Students

ACCG3025 – Cyber Security and Privacy

2022 – Session 2, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Matthew Mansour
matthew.mansour@mq.edu.au
Contact via matthew.mansour@mq.edu.au
Via Zoom - Check on ilearn for more details
Moderator
Ali Amrollahi
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Cyber-security and privacy are two of the biggest issues facing businesses operating in the Information Age. This unit explores how businesses both face and respond to such threats and opportunities as they integrate the Internet into their existing operations and new products/technologies in Australia and internationally. This unit is designed to give students practical skills to identify and mitigate those cyber-security and privacy risks, and to resolve legal disputes that may emerge from them, whether as a manager, an employee, or as an external consultant.

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: Identify and synthesise cybersecurity risks facing modern businesses
  • ULO2: Analyse practical implications of different theories about privacy and governance strategies necessary for effective business leadership both before and after a cyber-attack
  • ULO3: Apply Australian and foreign laws and ethics to determine how businesses can build trust through managing personal information and confidential business information
  • ULO4: Evaluate privacy risks through applying Privacy Impact Assessment methodologies for existing and new products/processes within a business

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty 

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information. 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

Cybersecurity Breach Response (Report), YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Privacy Hot Topic Debate, YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Privacy Impact Assessment, YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

To be eligible to pass this unit, it is necessary to obtain a mark of at least 50% in the unit overall.

How Feedback will be provided to you on your performance in your Assessment Tasks: A marking rubric will be provided to you which will deliver feedback to you on your performance in your Report on Employee Culture, your Ransomware Debate Videos and your Privacy Impact Assessment. The marking rubrics can be found in the turnitin submission links when available.

Self-Plagiarism: Macquarie's plagiarism policy (see link below) does not allow this, there are no exemptions on similarity for these type of situations and the similarity number will only increase once both are in the Turnitin database and match with each other. Tread very carefully if this situation applies to you, your discussion points will have to be almost completely different in each unit. Consider this early fair warning.

https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/academic-integrity

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Cybersecurity Breach Response 40% No Checkpoints Wk4/5/6 (4% each) Report due: Wk7(28%)
Privacy Hot Topic Debate 20% No Video: Wk9 (15%) / Rebuttal Wk10 (5%)
Privacy Impact Assessment 40% No Week 13

Cybersecurity Breach Response

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: Checkpoints Wk4/5/6 (4% each) Report due: Wk7(28%)
Weighting: 40%

 

Acting in the role of a Chief Information Security Officer for a company that has just suffered a major cybersecurity attack, each student will prepare a report to the Board of Directors of the company advising what the vulnerabilities were in the business and what the company should do in response to the attack.Length: 2,500-word.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify and synthesise cybersecurity risks facing modern businesses
  • Analyse practical implications of different theories about privacy and governance strategies necessary for effective business leadership both before and after a cyber-attack
  • Apply Australian and foreign laws and ethics to determine how businesses can build trust through managing personal information and confidential business information

Privacy Hot Topic Debate

Assessment Type 1: Debate
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Video: Wk9 (15%) / Rebuttal Wk10 (5%)
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will debate a current privacy business problem / challenge. Students will prepare a 6-10 minute video of their ethical, financial and legal arguments for- or against - the matter and upload their video to iLearn. Each student will then be randomly allocated to another (opposing) student’s video to which they will prepare a short rebuttal video which they will also upload to iLearn.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse practical implications of different theories about privacy and governance strategies necessary for effective business leadership both before and after a cyber-attack
  • Apply Australian and foreign laws and ethics to determine how businesses can build trust through managing personal information and confidential business information

Privacy Impact Assessment

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 40%

 

Each student will prepare a privacy impact assessment of the risks and opportunities that exist in a proposed new business activity. Length: 2,500-word.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse practical implications of different theories about privacy and governance strategies necessary for effective business leadership both before and after a cyber-attack
  • Apply Australian and foreign laws and ethics to determine how businesses can build trust through managing personal information and confidential business information
  • Evaluate privacy risks through applying Privacy Impact Assessment methodologies for existing and new products/processes within a business

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant with the current situation in Sydney (Always check timetables.mq.edu.au for any updates and ilearn)

 

Required Text: Required Texts: As Cyber Security and Privacy are such fast-moving topics, by the time it reaches print a textbook is likely to be significantly out of date. Consequently, there will be no prescribed textbook. Instead, required readings will be uploaded on ilearn.
Unit Web Page: available on iLearn
Technology Used and Required: Students will require access to a computer and to the Internet so as to undertake research and to prepare their answers for their assessment tasks. You will need a mobile phone with a camera or a GoPro (or equivalent) to record your debate videos.

