Network Security and Data Breaches: A Practical Overview

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COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2 PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of the total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number
Tutor’s Name
Instructions
It will be necessary to use 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.
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.
Each summary should briefly explain:
- What the resource is about
- Why you selected it
- What are the main points or key information covered in the resource
- Why the resource was useful.
For more advice about how to complete the assignment, as well as examples and
information about selecting good resources, please see the assessment page on the
Moodle unit web site:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/assign/view.php?id=886270
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Week 1
The text discusses examples of traditional mass storage such as magnetic disk and
solid-state drives. While these still underpin most mass storage, in corporate
environments they are often accessed via Network Attached Storage (NAS) or
Storage Area Network (SAN) technologies. Find and summarise ONE resource that
describes EITHER NAS or SAN storage technologies. The resource, and your
summary, must focus on either NAS or SAN, NOT BOTH.
Title : Storage Area Networks (SANs)
Reference: Riabov, Vladimir, 2007, ‘Storage Area Networks (SANs)’
10.1002/9780471743989.vse10169.
<Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260038929_Storage_Area_Networks_SAN
s>
Summary: The above-mentioned resource is all about the Storage Area Network.
The reason for selecting this resource is due to its point to point description about the
definition of the SAN, Benefits, its application area and the architecture of SAN with
three generation of the SAN.
The Author describes- SAN stands for Storage Area Network, which is capable of
directly connecting servers with the group of storage devices consisting of Tape and
optical devices. It has high-speed networked structure. SAN is considered as the
extended bus system utilizing routers, gateway and switches for connection. SAN
manages the process of backup with very ease. They help in reducing the cost and
proven to be cost-effective. It helps in decreasing the risk of down-time; it provides
the recovery and backing up of online data. It is very quick in responding to the data
loss disaster. The overall benefit of SAN can be summarized as, it is the
technologies which is scalable, flexible, and increase the performance of the system
and provide connection of any devices and manageability. Applications of SAN
include: Clustering, data vaulting, Serverless back-up facility, Topological flexibility, in
fraud detection system and in providing a high bandwidth coverage area. The
architecture of SAN has evolved from fibre-based channel to fibre-based switching
infrastructure. The current architecture is followed by second generation fabric switch
which is an open source. This architecture allows high speed and more flexibility.
SAN system has the following components: disks, volumes, DBMS, servers and file
systems. Client-Server model of SAN has fabrics, interfaces and routers, switches.
Three generations of SAN is: 1GB Loop, 1Gb and 2Gb Open which is the current
architecture.
I found this article useful because it gives full knowledge about the SAN technology.
Week 2
Operating systems use file managers to interact with mass storage devices.
However, the way in which data is stored and retrieved is dictated by the file system.
There are many types of file systems used by modern operating systems. Find and
summarise ONE resource that describes ONE such file system that is NOT FAT,
FAT32 or ExFAT. The resource, and your summary, must focus on A SINGLE file
system.
Title - NTFS (NT file system; sometimes New Technology File System)
Reference: Margaret Rouse, 2008, ‘NTFS (NT file system; sometimes New
Technology File System)’,
<Retrieved from: https://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/definition/NTFS.>
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Summary: The above-mentioned resource talks about NTFS – New Technology File
System. The resource is chosen because it gives the working of NTFS, the process
behind storage and retrieval of disk space. The resource also lists various features
which make it different from another file system.
Developed by Microsoft, NTFS is an acronym of “New Technology File System” is
the official file system of Window NT. It is the type of proprietary journaling which is
utilized for retrieving and storing of files on the disk. NTFS volume contains the
following layout: Partition boot sector, Master File Table, System files and file area.
The combination of features like security, performance and extensibility makes it
different from FAT and HPFS. NTFS is designed to perform the operation of recovery
of large storage data with write, read and search operation. Features of NTFS are:
naming can be done from 0 to 253 characters ruled by Unicode. It provides security
of data from removable to disks. It maintains the ACL (Access Control List) which is
controlled by the server to allow authorized parties to access the files. It is suitable
for storing very large files. The files are stored in the form of integrated compression.
B-tree is the directory which helps NTFS to keep control of the cluster. Working of
NTFS: When the NTFS is used for formatting the disk, It is divided in the forms of
clusters which range from 512 bytes to 65kbytes. The operating system keeps track
of all the clusters. A record of the file is stored in MFT (Master File Table).
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Week 3
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is currently being rolled-out across Australia
and there is a mix of technologies that are being used to deliver Internet services (for
example, FTTN, FTTC, FTTP, HFC, fixed wireless and satellite). Find and
summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these delivery technologies. The
resource, and your summary, must focus on A SINGLE technology.
