Investigation of Recent Incident/Hack/Data Breach Related to Computer Systems Security and Privacy

Subjects for Investigation

This coursework contributes to the assessment of the following module learning outcomes which are that you should be able to:

• LO1 – Explain the various components of operating systems and their roles
• LO2 – Compare different security threats affecting different computing systems and propose suitable countermeasures.
• LO3 – Describe different tools and techniques to secure a computing system against specific threats

You will investigate a recent incident/hack/data breach related to computer systems security and privacy. Then, you will summarise your investigation results/findings/discussion in a poster. Finally, you’ll present your poster during the lab session the week commencing on 13th December 2021 during your Lab Session.

You can choose one of the following incidents below or find another one on your own. However, if you decide to find one on your own, you must discuss it with your lab tutor first and make sure it’s suitable. Failure to do so could jeopardise your mark later.

The important thing here is to make sure that the incident under investigation is related to cyber security, data breaches, ethical/legal/societal issues, recent hacks, security and privacy of modern technologies, legal/ethical/social impact of cyber security incidents.

• CAM4 Data Breach
• Starwood (Marriott) Data Breach
• Uber Data Breach
• COVID-19 Track and Trace Privacy Issues
• Ransomware attack on Garmin
• EasyJet Hacking Attack
• Dixons Carphone hack
• Thomas Cook security incident
• Ticketmaster data breach
• Cambridge Analytica Scandal
• Deloitte cyber-attack
• NotPetya Ransomware attack
• GitHub denial of service attack
• Krack Wi-Fi attack
• The Mirai Botnet (aka Dyn Attack)
• The Jeep Hack
• Mitsubishi Outlander Hybrid Electric Vehicle Hack

To conduct your investigation effectively and write a good summary in your poster, you’re advised to follow these guidelines:

• Read about the story from various sources including news websites and researchers’ blogs. Start with Google!
• Find out about the vulnerability that caused the attack/data breach. What caused that vulnerability? What are the technical aspects of the attack (if details are available)? Was it avoidable?
• Discuss your findings in relation to the recent developments in cyber security and laws. How could that attack have been prevented? Do we have the security techniques to prevent the attack? What was the motivation behind this attack/breach (e.g., political, simple crime, hacktivism, terrorism, etc.)?
• Discuss social, ethical and legal implications of the attack. What are the effects on the public’s perception of emerging technologies? What are the effects on the public’s trust in businesses using these technologies?

The presentation will take place during your regular lab session on Teams. You’ll be given 5-7 minutes to present and answer questions.

• Learning to prepare posters to summarise and communicate your ideas is an important skill to develop and is useful throughout your academic and professional career.
• You should use Microsoft PowerPoint (or Photoshop or any similar software) to produce your poster.
• A template is available for you on Blackboard to use if you want (but you don’t have to). What makes a good poster?
• Your title should be concise and draws interest/attention
• The word count should be between 400 to 600 words
• You should use bullets, numbering, and headlines to make your poster easy to read/follow
• You should use graphics, colour and fonts effectively to explain your points
• The poster layout should be consistent and clear
• Your information such as your name, student ID and institutional affiliation must be included

No submission or no show up for your presentation. Poster is poorly designed. The investigation is poorly done with no discussion nor consideration of social, ethical and legal issue. No references are provided. No citations are provided.

Overly simple description of the investigated incident, possibly with significant errors. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the occurred incident and its effects. of findings and possible countermeasures to prevent the incident in the future. More than one reference is provided. Referencing style is not correct. Citations are not included in the text.

A detailed description of the investigated incident that demonstrates good understanding of the effects. Good discussion of findings and clear countermeasures to prevent this from happening in the future. No or limited discussion of social, ethical and legal implications of the incident and its effects on the public. More than one reference is provided. Referencing style is not correct. Citations are included in the text.

As above, with clear and good poster design to communicate the information effectively. Good discussion of social, ethical and legal implications of the incident and its effects on the public. Discussion of the lessons learnt and advices to avoid and/or mitigate such incidents in thefuture.

As above, with a thorough and systematic analysis of the incident and its effects. Excellent poster design. Deep discussion of the incident’s effects on society, businesses, trust in emerging technologies. Referencing style/citation is done using Harvard style.