to 1985 so cannot be Microsoft
Windows.
Title: GUI Operating system
Reference: Templates, B. (2018). List of GUI-Based Operating System and Its History.
[online] E-techinnews.blogspot.in. Available at: http://e-techinnews.blogspot.in/2012/06/list-of-
gui-based-operating-system-and.html [Accessed 12 May 2018].
Summary:
The main aim of the article is to take into consideration all the GUI (Graphical user interface)
operating system. The main selection of the resource is due to the factor that is gives a broad
idea of all the GUI based operating system and indulge the aspect with history involved into it.

The Mac OS system 1.0 can be considered as one of the GUI which is operating system
based which was basically developed for the Macintosh. Some of the features which are
related to the modern day operating system was involved into the concept. This is due to the
factor that each of the window is accompanies by the help of an icon. The main functionality
which was related to the concept was that each of the window can be moved with the help of
the mouse and it was not restricted to the windows but also the folders, files could be copied
by a way of simply dragging and placing them in a place which is appropriate for the users.
This application was applied by the Apple and it can be considered as one of the options
relating to OSX snow leopard. The concept can be stated to be making the concept of the
MAC simple if it is compared with other types of GUI and became an operating system
claimed to have one of the best GUI system when it is compared to other operating systems.
The security aspect of the data is dealt very well in this concept.
Week 3
Low-Powered Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) are wireless communication networks that are
characterised by linking devices over large distances. Devices (including simple sensors)
typically can only communicate at very low bit rates, however, the communication and
associated electronics consume very little power. As such, LPWAN devices can be battery
powered and operate independently for many months or even years. Find and summarise
ONE resource that describes ONE platform or technology that implements a LPWAN.
Title: Technology that implements a LPWAN
Reference: Bhatia, R. (2018). What is LPWAN and why is it considered critical for IoT?.
[online] IoT India Magazine. Available at: https://www.iotindiamag.com/2017/03/lpwan-
considered-critical-iot/ [Accessed 13 May 2018].
Summary:
The main justification which can be given in regards to the selection of the resource is that it
gives a precise overview of the concept of the LPWAN and how it can be implemented in the
technology of internet of things. The focus point is how the technology gets its advantage
from the LPWAN concept.
LPWAN fuels up the direct connectivity which is related to the internet of things devices. The
basic need of the device can be considered to be less bandwidth which is directly applicable
to most of the devices which are standard devices. The defining characteristics which are
added to the concept of the internet of things are the high speed connectivity rather than
being robust and scalable for the devices which are considered to be smart for example
lighting, sensor etc. these types of setting are ideally used in industrial setting. The concept of
the LPWAN technology is directly devices to be connected with the range of 15miles and due
to this aspect it is widely used in the concept of the IoT health care sector, utility sector,
building and transportation. LPWAN can be considered to be threatening the licensed, cellular
network and has a focus of redefining the IoT sector. The Low power wide area network in
the concept of the IoT can be stated to be one of the hottest topic and there are many
research being implemented as the technology can be stated to be one of the most cost
effective technology which can be easily be implemented and taken advantage.
Week 4
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a group of hardware and software technologies that allow users to
communicate via voice and video over the Internet. VoIP uses a number of different software
protocols, depending on the application. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes
ONE of these VoIP protocols.