Title: What is fibre to the home (FTTH)? - Structure and components
< Beyondtech Team, April, 2016, ‘What is fibre to the home (FTTH)? - Structure and
components’, Retrieved from: https://beyondtech.us/blogs/beyond-blog/ftth-structure-
and-components>
Summary: The resource is all about one of the delivery service of the Internet –
FTTH. The main thing in understanding FTTH is its architecture model and this
resource provides the detail description of its architecture and the components used.
Fibre to the home is created concerning the issue which includes high-speed
communication and low latency which demands high- speed Internet services. FTTH
is becoming widely popular not only because of it's high-speed but increases the
area of bandwidth. It helps to reduce the maintenance and equipment cost. FTTH
support the transmission of the data with high speed over large distances. Two
architecture category of FTTH is PON and AON. The author describes that Active
Optical Network (AON) is the easiest method of communication due to the increased
bandwidth, in AON, ISP is connected with the home but it is very expensive has
every home require their individual fibre. Author support use of Passive Optical
Network due to the presence of splitters which allow multiple homes to be connected
to a single fibre.
Two most important and basic element described by the author is Optical Network
Unit (ONU) which is present at customer end and an Optical Line Terminal (OTL)
which is present at Internet Service Provider (ISP). Non- optical equipment like
pedals, hardware and optical equipment like cables, splitters are used to connect the
basic element. The author further explains the types and most commonly used
cables, connectors and splitters.
I found this article useful because the author gives examples of various connector’s
cables and splitters which I don’t have full knowledge of it.
Week 4
The Internet is made up of many interconnected servers and networks. Users are
increasingly aware and concerned that their Internet communications can be
intercepted and monitored. Tor is one technology that allows users to obscure or
hide online their online activities. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes
what Tor is and how it works. The resource, and your summary, must focus purely on
Tor.
Title: What Is Tor? Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Reference: Jill Scharr, Oct 2013, ‘What Is Tor? Answers to Frequently Asked
Questions’, Retrieved from: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-tor-faq,news-
17754.html
Summary: The resource is all about the Tor and it working. The reason I chose this
article is that it not only explains its working but it helps to answer interesting
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questions like how tor is used, security in tor and how Tor relay is used?
The author starts the article by explaining what Tor is? He explains that Tor is one of
the online protocols which are used to anonymously use the Internet. Using Tor will
block the detective which search mail, history, posts. Tor even won’t be able to tell
which country one belongs.
The author explains the working of Tor in a very simple manner as follows – Tor is
run by the servers of the computer. When data enter in the Tor zone it is divided into
an encrypted bundle. Tor starts its process by breaking packets header (which
provides the information about the IPs. Then, Tor encrypts the rest of the packet
header known as packet wrapper. Then this data packet is routed through relays:
guard relay, middle relay and an exit relay. During the relay phase decryption of data
packets which decrypts the information of data packets coming from which relay and
which relay it will go next to. Data packets wrappers are encrypted with the help of
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS).
The author further gives information that Tor is open source and it is owned under
the name Tor Project. Tor is used with the help of software like Tor Browser Bundle
which is given by the Tor Project. The author also tells some restriction which can’t
be used in Tor for example Flash and YouTube videos.
I found this article useful because of the information it provides on the installation and
using of Tor.
5

Week 5
An emerging form of malware is crypto jacking (also known as malicious crypto
mining). Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what crypto jacking is
and how it works. The resource, and your summary, should focus purely on crypto
jacking and NO OTHER form(s) of malware.
Title: What is Crypto jacking? How it Works And How You Can Prevent It
Reference: Tamar Weiss, Dec 2018, ‘What is Crypto jacking? How it Works And
How You Can Prevent It’, Retrieved from:
https://www.chainbits.com/cryptocurrencies/what-is-cryptojacking/
Summary: The above-mentioned resource is all about the malware known as Crypto
jacking. The resource is selected due to its in-detail description of Crpto jacking its
working and moreover its prevention methods to avoid Crypto jacking.
In the article, the author describes that Crypto jacking also known with the name
malicious crypto mining is the latest malware for the investors of Cryptocurrency. It is
the process of hijacking the resources of CPU to steal and alter the crypto-
currencies. Cryptocurrency consumes large space of CPU and hence crypto jacking
is the method to hack it.
The author gives two workings of Crypto jacking which are :
Malware Scripts – In this malware practise, a link downloaded by the user consisting
of malware which contains code, gets installed unknowingly by the user which
gradually mine the cryptocurrency. This method does not harm the device.
In- Browser code of JavaScript – This method works by injecting JavaScript code into
many computers through web pages. This hacking methodology is used by many
hackers. This hacking occurs generally through sites which include gaming. The site
which uses crypto jacking will not release the user’s computer after the closing of the
websites and will continue to mine the crypto-currencies.
