Overview
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
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).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2026
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).
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.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
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.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
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.
Feedback from Student feedback
Students found the in-class quizzes challenging because they varied greatly in terms of difficulty and time required to complete them.
Examine the timing and questions of every in-class quiz and provide students more guidance ahead of time.
Feedback from Student feedback, including Unit Evaluation
Applications such as VirtualBox, which are utilised in the unit, are incompatible with Mac computers, posing a challenge for few students in completing their assignments.
Mention clearly that Windows is the only environment supported by the teaching team as the computer labs only have Windows. Consider to migrate from VirtualBox to cloud environment.
- Explain vulnerabilities and attacks, as well as their countermeasures
- Use and compare cryptographic techniques for securing computers and networks
- Design security controls for organisations, such as firewalls, authentication, and access control
- Develop and deploy network security technologies, including encryption software, VPNs and wireless security
- 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)
The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework defines knowledge, skills and tasks needed to perform various cyber security roles. Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the NICE Framework is used by organisations to plan their workforce, including recruit into cyber security positions.
This unit helps prepare you for roles such as Systems Security Analyst, Network Operations Specialist and Systems Administrator, contributing to the following knowledge and skills:
- K0005 Knowledge of cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
- K0018 Knowledge of encryption algorithms
- K0019 Knowledge of cryptography and cryptographic key management concepts
- K0044 Knowledge of cybersecurity and privacy principles and organizational requirements (relevant to confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, non-repudiation).
- K0049 Knowledge of information technology (IT) security principles and methods (e.g., firewalls, demilitarized zones, encryption).
- K0056 Knowledge of network access, identity, and access management (e.g., public key infrastructure, Oauth, OpenID, SAML, SPML).
- K0104 Knowledge of Virtual Private Network (VPN) security.
- K0130 Knowledge of virtualization technologies and virtual machine development and maintenance.
- K0158 Knowledge of organizational information technology (IT) user security policies (e.g., account creation, password rules, access control).
- K0160 Knowledge of the common attack vectors on the network layer.
- K0179 Knowledge of network security architecture concepts including topology, protocols, components, and principles (e.g., application of defense-in-depth).
- K0201 Knowledge of symmetric key rotation techniques and concepts.
- K0339 Knowledge of how to use network analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities.
- K0622 Knowledge of controls related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of data.
- S0031 Skill in developing and applying security system access controls.
- S0036 Skill in evaluating the adequacy of security designs.
- S0040 Skill in implementing, maintaining, and improving established network security practices.
- S0073 Skill in using virtual machines. (e.g., Microsoft Hyper-V, VMWare vSphere, Citrix XenDesktop/Server, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, etc.).
- S0076 Skill in configuring and utilizing software-based computer protection tools (e.g., software firewalls, antivirus software, anti-spyware).
- S0077 Skill in securing network communications.
- S0084 Skill in configuring and utilizing network protection components (e.g., Firewalls, VPNs, network intrusion detection systems).
- S0167 Skill in recognizing vulnerabilities in security systems. (e.g., vulnerability and compliance scanning).
- S0170 Skill in configuring and utilizing computer protection components (e.g., hardware firewalls, servers, routers, as appropriate).
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 35% | |||||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) - 25% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| 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 | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Information for Textbooks and Resources has not been released yet.
This information will be available on Monday 16 February 2026As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