Software: iLearn, VLC Media Player, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Internet Browser, Email Client Software, Adobe Premiere Pro can be used to edit videos.
Delivery format and other details:

Lectures: There will be pre-recorded lectures that will constitute the first hour of the lecture with the second hour being a "live" consultation / catchup with the UC on Tuesdays afternoons from 4 - 5pm.

The timetable for classes can be found on the University website at: http://timetables.mq.edu.au

Students must attend all tutorials.

Students must attend the tutorial in which they are enrolled and may not change tutorials without the prior permission of the course convenor.
Recommended Readings:

There are many cybersecurity and privacy sources of information online. A few worth looking at include:

  • SecurityAffairs: http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/
  • Krebs on Security: https://krebsonsecurity.com/
Other Course Materials: Will be made available on iLearn

Workload:
Activity Hours
Cybersecurity Breach Response 35
Privacy Hot Topic Video Debate 20
Privacy Impact Assessment 35
Classes & Class Preparation 60
Total 150

This unit consists of 13 weekly lectures and 12 tutorials (no tutorial in week 1). Many tutorials will require active participation in small group exercises.
   

Inherent Requirements to complete the unit successfully?

Both individual work (on your assessment tasks) and group work (for your exercises in tutorials) are required to successfully complete this Unit. Students will need to be capable of: a) listening to the recorded lecture , attending consultation / catch up Tuesdays 4-3pm b) actively engaging in tutorial exercises; and c) completing written and video tasks.

Unit Schedule

Week Lecture Topic Readings
1 Introduction: the Differences between Cyber-Security and Privacy See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
2 The Supply of Cyber-Security Threats See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
3 The Demand to Exploit Cyber-Security Threats See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
4 Cyber-Security Legal Obligations See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
5 Minimising Cyber-Security Threats in a Business See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
6 How to Respond to Cyber-Security Attacks on a Business and Resolving Disputes which can Emerge from such an Attack See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
7 What is Privacy and Why should it be Protected? See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
Break    
8 Privacy Obligations in Australia at the state and federal levels See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
9 International Privacy Obligations and Transferring Data Across Borders See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
10 How to Assess Privacy Compliance in an existing Business See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
11 How to Assess Privacy Risks in new technologies / businesses See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
12 How to Respond to a Privacy Breach and Resolving Disputes which can Emerge from such a Breach See Prescribed Readings on iLearn
13 Course Review: Engaging with the Inherent Tensions Between Cyber-Security and Privacy Covers all weeks

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

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

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Changes from Previous Offering

Due to the rapid development of cybersecurity and privacy issues and events in the real-world, the content of this unit is updated each offering.

We have updated some of the unit content and taken the feedback from the previous offerings to make the unit more accomodating to students varying needs.

Research and Practice, Global & Sustainability

This unit uses research from academic researching at Macquarie University, including:

  • John Selby, How Businesses can Build Trust in the Face of Cybersecurity Risks: Optus-Macquarie Cybersecurity Hub Whitepaper (2017)
  • John Selby, Data Localisation Laws: Trade Barriers or Legitimate Responses to Cybersecurity Risks, or Both? (2017) International Journal of Law & Information Technology

and numerous primary and secondary legal materials published through AUSTLII <http://www.austlii.edu.au> and other external sources.

The unit also builds upon the convenor's practical experience working as a lawyer resolving privacy disputes and advising on cybersecurity risks, and presentations he has made to the United Nations Internet Governance Forum on cybercrime and cybersecurity issues. The convenor attended a GDPR training course in Brussels.

Unit information based on version 2022.04 of the Handbook