Title: VoIP Protocols
Reference: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Based IP PBX System Design. (2016).
International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(2), pp.1380-1385.
Summary:
The main reason for the selection of the resource is that it gives a direct overview of the
concept of the protocols which are related to the VoIP. In this aspect the protocol which is
taken into consideration is the H. 248.
The main feature which is related to the protocol H.248 is that it provides a basic gateway
interface of control between the PGW 2200 and the VXSM gateway. It can be stated that it
directly supplements the protocol which is related to the MGCP protocol. The interface is
based on the concept of the ITU-SG16/IETF specification of the H.248 which basically
defines a decomposed architecture of the gateway. The architecture basically consist of a
media gateway controller (MGC) and the media gateways (MGs). On the other hand
distributed functionality of the call control between the MGC (an entity which manages the
tearing and the establishment of calls) and a MG (a simple entity which responds to the
request of the MGC and independently processes the stream of the media).
The main functionality which is related to the protocol is that it interfaces the IP telephony
network with the PSTN network which basically passes the voice traffic from one section of
the network to another network. Although the concept which is related to the H.248 is directly
designed for the aspect of the generic support taking into consideration different devices of
the media. It can be stated here that the PGW is directly designed for the act which is related
to the MGC and considered to be a part of the interwork with the gateway of the trunking.
Week 5
One of the many uses of cryptography has been the development of the blockchain.
Blockchains are commonly used as the basis for maintaining the data integrity of crypto
currencies, though have many, many more applications. Find and summarise ONE resource
that describes how blockchains work. Note that the resource should focus on the blockchain
mechanism, NOT crypto currencies.
Title: How blockchain works.
Reference: Happiest Minds. (2018). What is Blockchain Technology | Blockchain
Applications. [online] Available at: https://www.happiestminds.com/Insights/blockchain/
[Accessed 13 May 2018].
Summary: The concept of the blockchain can be considered as an encrypted, database which
is distributed that records data. In simple language it can be stated as a ledger of transaction
which is digital in nature and contracts – records which has to be individually recorded.
The main functionality which is related to the blockchain is that the digital ledger is very much
accessible across the different platform and application and is not bounded in one area or
access point. Due to this functionality the application is being implemented widely in the
sector of the finance due to the safeguard of the data. The security aspect of the data is
achieved by means of converting the data into hash. A hash can be considered as a letter or
number which is produced by a hash function which is a mathematical function that takes a
variable number and directly converts it into string which is of fixed number of characters. It
can be stated that a small changes in the string would be creating a completely new has.
These hash function are not accessible to another person than the intended user. In most of
the cases it can be stated that the conversion of the hash can be one of the factors which
enhance the security of the data. This data is known as a block and the family of the blocks is
known as the blockchain. The blockchain updates itself every ten minutes in an automatic
function, no computer or algorithm instructs them to do so.

Week 6
One controversial practical application of network traffic management is in the contravention
of the principle of “net neutrality”. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what net
neutrality is and how its contravention could impact on individual and business users of the
Internet.
Title: Net neutrality
Reference: Finley, K., Hempel, J., Graff, G., Tiku, N., Matsakis, L., Simonite, T. and
Lapowsky, I. (2018). Net Neutrality: Here's Everything You Need To Know. [online] WIRED.
Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/guide-net-neutrality/ [Accessed 14 May 2018].
Summary: Net Neutrality can be considered as an idea which is related to the internet service
providers for example verizon and Comcast should take into consideration the content flow
which is thprugh the tables and the cell tower equally. This directly means that the concept
should not be able to slide some of the data into the fast lanes while the concept of blocking
or the aspect of discriminating against the material. In simple way the concept can be stated
as a technology which by which the organizations are able to block the user from the access
of the service which are related to the using of the skype or slow down the access of the
Netflex or Hulu. This is mainly done to encourage the user to keep the cable package or buy
a different video streaming service.
Taking into consideration the future of the net neutrality is now in the direct hands of the
congress and the courts. Several organization and business bodies are trying to take up the
aspect of the net neutrality. Most of the organization who were located in the state of
Washington became the first set of organization to indulge themselves into the right. Most of
the broadband providers in the near future are expected to take advantage of the concept and
deal with the functionality which is related to the aspect. There would be more opportunity
which is related to the net neutrality which would be directly helping the organization to reach
to a desired standard.

Week 7
Information Systems have led to greater and greater degrees of automation in the workplace.
There is currently extensive speculation on which jobs will cease to be performed by humans
in the near future. Find and summarise ONE resource that discusses jobs that are likely to
not exist in the future due to ICT based automation. Note that the resource must clearly link
the loss of the job(s) to advances in ICT.
Title: Job lost due to ICT automation
Reference: TechCrunch. (2018). Technology is killing jobs, and only technology can save
them. [online] Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/26/technology-is-killing-jobs-and-
only-technology-can-save-them/ [Accessed 14 May 2018].
Summary:
The main reason for the selection of the resource is due to the factor that there would be a
loss of jobs due to the automation process which is related to the ICT automation and the
article provides a brief overview of the concept.
In recent times technology is playing a vital role in the sphere of the life of the people and
people tend to move to a technology oriented orientation due to the lack of errors involved
into the concept. The process of automation can be considered to very much error free
process which can be very much beneficial for most of the organization. On the other hand it
can be stated that if the automation process is not taken into consideration the process or the
working of the organization can involve different types of error subjected to the human
intervention. In most of the cases it is seen that the error forms a vital part of the organization
and directly hampers the overall working of the organization.
Automation process which is related to the ICT does not include much of human oriented
factors which would be very much beneficial for the organization and would be hampering the
job of the common people. There can be few advantage related to the concept but on the
other hand there are many types of disadvantage related to the concept which would be
directly affecting the internal as well as external working related to the organization.
Week 8
With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come the use of these datasets for
machine learning. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what machine learning
is and how it is being used.
Title: Concept of Machine Learning
Reference: Sas.com. (2018). Machine Learning: What it is and why it matters. [online]
Available at: https://www.sas.com/en_in/insights/analytics/machine-learning.html [Accessed
14 May 2018].
Summary:
The main focus point of the selection of the article is that it gives a clear overview of the
concept of the machine learning and how it can be used and the main advantage which are
related to the concept.
The concept of machine learning can be considered as a method of analysis of the data that
basically automates the analytics model of building. It can be considered as a branch relating
to artificial intelligence which is based on the idea that the system can directly learn the data,
identify the pattern and make direct decision with the human intervention which is minimum.
The use of the machine learning concept are implemented in the concept of the Google self-
driving cars, online recommendation offers which is basically in the sector of the Netflix and
the amazon. The application and the use of the machine learning can be in any of the sector
which is related to the everyday life. The concept of the machine learning can be linked with
the concept of linguistic concept which in the near future can be considered to be very much
important and would be playing a very vital role which would be helping the technology to

