Unit materials for the Security Behaviours unit (COMS30038).
The security of complex socio-technical systems relies on the behaviour of human agents as much as it relies on the correctness of technical controls. Poor choices made in the design, development and deployment of security controls can provoke legitimate users into errors, creating or exacerbating vulnerabilities in a system. Similarly, security controls cannot be effectively designed without an understanding of the adversary being defended against -- their capabilities, motivations and typical behaviours. This unit explores both sides of these 'human factors' underlying cybersecurity.
There are four major locations for the delivery of this unit:
- The weekly content on Github. You can access this through the weekly folders indexed below. Each page will contain links to the video lectures, notes and other content, including lab worksheets.
- The Teams channel for this unit. If you have questions about the unit or material, you can raise them in Questions and Answers. You will also have your own TA groups for tackling lab exercises, and each TA group has a private channel for freeform discussion and for getting feedback on exam practice.
- Queens Building, 1.07. This is where the weekly in-person lecture will be held, on Mondays at 10:00. As well as bringing your own questions about the material, be prepared to discuss the previous week's reading and get an overview of the coming topic.
- Queens Building, 1.80. This is where the in-person labs will be held, on Wednesdays at 11:00. Meet with your TA group (and TA) and tackle the lab exercises. If you cannot attend the labs in person, you can collaborate via your TA group's channel on Teams.
| Week | Topic | Lecturer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Social Engineering | Matthew |
| 2 | Attack Models | Matthew |
| 3 | Cybercriminology | Matthew |
| 4 | Security Economics | Matthew |
| 5 | Human Security | Marvin |
| 6 | Reading Week | NA |
| 7 | Practice & Error | Marvin |
| 8 | Biases & Mitigation | Marvin |
The reading and video lectures are available early so you can slot them around your timetable and learning preferences. However, a suggested timetable for engaging with this unit would be:
- [Mon, 10:00] Lecture : Turn up to the in-person session, ask questions, take part in discussion about the previous week's reading and exercises.
- [Mon, 13:00] "Video 1" : Watch the videos for the first lecture, and raise any questions online.
- [Wed, 11:00] Lab : Turn up to the lab session and tackle the lab worksheet with your group.
- [Wed, 15:00] "Video 2" : Watch the videos for the second lecture.
- [Thu, 15:00] Read : Tackle the week's reading assignment.
You will have signed up to this unit as either the Major or Minor option.
Students on the Major option will be assessed via:
- A 1-hour exam taken in Week 8, in which you will answer two short exam essay questions (from a selection of four options) [30% of your mark]
- An original research essay you work on over the three-week coursework period, more details about this will be released at the end of Week 8. [70% of your mark]
Students on the Minor option will take the equivalent of a one-hour written exam, in the December assessment period. You will produce one long-form exam essay (from a selection of two options).
None of the other material directly contributes to your mark for this unit.
Many of you may not have written an essay (for an exam or as coursework) since A-level or even longer ago. To help you out, we are offering optional formative writing assessments in every week, so you can get feedback on essay-writing from your TAs before you sit your summative assessment. The formative assessment does not contribute to your mark for the unit, and you are not required to submit anything. These writing assignments will be released with each lab worksheet, for return the next week. This integrated early practice is something specifically requested by previous years' students.
In addition, we are providing examples of past good answers to essay questions from this unit (all these students achieved first-class results overall).
Students on the Minor option will want to look at the 'L' answers in past exam-essay answers -- this is the style you should be aiming at for your summative assessment.
Students on the Major option will want to look at the 'S' answers in past exam-essay answers to understand the style for the Week 8 examination, and look at the coursework essays as examples for their own original research essay.
Remember that these are examples for the style of writing you should be aiming at, and not the topics of questions and assignments, which we change (within reason) from year to year. Note also that exam essays must be hand-written.
If you have a question you want to raise, your first port of call should be the Questions and Answers channel in Teams. You can also raise questions with your TAs and classmates in the labs, and with the lecturer in the session on Mondays.