Program Overview

Unit Overview

The unit ITEG614 - Cyber Security Concepts is designed to provide students with essential knowledge of cybersecurity principles and their strategic importance in contemporary organisations.

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

In an increasingly digital world, the ability to safeguard information and systems is critical to professional success and societal resilience. This unit explores the evolving landscape of security threats, risk assessment, and risk management strategies, emphasising their impact on business continuity and organisational reputation.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

• Synthetise knowledge of vulnerabilities and potential security threats to information systems and analyse their consequences in real-world scenarios.
• Critically evaluate the consequences of security threats in an organisation and propose appropriate security countermeasures.
• Appraise the impact of cyber security threats across societies and national borders.

Unit Content

Topics will include:

• Introduction to cyber security
• Threats, vulnerabilities, attacks
• Protecting secrets
• Risk assessment and management
• Ensuring Integrity
• Access control
• Legal, privacy, and ethical issues
• Impacts of cyber attacks

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessments include:

• Task 1: Strategic Analysis of a Recent Data Breach
• Task 2: Cybersecurity Risk Assessment and Strategy Brief

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Applied practice and active engagement are central to learning in this unit. Students are expected to adopt an active learning strategy, developing their skills and knowledge by doing.

Representative Texts and References

• Stallings, W., & Brown, L. (2023). Computer security: Principles and practice (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
• Whitman, M. E., & Mattord, H. J. (2020). Principles of information security (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.
• Anderson, R 2020, Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems, 3rd edn, Wiley.

Credit Points and Year

This unit is worth 10 credit points and is offered in the year 2026.

Prerequisites and Incompatible Units

There are no prerequisites for this unit. However, it is incompatible with ITEC640 Information Systems Security and ITEC614 Cyber Security Concepts.