Project Information

1
Project Information

• George South
• Updated July 2008

2
Stages in the Project

• Project outline
• A simple document
• One or more pages describing the activities which
  might be undertaken during the project
• A good chance to be creative
• There is no commitment to complete all the
  activities so dont restrict the scope of this
  document
• May require several iterations

3
Stages in the Project

• Preliminary Report
• Delivered at the start of term
• A draft can be submitted ASAP use email
• Report usually contains
• Outline of project as agreed
• A list of aims/ project goals
• A diagram which provides an overview
• Some initial activities research or
  investigations
• A Gantt chart this can be refined as the
  project develops
• Ref http//www.envisionsoftware.com/articles/Gantt
  _Chart.html
• Use Excel (possibly 12 activities prelim report
  to viva)
• Initial references say five
• List of equipment or resources needed (other than
  a PC etc)
• Length 3 to 4 pages

4
Stages in the Project

• Preliminary Report
• A well structured report is easy to read and will
  attract good marks
• Format
• Title page Title/ Author/ Date
• Pages with headers and footers numbered and
  dated
• Sections numbered
• Headings used where appropriate

5
Final Year Project

• 20/30 credits a significant part of the final
  year one sixth/ one fourth of your academic
  effort
• Regular contact with your supervisor is vital
  at least every two weeks log the visits
• Dont let other ICA work take priority over the
  project
• Keep a log book
• Backup software meticulously
• Reports form an important part of the project
  develop the skills to write well structured
  reports

6
Plagiarism -

• There are many good books on topics such as
  computer security, developing websites but a
  major source of information will be the internet
• It is very easy to copy chunks of very relevant
  material into a report with very general
  referencing !!
• The style of this material usually makes it very
  easy to detect as not being your original work
• The easiest solution is to make notes from your
  sources and write your report from these notes
  the source material must still be referenced
• The parts of a report which get the most credit
  are not the bookwork but your original work,
  results, observations and conclusions

7
Computer Security Projects

• The next few slides are specific to computer
  security projects

8
Computer Security - Background

• Most organisations rely on their IT
  infrastructure to go about their normal business
• Any corruption of data on servers or OS
  environment on clients can have serious
  consequences
• Computer security projects are about
  understanding the threat to computer systems and
  how computer systems can be hardened to resist
  attack

9
Network Security Projects

• Areas which may form the focus of a project
• Review of network security and related products
  (no more than 25 of a 50 page report)
• A comparison of firewall products including lab
  based results
• The development of a defence strategy for a
  server against various attack mechanisms
• A security review of the micros lab area
• It is illegal to attack computer networks without
  permission so you must get approval for what you
  propose

10
Network Security Projects (Con)

• Areas which may form the focus of a project
• Developing a teaching tool using perhaps Flash
• Review of malware, spyware products
• Source
• Operating mechanism
• Vulnerabilities
• Proportion of PCs infected
• Detection techniques
• Removal techniques
• Social engineering aspects of security
• Training
• Procedures
• Screening