COMP2216: Principles of Cyber Security

What the module covered

This module covered confidentiality, integrity, and availability, alongside authentication, access control, cryptography, secure communication, and organisational security. It also examined attacker motivations, social engineering, supply-chain attacks, and the security of critical infrastructure.

For the coursework, I analysed a supplied scenario involving a compromised news-services provider and a misinformation campaign. I mapped the stages of the attack using the Cyber Kill Chain and compared possible attacker profiles based on their motivations, methods, and capabilities.

What I took from it

The analysis required separating what the scenario established from what could only be inferred. It also showed how an attack could cross several trust boundaries, from an employee workstation to development credentials, supplied software, and downstream services. Understanding those connections mattered more than treating each vulnerability in isolation.