The Impact of Cyber Hygiene on Network and Computer Security: A Research Review

1. Demonstrate systematic understanding of your knowledge of computer networks and security principles, methods and tools at different layers of abstraction (software, hardware, and integration).
2. Critically analyse, apply and evaluate existing and emerging network principles, security policy to meet specific organizational and environmental requirements and clearly communicate, justify and discuss the solution and their ethical and legal aspects

What am I required to do in this assignment?

You are required to write a Research Review/Survey Paper in the format of IEEE journal papers on a Networking related topic. Review/Survey papers compare the work done by others or highlight them for new researchers in the field to use as their starting point. They are similar to the ‘literature review’ section of a longer dissertation/project. It is recommended that you look for examples of Review/Survey papers on the LRC and IEEE Xplore digital libraries. Examples can also be found on BREO. You MUST pick the following research topic:

The impact of Cyber Hygiene on Network and Computer Security You may choose to specialise within this topic if you like (e.g. password management, user responsibilities, phishing attacks, working from home practises) but you must justify your choice in the introduction.

1. A research paper written using the IEEE journal paper template. The file name should be written as: StudentID.doc.
2. The maximum number of pages should be 6 pages and a minimum of 4 pages a minimum font size of 10
3. Your research needs to be from a wide range of relevant and recent sources (this means from a variety of books, journals, white papers and respected academic sources typically dated no more than five years ago).
4. Your work must be original and not contain plagiarism or involve the use of a paraphraser. This means that where you have used research articles you must summarise and re-word any sources into a coherent essay to support your points and arguments. The words and ‘thought-flow’ must be completely your own. If you quote directly it should be indicated with quotation marks.
5. All sources must be acknowledged, in the IEEE referencing style, both with in-text citations and in a references section at the end of the document. “IEEE uses numeric references in the text, with numbers in square brackets.” [1]. If you are using Microsoft Word you can do this directly by using: References, Style: IEEE, Insert Citation.
6. Make sure that your document has your name and student ID clearly shown in the Author information.
7. This file should be submitted via the Assignment 1 link under the Assessment & Feedback section.
8. No hard copy is required and none will be accepted. Your last submission on BREO will be the one that is marked.

Quality Work

Should the staff identify any paper of publishable quality, you will be informed and at discretion of unit staff the paper may be prepared and submitted for publication.

Marking Scheme

A rubric grading guide is given on the next page. Please note that this assignment must be done individually. This is not group work, so no collaborative or cooperative work of any kind is allowed. Although working with others is an important part of computing and research, for this particular assignment you must make sure that what you submit is your own work.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

• Identify appropriate research in a given aspect of computer networks and security
• Present a review of the current state of the art in an area of computer networks and security
• Compare and make judgements about alternative approaches and technologies
• Reference your work according to academic standards

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

1. The title of your paper should be the research topic title given above. Your work should concentrate on the latest developments in the selected area.
2. Avoid using quoted text unless it is essential. Too much quoted text will result in marks deducted as it does not show your own work. All your references must be within the past 5 years and only use earlier ones if you are referring to a standard, original work start of a theory, etc. All references must come from quality sources such as journals, respected books, and conferences. Some reputable websites may be used such as white papers from government sources (NCSC) and or other security websites, e.g. Verizon data-breach report, SANS, CERT, etc. or websites with suitable academic rigour. Wikis, blogs, and similar websites are not accepted, and marks will be deducted for using them. Such sites do not always contain reliable content.
3. Whilst your work should be of sufficient level for your level of study, it needs to be accessible and understandable to a wide audience of computer literate and academic readers. In short, if you cannot understand what you have written then neither can your academic markers.
4. You MUST use the IEEE template as given on BREO and any submission that does not meet the IEEE template formatting will result in marks deducted (see marking scheme).
5. For postgraduate level, it is essential that you show some critical comparison, analysis and evaluation in your paper. See rubric/marking scheme.

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions? Although this is primarily to be considered a research assignment, during the scheduled sessions you will learn about a number of networking and security principles which may be applicable to your assignment. You will also practice research skills and how to reference sources of information – key skills for successful completion of the work.