CSE1ICB Introduction to Cybersecurity Assessment

Assignment 1: Malware Review

Malicious Software (25 Marks)

Malicious software (Malware) has been a fixture of the cybersecurity landscape for decades. The target, technology, and impact of malware has changed over the years, but it remains a common tactic used by cybercriminals to cause harm to both individuals and businesses.

Security researchers across the world dissect and analyse each large malware outbreak, and a lot of their findings are accessible on the Web. Several (in)famous malware samples are listed in the table below, along with a sample article describing their outbreak.

Select one of the samples provided (or choose one of your own from your research) and answer the following questions relating to the publicly available malware and its outbreak in the wild:

1. What type of malware is it (worm, trojan, etc.)? Briefly describe what distinguishes this malware type from others.

2. What was the intent behind this malware, and who were its targets?

3. Briefly describe what vulnerabilities this malware exploited to infect its target systems.

4. What negative impact did this malware have on its victims and/or their systems?

You should use between 750 and 1000 words in total to answer these questions. You should research other sources of information from reputable online resources such as malware research groups, security vendors, security journalists and academic papers if possible.

Note:

• Minimum Requirement: The report should have a minimum length of 750 words to adequately cover the topic and provide sufficient detail and analysis.

• Maximum Limit: The report should not exceed 1000 words to ensure conciseness and clarity. Keeping the report within this limit encourages focus on essential information and prevents unnecessary verbosity.

Types of Malware (Examples or choose one of your own research)

Type of Malware	Examples
Ransomware	BitPaymer, Cryptolocker, DarkSide, etc.
Botnet	Mirai, EternalBot, Gh0st RAT, etc.
Worm, Trojan, Virus	Morris II, ILOVEYOU, Mydoom, etc.

Questions

1. A survey was conducted on students at La Trobe University and a selection of questions based on those asked in the survey are presented below.

   1. How tall are you in centimetres?

   2. Have you physically attended the La Trobe library during your degree?

   3. How many days per week do you attend University on campus?

For a randomly selected individual, let XXX denote their response to Question 1, YYY denote their response to Question 2 and ZZZ denote their response to Question 3.

Consider the below statements, each identified by a letter (i.e. ‘A’, ‘B’ etc.). To successfully answer this question, provide the letter(s) identifying ALL correct statements. E.g. if you believe statements A and B are both correct, you should report both.

You will get zero marks for this question if you (i) do not identify all of the correct statements or (ii) include a statement that is incorrect.

A. X,YX, YX,Y and ZZZ are all categorical variables.
B. XXX and ZZZ are both quantitative variables.
C. XXX and YYY are both quantitative variables.
D. YYY and ZZZ are both categorical variables.
E. XXX is a quantitative variable and YYY is a categorical variable.
F. YYY is a categorical variable and ZZZ is a quantitative variable.
G. None of the above statements are correct.

1. Extremely large numbers can be difficult to write down. When doing so, we can make our task much easier by using scientific notation (or exponential notation).

Let us consider a simple example. Note that 10⊃2; = 10 x 10 = 100 and 7 x 100 = 700. Therefore we can write

700 = 7 x 100 = 7 x 10⊃2;.

Writing 700 as 7 x 10⊃2; is known as writing 700 using scientific notation. Similarly, we can write 3,000 = 3 x 10⊃3; and 3,500 = 3.5 x 10⊃3;.

Using this information, complete the following questions.

(a) Five-hundred octillion is equal to

500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Write down this number using scientific notation. (4 marks)

(b) Now, enter the number in part (a) in its long form (i.e. the '5' followed by all the zeroes) into an empty Excel worksheet cell and hit ENTER. Write down exactly what is now stored in that cell (this is how Excel represents numbers using scientific notation).

NOTE: To ensure that you will be provided with the number you have entered in scientific form (that is, displayed using scientific notation) do the following (i) right-click, using the mouse, on the cell you entered the number into (ii) select Format Cells... (iii) then click on the Number tab, select Scientific and press OK.

• Query successful

Based on the image provided, here is the text transcription of the assessment questions:

(c) The mass of Earth (in nucleons) is approximately 4 followed by 51 zeroes. Write this number down in it's simplest form using scientific notation. (4 marks)

(d) There exists a number x such that x!, i.e. x factorial, is reasonably close to the number given in part (c). For this question you will need to use Excel to work out some factorials that equate to extremely large numbers (look up how to do this either on the Internet or via some other source). You will also need to be able to understand how Excel represents numbers using scientific notation (e.g. see part (b) above). Which of the following choices below is the closest to the number given in part (c)? To answer this, simply circle the letter corresponding to the best answer

A. 40! B. 41! C. 42! D. 43! E. 44! F. 45! (5 marks)

1. In the Week 1 lectures we briefly mentioned the 27 club , which includes famous musicians who died at the age of 27.

To answer this question, please complete the empty cells of the table below (at least a table that resembles this table in your submission).

There is one line for each famous name and the first one, Amy Winehouse, has been completed for you. For example, Amy was a famous musician so she gets a ✓ under the question 'Was a famous musician or actor?'. She was also 27 when she died so she also gets a ✓ for the second question. Now, because she was both a famous musician and was 27 when she died, she is also a member of the 27 club hence the reason for the ✓ for the final question.

When completing the rest of the table, use an X to indicate that the person is not a 'yes' for any of these questions (e.g. did not die at the age of 27 years).

Based on the image provided, here is the text transcription of the assessment questions and table:

Name	Died at 27?	Was a famous musician or actor?	A member of the 27 club?
Amy Winehouse	✓	✓	✓
Paul Walker
Jonathan Brandis
Liam Payne
Emperor Shang of Han
Charles VIII of France
Charles “Lucky” Luciano
Neerja Bhanot
(7 marks; 1 mark for each correct line (not including the line for Amy Winehouse)).

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1. On February 18, 2011 the New York Times published an opinion piece called Empire at the End of Decadence which was critical of the current state of affairs in the United States. Also included was an interesting table which is provided as Table 2 which is at the end of these question sheets.

This table provides many indices that may be used to gauge the overall 'well being' or performance of a nation (only some nations are represented). The actual table has a color coding where a dark red shade indicates that a nation is performing poorly according to the associated index. The table ranks countries in order from best to worst where Australia is ranked the best and the United States is ranked the worst. You can find the full color graphic on LMS.

This table provides many indices that may be used to gauge the overall 'well being' or performance of a nation (only some nations are represented). The actual table has a color coding where a dark red shade indicates that a nation is performing poorly according to the associated index. The table ranks countries in order from best to worst where Australia is ranked the best and the United States is ranked the worst. You can find the full color graphic on LMS.

Index	Are High or Low values considered good?	Ranks
Norway	Netherlands	Spain	Greece
Income inequality
Unemployment rate
Level of Democracy
Gallup Global Wellbeing Index	High	2	4	1	3
Life Expectancy at Birth	High	2	4	1	3
Prison Population (per 100,000)
Math Scale Score
Science Scale Score

For this question, for simplicity we will consider only four countries listed in Table 2 which are Norway, Netherlands, Spain and Greece. For parts of this question you will need to fill in the empty spaces of Table 1.

(a) Using the shadings as a guide, determine whether a high or low value for a particular index is considered good and write this down in the appropriate position in Table 1. For example, a high value for Life Expectancy at Birth is considered good. This has been noted for you in the table and to complete this question you need to do this for the remaining indices. (3 marks all correct; 2 marks for 1 or 2 incorrect; 1 mark for 3 or 4 incorrect; 0 marks otherwise.)

(b) We will now rank the four countries from 1st to 4th for each index based on the value recorded for that index. A country will receive the number 1 rank if it scored the best for that index. The number 2 rank if it scored the second best and so on. If two countries have the same index value, then we will give both the average of the two associated ranks. For example, suppose that two countries tie for first place, then the top two ranks should be given to those countries. To do this, we will give them both the number (1+2)/2 = 1.5 rank. Similarly, if two countries tie for second and third, then they will both receive a rank of (2+3)/2 = 2.5 and so on. To get you started the ranks for the Life Expectancy at Birth index are already in the table. Spain received the number 1 rank because of the four countries we are considering, it had the highest value and we have indicated that high values are good for this index. Now complete Table 1 for the remaining indices. (7 marks comprised of 1 mark for each correct line of ranks)

(c) We will now add up all of the ranks for each country. For example, for Norway we will add up all of the ranks in the column denoted 'Norway' to obtain a single total sum of ranks. Do this for each country and provide the totals below (write the number above ___ as appropriate for each country): Total sum of ranks for Norway = ... Total sum of ranks for Netherlands = ... Total sum of ranks for Spain = ... Total sum of ranks for Greece = ... (4 marks comprised of 1 mark for each correct total rank)

(d) Now use the total sum of ranks above to determine which country, or countries, ranks the worst overall (you must only use the numbers in part (c) to answer this question) out of the four countries considered. Which country, or countries, is it? (3 marks)

5. Complete the Academic Integrity quiz located under the Assignment 1 folder in the Assessments section of LMS. This quiz considers a scenario designed to help us think through issues relating to Academic Integrity. Although you will get a score for completing this quiz, your actual score is not important and will not be graded/assessed. What is important is that you engage in this activity and give thought to some of the tricky issues arising from it. One mark is awarded for completeness if all questions on the Academic Integrity quiz have been completed. (This question carries no marks for accuracy.)

Assessment Requirements Summary

The assessment is divided into five parts, covering topics in cybersecurity, statistics, and data analysis. It's a 25-mark assignment, contributing 25% to the final grade. The submission deadline is August 22, 2025, with a 5-day cut-off period and a 10% penalty per day for late submissions. Use of AI tools is strictly prohibited for writing the entire assignment, with a zero score for substantial AI use. The overall word count for the first section must be between 750 and 1000 words.

Key Pointers:

• Malware Review (25 Marks): Choose one famous malware from a provided list or your own research. Answer four specific questions about it, including its type, intent, exploited vulnerabilities, and impact.

• Survey Data Analysis (0 Marks): Analyze a set of survey questions and classify the variables as categorical or quantitative . Identify all correct statements from a given list.

• Scientific Notation and Factorials (4+4+5 Marks): Work with extremely large numbers. Convert a number to scientific notation and use Excel to find a factorial that's closest to a given number.

• The 27 Club (7 Marks): Complete a table by filling in "✓" or "X" to determine if a person is a member of the "27 club" based on whether they were a famous musician/actor and died at the age of 27.

• Data Analysis with a Table (3+7+4+3 Marks): Analyze a table with national well-being indices. Determine if high or low values are good, rank four countries for each index, sum the ranks for each country, and identify the country with the worst overall ranking.

• Academic Integrity Quiz (1 Mark): Complete an online quiz on academic integrity. This is graded for completion only.

The Academic Mentor's Approach to the Assessment

The academic mentor guided the student through the assessment in a step-by-step process, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of each section and how to achieve the desired outcomes. The process was structured to first understand the requirements , then plan the solution , and finally execute the steps to produce the final submission.

Step 1: Deconstructing the Assessment Requirements

The first step was a detailed breakdown of the entire assignment. The mentor and student went through the instructions, noting the submission format (PDF or Word), the deadline, and the word count requirements. They paid special attention to the strict prohibition of AI use for writing. The mentor explained that while the word count was a key requirement for the malware section, it did not apply to the other parts.

Step 2: Section-by-Section Guidance

Malware Review

The mentor advised the student to first choose a malware sample. They discussed the options provided (e.g., Mirai, Cryptolocker) and the benefits of selecting a well-documented one for which ample research is available. The mentor then guided the student on how to approach each question:

• Malware Type: The student was advised to define the chosen malware (e.g., worm, trojan) and then explain its distinguishing characteristics. For example, a worm replicates itself and spreads to other computers, while a trojan disguises itself as legitimate software.

• Intent and Target: The mentor prompted the student to research the historical context of the malware's outbreak. Who created it and why? Was it for financial gain, political disruption, or something else? Who were the primary victims—individuals, large corporations, or government entities?

• Vulnerabilities: The focus here was on specific vulnerabilities (e.g., unpatched software, weak passwords, zero-day exploits) that the malware exploited. The mentor explained that this section requires technical detail and should be supported by reputable sources.

• Negative Impact: The student was guided to describe the consequences for victims, which could range from financial loss and data theft to system downtime and reputation damage.

The mentor also emphasized the need for proper citation and using reputable sources like security vendors (e.g., Kaspersky, McAfee), academic papers, and official reports from cybersecurity organizations. This ensured the content was accurate and well-supported, meeting the learning objective of research and critical analysis.

Survey Questions

This section was used to assess the student's understanding of basic statistical concepts. The mentor explained the difference between quantitative and categorical variables.

• Quantitative variables are numerical and can be measured (e.g., height, number of days).

• Categorical variables represent groups or categories (e.g., "yes/no" responses, types of cars).

By applying these definitions, the student could correctly identify that height and days per week are quantitative, while the yes/no question about the library is categorical. The mentor then advised the student to carefully read each statement (A-G) and tick off the correct ones, ensuring all correct options were selected and no incorrect ones were included, as per the zero-mark penalty clause.

Scientific Notation and Factorials

This section tested mathematical and computational skills. The mentor provided a clear explanation of scientific notation using the provided examples.

• Part (a) and (c): The mentor demonstrated how to count the number of zeros and correctly place the decimal point to convert a long number into scientific notation (e.g., 500 octillion = 5×1029).

• Part (b): This part required a practical application in Excel. The mentor guided the student to enter the number and then format the cell to display it in scientific notation, which would show the number in Excel's specific format (e.g., 5.00E+29).

• Part (d): This was a problem-solving question. The mentor explained the concept of a factorial (x!=x×(x−1)×...×1) and the challenge of calculating large factorials manually. They then guided the student on how to use Excel's FACT function to compute the factorials for numbers from 40 to 45 and compare the results to the value from part (c) (4×1051). This hands-on exercise reinforced the understanding of large number representation and the practical use of spreadsheet software.

The 27 Club

The mentor explained that this was a straightforward data entry and analysis task. The student needed to research each person listed and find two pieces of information: their age at death and their profession. Based on this, they would fill in the table with "✓" for a match and "X" for a mismatch. The key was to be meticulous and accurate with the research to avoid mistakes, as each line was worth one mark.

Data Analysis with a Table

This final major section involved more complex data analysis.

• Part (a): The mentor explained how to deduce whether a high or low value is good by observing the color-coding in the original table (dark red indicates poor performance). For example, a high unemployment rate is bad, so a low value is considered good.

• Part (b): This was about ranking. The mentor demonstrated how to rank the four countries (Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Greece) from 1st to 4th for each index. The crucial part was explaining the handling of ties, where countries get the average of the tied ranks (e.g., a tie for 1st and 2nd results in a rank of 1.5 for both).

• Part (c): The mentor guided the student to sum the ranks for each country from the table completed in part (b). This simple addition provided a single score for each country.

• Part (d): The final step was to determine the "worst" country by identifying the one with the highest total sum of ranks. This was a direct application of the results from the previous step.

Final Outcome and Learning Objectives

The step-by-step guidance resulted in a well-structured and accurate assessment submission. The final outcome was a report that correctly addressed all sections, from the detailed analysis of a malware outbreak to the meticulous data work in the later sections.

The learning objectives covered during this process were:

1. Research and Analytical Skills: The student learned how to gather information from reputable sources and critically analyze complex cybersecurity topics.

2. Statistical Concepts: The student gained a practical understanding of variable types (quantitative vs. categorical) and data ranking.

3. Computational Proficiency: The student became proficient in using a spreadsheet application like Excel for complex calculations involving large numbers and data analysis.

4. Attention to Detail: The student developed the ability to follow detailed instructions and apply specific formatting and word count requirements.

5. Academic Integrity: The completion of the quiz reinforced the importance of honesty and proper citation in academic work.

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