Students

COMP2320 – Offensive Security

2020 – Session 1, Weekday attendance, North Ryde

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, any references to assessment tasks and on-campus delivery may no longer be up-to-date on this page.

Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.

Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Damian Jurd
Alireza Jolfaei
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
(COMP2110 or COMP249) and (COMP2250 or COMP247) and (COMP2300 or COMP343)
Co-badged status Co-badged status
COMP6320
Unit description Unit description
This unit provides an introduction to ethical hacking and offensive security. Strong emphasis is given to ethics and ethical behaviour as students are exposed to penetration techniques and methods. In other words, students are taught how to systematically look for and exploit vulnerabilities in software, protocols and systems in order to report those vulnerabilities and improve the safety of those software, protocols and systems. Communication, in speaking and writing plays a critical role in this unit. The most proficient students in this unit may be selected to represent the University at various national pentesting competitions and challenges.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explain the importance of ethics and ethical behaviour in relation to offensive security and penetration testing.
  • ULO2: Perform scoping, vulnerability scanning and reconnaissance on a range of devices, platforms, protocols, systems and organisations.
  • ULO3: Exploit vulnerabilities for a range of purposes, including access control, payload delivery and privilege escalation.
  • ULO4: Effectively communicate results verbally and in-writing to technical and non-technical audiences.

Assessment Tasks

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Assessment details are no longer provided here as a result of changes due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.

Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students

General Assessment Information

General Assessment Information

Assignments

Assignment work must be written clearly, with good grammar, correct word usage, correct punctuation,and lack of spelling errors. Poor or bad expression will be penalized, Wherever required, all written work must be properly referenced and conform to standard stylistic conventions.

Late Submissions

No extensions will be granted without an approved application for Special Consideration. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late. For example, 25 hours late in submission for an assignment worth 10 marks – 20% penalty or 2 marks deducted from the total.  No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

Delivery and Resources

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19.

Please check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status

Classes

Each week you should attend three hours of lectures, and a three hour practical workshop. For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.

Note that practicals workshops (lab sessions) commence in week 1. The week-by-week details of the practical (lab) classes will be available from iLearn.

You must attend the practicals that you are enrolled in.

Textbook and Reading Materials

The following two textbooks contain the bulk of the weekly readings.

  1. Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking, Georgia Weidman (available online from the library).
  2. The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Finding and Exploiting Security Flaws, Dafydd Stuttard and Marcus Pinto (available online from the library).

Web Resources

Unit Websites

COMP2320 is administered via iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/).

Lecture recordings

Digital recordings of lectures may be available. When available they will be linked from iLearn.

General Notes

In this unit, you should do the following:

  • Attend lectures, take notes, ask questions.
  • Attend your weekly Practical session.
  • Ensure that you participate in the CTF exercises.
  • Read appropriate sections of the text, add to your notes and prepare questions for your lecturer/tutor.
  • Work on any assignments that have been released.

Lecture notes will be made available each week but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the recommended reading list.

Unit Schedule

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

The unit schedule/topics and any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19. Please consult iLearn for latest details, and check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status

Tentative teaching schedule, subject to change:

Week

Module

Lecture Topics

Assessment

Submission

1

Systems

Introduction, ethics, group selection

Virtual machines, kali linux, windows, file systems, process models, vulnerabilities

No pracs week 1

 

2

Diagnostic Test

In-class exercise

 

3

In-class exercise

 

4

Capture The Flag (CTF)

 

5

Web

Web infrastructure, injections, cross-site scripting, cookies, headers, fuzzing, vulnerabilities

In-class exercise

CTF Report

6

In-class exercise

 

7

In-class exercise

 

Mid Semester Break

 

 

8

Capture The Flag (CTF)

 

9

Networking

Network stack, scanning, services, authentication protocols, services, vulnerabilities

In-class exercise

CTF Report

10

In-class exercise

 

11

In-class exercise

 

12

Capture The Flag (CTF)

Presentation Report

13

Presentations

 

Group presentations

CTF Report

14-16

Formal Exam

 

 

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Grading

At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit

  • Fail (F): does not provide evidence of attainment of all learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; and incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the discipline.
  • Pass (P): provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the field of study; and communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
  • Credit (Cr): provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; plus communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the discipline.
  • Distinction (D): provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the discipline and the audience.
  • High Distinction (HD): provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality and insight in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application.

In this unit, the final mark will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
17/02/2020 Correction of a typographic error. Re-ordered assesments chronologically.
14/02/2020 Added co-badged status