The author gives three methods of prevention and asks to check the links before
downloading. Ad-blocker will help to detect the script of crypto jacking because
crypto jacking is very easy to install through advertisement. By using Plugin which is
used to prevent the mining examples are NoCoin and MinerBlock. The third method
describes is the Installation of anti-malware software which protects the whole
computer.
I found this article useful because it highlights the prevention methods of Crypto
jacking.
Week 6
Redundancy is a critical aspect of network design, implemented in order to cope link
or equipment failure. One frequent cause of failure is damage to fibre optic cables
that connect countries and/or continents. Find and summarise ONE resource that
describes ONE example of such a cable being cut or damaged. The resource, and
your summary, should describe the impacts of A SINGLE EXAMPLE of a link failure.
Note that the failure must relate to a link that connects countries and/or continents.
Title: Key threats for underwater fibre-optic cable networks
Reference : Safety4Sea, April, 2019, ‘Key threats for underwater fibre-optic cable
networks’, Retrieved from: https://safety4sea.com/key-threats-for-underwater-fiber-
optic-cable-networks/
Summary: The above-mentioned source for the summary describes the failure and
damage caused to fibre optics. The resource is selected due to its highlighting of key
threats caused to the optical fibres and the recommendation it has listed to take
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necessary steps.
Author highlight that undersea cables, which connects different continents and
countries are more expensive and the major source of communication globally but
there are various threats which can cause damage to the optical fibres.
The interesting facts about the article are that the author lists some of the facts about
undersea communication. It says that optic cables live for 25 years and are
responsible for 97 % of communication which includes sensitive and confidential data
sharing between continents.
One of the major causes of damage is bad weather and natural disaster which effect
in reducing the connectivity. Cables are made in such a way that they can withstand
the rain, wind, snow, waves but the natural disaster can’t be controlled.
The author suggests various suggestions and recommendation for example Cables
should be buried deep below 6 feet from the surface and monitoring the seismic
activity for the prevention of damage at the time of disaster.
The author appeals that country at their level should try to improve the undersea
cable and should improve the enforcement of legal actions.
I found this useful because it provided the article with the number of
recommendations to take at the time of damage.
7

Week 7
Since the 1990s, Enterprise Systems (also known as Enterprise Resource Planning
systems) have become critical to the operation modern organisations. Over this
time, ES/ERPs have evolved and continue to change in response to new demands
and emerging technologies. Find and summarise ONE resource that discusses
emerging or future trends for ES/ERPs. The resource should be recent (published
since the beginning of 2017) and it and your summary should clearly identify how
ES/ERPs are or are about to, change.
Title: The Evolution of ERP Systems: A Historical Perspective
Reference: Rashid, M.A., Hossain, L. and Patrick, J.D., 2002, ‘The evolution of ERP
systems: A historical perspective’, In Enterprise Resource Planning: Solutions and
Management (pp. 35-50). IGI Global.
Retrieved from: https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~shnaidh/zooloo/nihul/evolution.pdf
Summary: The mentioned resource talks about the evaluation of Enterprise
Resource Planning. The reason for selecting this journal is based on the points which
it discusses the enterprise system architecture and evaluation.
The author gives a various definition of ERPs and one of the definitions says, it is the
software systems which are used for planning and handling resources and
management of project and sales.
The author describes that evaluation of systems is related to the development of
software and hardware components in the computer. During the 1960s computers
are based on languages like COBOL and FORTRAN. Then the development of
Material Requirement Planning (MRP) accounted in the 1970s followed by MRP II
which came in 1980s. ERP systems were developed which were based on both the
system of MRP and MRP II. And till now various features have been developed and
added to increase the efficiency of the ERP system. 2000 saw the invention of
Extended ERPs which include CRM, APS and SCM.
The architecture of ERP structure is 3-tier architecture having presentation,
application and database layer. The author tells about the software providers of ERP
which are Oracle, SAP and Baan.
The advantages and disadvantages of the ERP system which authors consider are:
It helps in improving the scalability, help in expanding and maintaining the global
outreach and e-business. It also helps in the reduction of cost and data redundancy
and provides reliable information. But the disadvantage of ERP includes it is time-
consuming and expensive.
I found this article advantageous because authors mark the evaluation and growth of
Enterprise system with the development and adaptation of new technologies like
Customer Relation Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Week 8
Databases, mass data storage and interrogation technologies underpin virtually all
Information Systems and applications. However, the same tools also make it easier
for data breaches to occur in government departments or private
companies/organisations. In simple terms, a data breach is where private
information is illegally obtained or disclosed. Find and summarise ONE resource that
describes ONE example of a data breach that has occurred since the beginning of
2017. The resource, and your summary, should focus purely on A SINGLE
EXAMPLE of a data breach.
