Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will learn techniques for securing information and communications against adversaries, in particular with regards to confidentiality, integrity and authentication. Informed by the history of cryptography, you will learn the cryptographic primitives that are used to secure information today such as symmetric key encryption, message authentication codes, public key cryptography and digital signatures. You will also study future issues in cryptography, including the challenges raised by quantum computing. While you will learn and use basic mathematics, this unit will focus on cryptographic concepts relevant to cyber security specialists, rather than the mathematical underpinnings of the algorithms. This practical treatment of cryptography will be highlighted in laboratory tasks, where you will use software to attack and secure information in various realistic scenarios.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisite: COIT12202 Network Security Concepts 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2027
Term 1 - 2027 Profile
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 Undergraduate 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.
Assessment Tasks
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web 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.
Source: Student and tutor feedback
Some tutorial activities were too time consuming, making it hard to spend time exploring issues in depth.
Update tutorial instructions to include more realistic estimates of time required for tasks, and increasing time for discussion in class.
Tutorial instructions were updated to provide more realistic estimates of the time required to complete activities, with additional time allocated for in-class discussion and clarification.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflections
When students used the class-wide Teams channel to complete group tasks in tutorials, observing the progress of students across different campuses was a motivation for students and useful feedback for the teaching team.
Include Microsoft Teams chat as a requirement in more tutorial tasks, e.g., sending encrypted messages, exchanging keys, conducting adversary-in-the-middle attacks.
Microsoft Teams chat was incorporated into selected tutorial activities during the 2026 offering. Students used the class-wide Teams channel to complete and share group-based activities, including tasks involving message exchange and collaborative problem-solving. This provided greater visibility of student participation across campuses and supported engagement during tutorials.
Source: Unit Coordinator Reflection and Student Feedback
Some students continue to experience difficulty with the mathematical concepts underpinning selected cryptographic algorithms, particularly when applying these concepts in practical problems.
Develop and provide a concise, engaging mathematics workbook that connects the unit’s key mathematical concepts to practical cryptography applications. Include step-by-step worked examples, progressively challenging practice questions, and solutions for self-assessment. This resource could help students strengthen their mathematical foundations, build confidence, and apply their skills independently to cryptographic problems.
In Progress
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.