LD7098 Cyber Security Principles Coursework Assessment 2025/26 | Northumbria University

LD7098 Coursework:

Module Learning Outcomes (MLOs) Assessed:

1. A critical knowledge and understanding of cyber security theories and methodologies.
2. Ability to apply cyber security skills and knowledge to a complex business challenge or project.
3. Ability to evaluate your cyber security skills.
4. Critical reflection of your implementation, recommendations for improvement and the subsequent implications for your learning development on this programme.

Assignment Section 1/5: Preliminaries

Important Points

• Evidence of academic misconduct (e.g., misuse of AI, plagiarism, going over on wordcount, collaboration/collusion among students) will be taken seriously and University regulations strictly followed. You are advised to be familiar with the University definitions of academic misconduct including, use of AI, plagiarism and collusion (Northumbria, 2019).
• Please refer to Blackboard to review the Northumbria University Degree Apprenticeship Programmes Word Count Policy and Using AI in Assessment & Learning.
• You are expected to produce a word-processed answer to this assignment. Please use Arial font and a font size of 12. For code and associated output, you can use courier new, which preserves your code format and layout.
• You are required to use the Harvard Style of referencing and citation.
• For coursework submitted up to 1 day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval, 10% of the total marks available for the assessment (i.e.100%) shall be deducted from the assessment mark.
• For clarity: a late piece of work that would have scored 65%, 55% or 45% had it been handed in on time will be awarded 55%, 45% or 35% respectively as 10% of the total marks available will have been deducted.
• Late submissions more than 1 day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline will not be marked and will need to be resubmitted at the next opportunity. The reassessment should where appropriate, and as determined by the Module Leader, be the same method (e.g. essay) but maybe with a different task (e.g. different essay title) or with the same task (e.g. the same essay title) as indicated in the Module handbook.

Assignment Section 2/5: Assignment Support

There are many avenues of support available to you in the completion of your assignment:

• Office Hours: These are optional drop-in sessions where you will be able to talk to the Module Leader/a member of the Teaching Team and ask questions and receive guidance regarding the module content and the assignment (details can be found on Blackboard).
  Resources on Blackboard: There will already be content on Blackboard to aid you and the Teaching Team so ensure to regularly engage with the module space.
• Academic Community of Excellence Team (ACE): The ACE Team are there to support you with your academic study skills such as planning, reading, finding resources and writing assignments. You can contact the ACE Team via the ACE Learner Portal Page
• The Learning Support Team (LST): The LST Team are there to support learners with a neurodiversity or disability to become as successful as possible. They provide a person-centred approach aimed at mitigating the challenges that can come with being neurodiverse in a neurotypical world. To contact the LST Team please email them at DASpecialist.learningteam@qa.com
  NU Library Resource: You can access The Library’s Skills Development Team and other Library resources via your NU Student Portal that can help you navigate the online library and achieve success in your academic work.

Assignment Section 3/5: Hand-In Procedure

• You should hand in your answer for this assignment as a single word-processed document electronically on the ELP.
  PDF’s will not be accepted.
• If you have an extension, do not submit in the Final Submission Link, there will be dedicated submission links set up for extensions. If you cannot see them, please contact academicservices@qa.com
• Please ensure you submit your assignment in the correct link, submitting in the wrong link can lead to a delay in you receiving your marks or your work not being marked at all.
• Be sure to save your submission receipt as proof of submission.
• Allow plenty of time to submit your assignment on Blackboard, avoid waiting until the last minute.
• If you have any issues in uploading your submission, ensure you take timestamped screenshot/s evidencing the problem and email this along with your assignment to your Programme Inbox (academic@qa.com) immediately.

Assignment Section 4/5: Assignment Task

This assignment is designed to support the creation of a portfolio of evidence towards your chosen technical pathway specialism.  Central to this is the structured development of an appropriate artefact (or set of artefacts) that are in line with your specific organisational context.  The artefact form will vary depending on your specific context but will be informed by and aligned to the material covered within this module.

Agreement of an appropriate business challenge (around which the artefact can be created, and other relevant areas explored) should be conducted in partnership between yourself and employer.

Portfolio Report

You are required to produce a 3000-word portfolio documenting the artefact creation process and evidencing your critical exploration of the topic area. Appropriate academic sources (Journals, Conference Papers, Books, etc.) should be used throughout (and Harvard referenced) to provide evidence of an in depth understanding of the area and justification for the decisions taken. Further to this, evidence of consideration for alternative options (beyond those undertaken in your organisation) are expected.

Appendices And Other Content

You may use appendices to include relevant material such as evidence, source data and any data that backs up claims you are making and insights you are generating, such as redacted emails or documents or interview transcripts. Appendices are not directly included in your mark but do provide useful information to the reader. Your main script should only include things you consider should be in your mark. If these are tables, diagrams, graphs etc think of how much time they will take to absorb by the reader.

Ensure any diagrams, tables etc. that are within the script are given a title and referred to in the body of your assessment. Do not expect the reader to understand how they fit into your argument unless you explain how they do.

Your writing should be contextualised through the inclusion and analysis of work-related examples through the lens of appropriate academic literature and models covered in this module and in your own research, where applicable

Task 0 Business Context Statement

A detailed description of the business and organisational context of the proposed challenge, including a direct discussion of its relevance to the technical pathway specialism.

Whilst this section is not included in the overall word count it will allow the reader to fully appreciate the impact of your writing.

Please note: You may use part of a previous assignments Business Context but it mostly should be written to this assignment.

Task 1 Artefact Design & Development

A detailed rationale, and critical coverage of:

(1) The principles of threat intelligence, modelling and assessment. The range of modern attack techniques and how and where to research emerging attack techniques to inform the development of improved security controls, countermeasures and policies and standards;

[15 marks]

(2) The use of human factor analysis in the assessment of threats, including the motivations and methods adopted by a wide range of human threat actors;

[15 marks]

(3) The different types of cyber security controls that can be implemented, the main principles of secure configuration of security components and devices, including firewalls and protective monitoring tools and how to apply them;

[15 marks]

(4) The different approaches and design principles that are used to engineer secure systems, focusing on the importance of building in security, privacy and resilience in the initial design;

[15 marks]

(5) The development and implementation of security event response programmes, security event handling, and operational security activities;

[15 marks]

Task 2 Artefact Evaluation

The selection and application of tools and techniques to carry out a variety of appropriate security testing strategies including vulnerability scanning, penetration testing and ethical hacking, recognising that security testing itself cannot guarantee security and only reveal gaps in security provisioning;

[15 marks]

Task 3 Personal Reflection

A reflective evaluation of the implications of conducting this artefact investigation and development for your learning development on this programme.

[10 marks]

Note – These sections are aligned to the apprenticeship standard for your chosen technical specialism, so it is essential that all are covered to a good degree.

Your report should include as an appendix a copy of Table 1 indicating how each relevant aspect of the apprenticeship standard has been met.  The ‘Evidence’ should indicate where specifically within this report this can be found.

Table 1 – Apprenticeship Standard Evidence Mapping

Assignment Section 5/5: Marking Criteria

Table 1: The following assessment criteria will be used as a marking rubric to assign an overall mark for this assessment.