Title: Equifax Data Breach Impacts 143 Million Americans
Reference: Lee Mathew, Sept,2017, ‘Equifax Data Breach Impacts 143 Million
Americans ‘, Retrieved from:
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2017/09/07/equifax-data-breach-impacts-
143-million-americans/#636623af356f
Summary: The above-mentioned resource is all about the biggest data breach that
occurred in the mid-year of 2017 i.e. data breach of Equifax. I selected this article
because it gives every detail of what has happened during that breach.
Author Lee, in the article, says that America’s one of the largest and biggest credit
reporting company faced security of data getting hampered. Hackers or unauthorized
party are able to gain data of 143 million people in America. Hackers are able to
access the personal detail of customer including their name, address, date-of-birth
and security number. This data breach also leaked the credit card details of many
customers and documentation was also hacked which contain additional information
of the people.
The customers whose data were accessed are notified and the additional website
was created for them to educated them and mitigate the risk
The author asks a very serious question How the hackers are able to do it? And
answers that hackers attacked the companies web servers by implementing
vulnerability on the servers and attacking the servers. Another reason which the
author predicts is hacker done by launching the campaigns regarding phishing.
Authorities of the Equifax answers that the vulnerability which impacted the system is
present from decades are able to attack the modern system and tells that the
codebase which manages the Equifax web servers are vulnerable to attack
I found this article useful because it gives every detail of the data breach and need
for more secure web application and to enhance the data policies of the company.
9

Week 9
Agile development is an iterative and incremental approach to delivering systems - it
is particularly useful where the requirements are unclear or evolving. Scrum is a
framework for undertaking agile development. Find and summarise ONE resource
that describes Scrum. The resource, and your summary, should focus purely on
Scrum and discuss some of its key features and attributes.
Title: Scrum Learn how to scrum with the best of ‘em
Reference: Claire Drumond,, ‘Scrum Learn how to scrum with the best of ‘em’,
Retrieved from: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum
Summary: The above resource talks about one of the widely used agile methodology
Scrum. The reason for selecting this resource is because it explains about the
Scrum, its definition, its framework, artefacts used and the events which occur in the
Scrum methodology.
In the article author describes Scrum, Scrum is the agile methodology or framework
used during the management of the project and binding the team workers. It is self-
organizing and helps team members to learn from their experience. Scrum became
popular due to its principles which help to manage the work by meetings and tools.
The author tells that, the framework of scrum focuses on learning and improvement.
It helps you to implement the principle of agile in everyday work. It helps to
continuously adapt the changes and focuses on learning by experience.
Scrum tools or an artefact helps to solve the problem in Scrum methodology. The
author gives and explains three artefacts which are: Sprint goal (Increment), Sprint
Backlog and Product Backlog. The major success of Scrum is due to its sequence of
the vents which occur are planning of the sprint, organising the task, deciding the
sprint (time-period), a daily report of sprint and meetings, reviewing the sprint and
conducting meetings.
The author describes that for the success of Scrum methodology key role is played
by Product master, Development team and Scrum Master.
I found this article useful because of its great content and knowledge about Scrum
technology and the major of its success.
Week 10
The textbook discusses activities associated with project management. However, it
could be argued that project governance is equally important, especially in very large
projects. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what project governance
is and what activities it entails. The resource, and your summary, should focus purely
on project governance.
Title: Introduction to Governance
Reference: Association of project management, ‘Introduction to Governance’,
Retrieved from: https://www.apm.org.uk/body-of-knowledge/context/governance/
Summary: The above resource talks about project governance and its structure used
in the management of the project.
The selection of this resource is done to know what the definition of good
governance means in Project Management.
In the article, Author describes that Project governance is the policies, standards and
the responsibilities which help to establish and define the control of programs and
portfolios. The author considered that is the major and crucial part of the
management of the project which justifies that money of stakeholders is well spent.
The author gives various characterisation of good governance which includes:
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establishing of the rules, standards and strategies. It defines the limits of the project
scope in accordance with the law of the nation. It helps to develop a friendly
relationship between the organisations. It helps in promoting the work culture in the
organisation. It gives the procedures and policies for the resolution of the dispute. It
helps in maintaining the records of communication and decision taken by the
organisation. It helps to give assurance and the process of risk management and
handling.
The author describes that P3 management (Programme, portfolio and project),
lifecycle, sponsorship, support, maturity and knowledge management are the key
features of good project governance.
I found this article useful because it gives a proper definition of the governance and
its structure.
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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) OR
Multiple resources used for a single task
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:
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