advance in the different sectors. In the sector of the fraud detection the concept of machine
learning also has s role to play as the concept can directly indulge into the different activity of
the security aspect of the data in the recent world. In the near future it can be stated that the
concept of the machine learning would be playing a very dominating role.
Week 9
Critical to application development are the languages used to implement the specifications.
Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE programming language that has
been developed since 2008. The resource (and your summary) should include information
on the principle uses and features of the language.
Title: Pure Programming Language
Reference: Purelang.bitbucket.io. (2018). Pure Programming Language. [online] Available at:
https://purelang.bitbucket.io/ [Accessed 14 May 2018].
Summary: The pure programming language can be considered one of the computer based
programming language which is in existence since 2008. The concept which is applied to the
programming language is that it is a modern function based programming language. The
main offers which is related to the aspect is that it offers equation definition with the matching
of the pattern, dynamic typing, full symbolic rewriting capability and the lazy evaluation
concept. The main interpreter in the language is he LLVM which is a backend JIT compiler
which can be sued for the aspect of the fast native code.
Pure can be considered as a successor the programming language which is known as the Q
language. Taking into consideration the Q programming language it has many new and
powerful features which are included in the concept which makes the R programming
language faster and reliable than the Q programming language. The pure programming
language can also integrate with other computing environments such as the pure data, Faust,
Reduce, Octave and the TexXmacs. On the other hand it can also be stated here that it
provides a fair extensive collection which is related to the add-on modules. This directly
makes the pure programming language easily adoptable for most of the programmer and a
huge amount of benefit with fast computation can be achieved from the concept. The system
support aspect which is related to the programming language can range in the aspect of Mac
OS X, FreeBSD and windows (to name a few).

Week 10
While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, they can also
result in negative effects and outcomes. One recent controversy, the propagation of fake
news and its influence on elections, has been linked to a type of software called a “bot”. Find
and summarise ONE resource that describes what bots are and how they can be used for
disseminating misinformation and affecting human behaviour.
Title:
Reference: Us.norton.com. (2018). What Are Bots?. [online] Available at:
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware-what-are-bots.html [Accessed 13 May 2018].
Summary:
Bots or internet bots are also known crawlers, spider and web bots. The main functionality
which is related to the concept of the bots are in the sector of the utilization to perform
repetitive jobs for example indexing a search engine. The bots usually come in the form of a
malware. Malware bots are basically used to gain the overall access which is related to the
computer of the user.
The Good bots are usually utilized in the sector of information gathering. Bots in general are
used in the guises of the web crawlers. Another good aspect which can be related to the
concept of the bot is that it automatically interacts with the instant messaging, instant relay
chat and assorted interfaces of the web.
The bad sector which is related to the bots are defined as a malware which is self-
propagating that directly effects the connections and the host back to the central server. The
functions of the server which is related to the aspect of “command and control centre” for the
concept of the botnet or a network which is compromised computer and similar devices. The
bots which are considered to be malicious have the direct ability to self-propagate”. The
aspect which are taken into consideration is the password gathering, obtaining financial
information, analyse packets and capture, launch of the DoS attacks, exploit the back door
which is related to the opened worms and virus.
The bots are basically used in the concept of infecting system large in number related to the
computers. These computer form a bot network or a bot which is related to the network.

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the
task; summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
<=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has been explained to some extent, but
needs additional information.
<=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise;
the relevance and usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly
explained.
Key
Deductions
-3
-2
-1
Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot
be located or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is
not of resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples
rather than focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
Comments: