Assessment 1: Ethical Hacking Plan
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Assessment 1: Ethical Hacking
Plan
20 Points Possible
24/03/2025
Attempt 1
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Assessment 1: Ethical Hacking Plan
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https://courses.ecu.edu.au/courses/54027/assignments/306206
Due Date
Submissions
received at or after 14:00 AWST will be marked as late.
Point Value
20%
Page Count
Ideally 3 (maximum 5) A4 pages excluding Title Page and
Reference list. Marker will not read beyond the word limit.
DO NOT submit an ECU cover sheet.
Description
This assessment is Part 1 of the three interlinked
assessments in this unit and requires you to think/plan
out how you will approach the given pen-testing task
(
) in this unit. The aim is
to make you understand the importance and
requirements of the pre-engagement phase, including the
methodology and importance of ethics in the ethical
hacking process. You will be rewarded if your plan shows
evidence of creative problem-solving and critical thinking.
Submission
guidelines
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upload at the bottom of this current page. Select the
submit assignment button once you have chosen the �le
to upload. This will automatically submit via Turnitin.
Assessment
policies
Click on the button below for ECU's assessment policies
such as academic integrity, late submissions and
extensions.
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Assessment
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As an entry-level Penetration-Testing Investigator (Ethical Hacker), your
hypothetical line manager has asked you to prepare an ethical hacking (PenTesting) plan for a client. This plan should include a proposed methodology to
undertake the security posture of a system. Refer to
to prepare a
report summarising your plan for this engagement. As an integral element, your
plan should also discuss potential ethical considerations using the relevant
frameworks covered in the unit, highlighting your intentions to uphold ethical
standards while undertaking such an engagement. Remember, at this point, your
line manager has not yet approved the requirement to commence the PenTesting engagement.
The broad structure/sections and what to include are as follows:
Title page
Introduction
Unit code and title, assignment title,
your name, student number and
facilitator’s name.
A good introduction provides an
overview of the topic and its signi�cance
and the purpose and structure of the
report. A few guidelines to consider for
your introduction are:
• An overview/purpose of the
activity/plan.
• Objectives covering the broad
contours of the given task in
,
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• The approach you used to
undertake your research
(databases, security forums, etc.)
into the subject matter.
• An outline of the structure - what
you are covering within your plan.
• The proposed process/
methodology to analyse and gain
access in the given task.
• A discussion of the phases, scope
and extent of the examination.
• The type of test based on the
provided information – white box,
grey box, or black box.
• A graphical image/diagram/�ow
Proposed Analytical Process/
Methodological Approach
chart to demonstrate your
proposed ethical hacking
procedure/methodology for the
investigation covering all activities
that you would undertake.
• Essential or mandatory
approval(s) needed prior to actual
engagement
• Proposed methodology should be
generic and follow industry
standards. Specify if any phases
are not applicable with reasons.
Ethical considerations to undertake the
pen testing engagement
• Brie�y analyse your approach
using all ethical frameworks/
theories covered in the unit,
justifying how you will ethically
uphold di�erent situations during
the engagement.
• Discuss disclosure/non-disclosure
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agreement, preservation of the
company’s con�dentiality,
prevention of sensitive data from
being redistributed, deleted,
modi�ed, etc.
• Comment on how you would
resolve ethical dilemmas (if faced)
during the investigation.
Remember: an ambiguous plan
compromises professionalism and may
lead to a lack of trust by the client.
Resources Required
Timeframe
Hardware and software resources
required for the pen-testing
engagement. Do some research and
include one or two tools required within
each phase of the methodology.
Your plan of action in stages once your
(hypothetical) line manager has given
you the go-ahead. Discuss the dates you
will be working on a particular phase
and envisaged activities. Align the
timeframe: start date of your
engagement is to be the submission
date of this assessment, and the due
date would be the end date for
.
References
• Acknowledge and write all
evidence and ideas from sources
in your own words and
acknowledge using
in the body of the
report and
(reference list) at the end of the
report using the APA 7th style.
• Aim for a minimum of 8-10
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references that include books,
peer-reviewed journal articles,
published conference papers,
white papers, government and
professional organisation reports.
You may also use Internet sites
(websites, news articles, blog
posts, but they should be
reputable.
• DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA.
This is still your envisaged plan. It is highly likely that the actual execution
of the case study analysis will deviate from this plan. Your Pen-Testing Investigation
assessment will not be correlated with your envisioned plan at the time of its marking.
•
the communication of your analytical process. You will lose
marks for using complex descriptions or terminology. Use acronyms
correctly. Use analogies if they help you communicate the identi�ed
issue simply.
•
using adequate in-text references and
throughout the entire report. Consider using EndNote to manage your
sources and to reference.
•
on how you communicate your �ndings. Avoid overusing
large collections of paraphrased text. Balance the use of text with
diagrams, tables and charts. Diagrams can be a much more e�ective
way to communicate ideas or concepts, while tables and charts are
helpful in comparing and contrasting di�erent ideas. Whichever you
use, ensure you refer to diagrams, tables, and charts in your text, i.e.
correctly referenced and/or labelled and referred/discussed in your
text.
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• Study the marking rubric, paying particular attention to the graderelated descriptors as you will be evaluated against them. If in doubt,
ask your lecturer, tutor, or learning adviser before submitting.
• Use the structure provided with clear, concise headings. Ideas must
�ow logically.
• The style of writing should be appropriate for the purpose, audience
and context. Use third-person objective voice avoiding the use of �rstperson (‘I’, ‘my’, ‘we’) and second-person (‘you’).
• Appropriate discipline-speci�c terminology and vocabulary must be
used in the report.
• Sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and grammar should be
correct for the report.
The following pointers are presented to make you aware of the common
mistakes that students have made in the previous study periods. Read and
understand all of them to avoid them in your submission.
• Some students did not follow the instructions given for the
information to include in the introduction. Most of the students
discussed the plan instead of discussing Assessment 3: Case Study
objectives.
• Scope, resources, and timeframe sections of the plan were poorly
written. Many students did not understand what the scope related to.
• The assessment brief indicated what sections or questions to answer
in the main body of the report. Not all requirements were addressed
by some student.
• The ethical considerations section lacked critical thinking. Many
students struggled with this section and did not use any references to
demonstrate their understanding.
• Some of the links to the references appeared to be broken or not
accessible.
• The submissions lacked correct in-text and end-text formatting,
according to APA 7th edition conventions. While EndNote was not
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mandatory, it saves time and allows you to focus on your core work.
Access the
Sometimes, it can be tricky to visualise how unit content comes together to form a
�nalised assessment. To assist you in this area, a previous student has
volunteered to allow their assignment to be shared. While the supplied
assignment has room for improvement, it is a good exemplar of how an
assignment could be structured and the balance of written / technical content
that is expected. You should only use this assignment exemplar to assist you in
preparing your assignment and focus on the annotations used throughout this
document. Do not use any of the written content as this may lead to a loss of
marks or a possible report of Academic Misconduct. Your submitted work/
assignment should be your own, incorporating your perspective and
demonstrating your creativity and innovativeness, using this exemplar to guide
your own approach.
: This examplar is not a template, and there are other ways this assignment could
be completed.
Follow the rubrics in the Marketing criteria below to see how marks are allocated for
this assignment.
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You can �nd relevant cases either through a general search online, or by using
academic sources through the ECU library and/or Google scholar.
Click on the yellow button link below to access the academic skills resources hub
page. From this page, you'll be able to access support resources to help you with
Academic writing, Academic researching and referencing skills
By completing this task, you will demonstrate that you are able to:
• ULO2: Evaluate the phases in the ethical hacking process
For more information, refer to the rubric below.
Feedback will be available 7 days after the deadline. Find instructions on how to
view feedback from your facilitator after your assessment has been graded here:
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View Rubric
Assessment 1 Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Points
Originality and
student voice
(academic
integrity)
2.24 to >1.49 pts 1.49 to >0 pts
3 to >2.24 pts
Fail (49% > 0)
Excellent (100% > Needs
improvement (50% No or little attempt
70%)
to adequately
Highly skilful use of > 69%)
integrate evidence
An attempt has
quality, credible
sources to integrate been made to use from quality sources
evidence to support sources to integrate with integrity to
support student
evidence with
highly developed
critical argument or integrity to support argument or
discussion. Good/ student arguments discussion.
Inappropriate use of
Excellent synthesis or discussion.
Satisfactory use of others’ work which
of others’ work
is not
which is adequately others’ work and
with some attempt acknowledged.
and correctly
Lack of or
to acknowledge
acknowledged.
sources, but more inadequate
Good/Highly
paraphrasing and
work needed on
developed
paraphrasing and how to adequately in-text referencing
constituting
in-text referencing and correctly
paraphrase in-text plagiarism.
skills.
references.
/ 3 pts
Description of the
proposed
analytical
process
5.99 to >3.99 pts 3.99 to >0 pts
8 to >5.99 pts
Fail (49% > 0)
Excellent (100% > Needs
improvement (50% Little or no attempt
70%)
to describe the
A clear/very clear > 69%)
and comprehensive Some attempt madeanalytical process.
The information is
description of the to describe the
analytical process analytical process, either missing,
irrelevant or
but there are
that considers all
significant gaps in unclear. Little or no
elements of the
process, including the information and/ evidence of creative
or lack of clarity in problem-solving and
the ethical
critical thinking.
the description.
considerations,
resources required Some evidence of
and timeframe. Very creative problemsolving and critical
good/strong
evidence of creative thinking.
problem-solving and
critical thinking.
/ 8 pts
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Assessment 1 Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Points
Format of the
analysis plan
2.24 to >1.49 pts 1.49 to >0 pts
3 to >2.24 pts
Fail (49% > 0)
Excellent (100% > Needs
improvement (50% Little or no attempt
70%)
has been made to
The analysis plan is > 69%)
The analysis plan format the analysis
professionally
has a basic format plan. It does not
formatted using
flow in a clear,
with some
informative and
logical way. There
headings. The
appropriate
are sections
headings, including information does
missing in the plan.
an introduction that not always flow
logically. There may
provides an
be sections missing
overview and
in the plan.
objectives of the
pen testing
scenario. The
information flows
very logically.
/ 3 pts
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Assessment 1 Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Points
Written
communication
skills
2.24 to >1.49 pts 1.49 to >0 pts
3 to >2.24 pts
Fail (49% > 0)
Excellent (100% > Needs
improvement (50% Little or no attempt
70%)
has been made to
The analysis plan > 69%)
Some attempt has use appropriate
uses a range of
sophisticated and been made to use terminology and
vocabulary. Few or
appropriate
appropriate
no in-text and endterminology and
terminology and
text references
vocabulary, but
vocabulary.
have been used.
Accurate academic there are some
Sentence structure,
writing conventions, inaccuracies.
including in-text and Academic writing grammar, spelling
and punctuation
conventions
end-text
referencing, have including in-text and contain errors that
been used. Varied end-text referencing impede meaning.
may be missing or
and mostly
complex/complex inaccurate.
sentence structure, Sentence structure,
correct grammar, grammar, spelling
and punctuation
spelling and
contain some
punctuation.
inaccuracies that
may occasionally
impede meaning.
/ 3 pts
Referencing
(APA 7th)
2.24 to >1.49 pts 1.49 to >0 pts
3 to >2.24 pts
Fail (49% > 0)
Excellent (100% > Needs
improvement (50% In-text and end-text
70%)
references are
In-text and end-text > 69%)
either not included
Few in-text and
references
end-text references or not formatted
accurately and
according to APA
appropriately used used to
acknowledge ideas 7th style.
to acknowledge
most/all ideas and and topics taken
topics taken from from sources, and
the format is not
sources and
formatted according always according to
APA 7th style.
to APA 7th style.
/ 3 pts
Overall Feedback
0 pts
Comments
/ 0 pts
0 pts
No marks
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Assessment 1 Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Points
Total points: 0
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