Assignment Brief
Student Name/ID Number
Unit Number and Title Unit 5: Security
Academic Year 2026/2027
Unit Tutor RAMI ABBAD
Assignment Title CyberSecurity Threats and Protection
Strategies
Issue Date
Submission Date
Submission Format
The assignment must be submitted as an individual business report. The report should be
written in a professional, concise style suitable for presentation to senior management.
The recommended length of the report is 2,000–2,500 words (excluding appendices and
references).
Format:
This assignment is an individual assignment and specifically includes 1 document:
You must:
Use font Calibri size 12.
Use line spacing 1.3.
Margins: Left 1.25 cm; Right 1 cm; Top 1 cm; Bottom 1 cm.
Pages must be numbered.
Student name/ID included in header or footer.
Harvard referencing style must be used.
Note:
This assignment is an individual piece of work. Collaboration discussions are
allowed, but the final work must be your own original work. Plagiarism or
copying from other sources (including fellow students, textbooks, or the
internet) without proper reference is strictly prohibited and will be dealt with in
accordance with the Academic Integrity policies. All external sources of
information (ideas, quotes, data, facts, diagrams) must be acknowledged and
cited in the report using the Harvard style.
Before submission, please proofread your work for clarity, spelling, and
grammar. Ensure that you have addressed all required tasks. It is your
responsibility to retain a backup copy of your assignment. The college may
require you to submit to plagiarism-detection software as part of its
authenticity checks.
Unit Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit students will be able to:
LO1 Assess risks to IT security
LO2 Describe IT security solutions
LO3 Review mechanisms to control organisational IT security
LO4 Manage organisational security.
Transferable skills and competencies developed
This unit develops several transferable skills including:
Cybersecurity awareness and risk analysis
Critical thinking and problem solving
IT security management
Technical report writing
Independent research and digital literacy
Vocational scenario
Company: Green Circle for Cybersecurity
Green Circle for Cybersecurity provides cybersecurity consulting services for organisations.
The company recently detected unusual network activity and possible phishing attempts
targeting its client systems. As a Junior Cyber Security Analyst, you must conduct a security
assessment identifying threats, evaluating protection mechanisms and recommending
strategies to strengthen the organisation’s security posture.
Assignment activity and guidance
Activity 1 – Security Risks
Assess potential IT security risks including malware, phishing, hacking, insider threats and
social engineering. Analyse their impact on organisations.
Activity 2 – Security Solutions
Explain IT security solutions such as firewalls, antivirus, encryption, intrusion detection
systems and authentication methods.
Activity 3 – Security Control Mechanisms
Review mechanisms used by organisations including security policies, access control, backups,
monitoring systems and incident response.
Activity 4 – Organisational Security Management
Evaluate how organisations manage cybersecurity including governance, staff training and
compliance. Provide recommendations to improve security.
Recommended Resources
Please note that the resources listed are examples for you to use as a
starting point in your research – the list is not definitive.
Textbooks
Alexander, D. et al. (2020) Information Security Management Principles. BSC.
Collins, R. (2017) Network Security Monitoring: Basics for Beginners. A
Practical Guide
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Sanders, C. Smith, J. (2013) Applied Network Security Monitoring: Collection,
Detection,
and Analysis. Syngress.
Steinberg, R. (2011) Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance: It Can’t
Happen to
Us – Avoiding Corporate Disaster While Driving Success. Wiley.
Tipton, H. (2010) Information Security Management Handbook. 4th edn.
Auerbach Publications.
Web
[Link] BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
(General Reference)
[Link] Software Alliance
(General Reference)
[Link] Federation Against Software Theft
(General Reference)
[Link] Information Commissioners Office
(General Reference)
Links
This unit links to the following related units:
Unit 29: Network Security
Unit 30: Applied Cryptography in the Cloud
Unit 31: Forensics
Unit 32: Information Security Management.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria