Monash College
MCD4700
Introduction to computer systems, networks and security
Assignment 2
Trimester 2, 2020

Submission guidelines
This is an individual assignment, group work is not permitted (except for parts of task 1.1 as stated below).

Deadline​: ​September 7, 2020, 11:55pm
Submission format:​ Word (doc, docx) (one file containing both parts 1 and 2), uploaded electronically via
Moodle.
Late submission:
● By submitting a ​Special Consideration Form​ or visit this link:
https://forms.apps.monash.edu/frevvo/web/tn/monash.edu/u/614aac3c-8ab8-4309-9283-375663
fa97d8/app/_86jlUBdoEeiMWO8cc5Na1A/form/c87ebd1e-ce2d-4a5f-b00d-04027382df50?typeI
d=_uSFSQParEemFyv5Ip1_2Eg&locale=en_US,eng_US,eng,en&embed=true
●​ ​Or, without special consideration, you lose 5 marks of your mark per day that you submit
late (including weekends). Submissions will not be accepted more than 5 days late. This
means that if you got ​Y​ marks, only Y-n*​5​ will be counted where ​n​ is the number of days
you submit late.
● Assessment items will not be accepted after more than 14 calendar days unless a Special
Consideration application has been approved. This 14-day time frame does not apply to
assessments due in Week 12.
● Assessments due in Week 12 will not be accepted more than 7 calendar days after the due
date.
Marks:​ This assignment will be marked out of 100 points, and count for 15% of your total unit marks.
Plagiarism:​ It is an academic requirement that the work you submit be original. If there is any
evidence of copying (including from online sources without proper attribution), collaboration, pasting
from websites or textbooks, ​Zero marks​ may be awarded for the whole assignment, the unit or you
may be suspended or excluded from your course. Monash Colleges policies on plagiarism, collusion,
and cheating are ​available here​ or see this link:
https://www.monashcollege.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/17101/dip-assessment-policy.pdf

Further Note: When you are asked to use Internet resources to answer a question, this ​does not
mean copy-pasting text​ from websites. Write answers in your own words such that your
understanding of the answer is evident. Acknowledge any sources by citing them.

Monash College MCD4700 Assignment 2
1. WLAN Network Design and Security
For this task, you will perform a WLAN site survey. Your task is to produce a map of (part of) a building
that gives an overview of the wireless networks that are available, as well as an analysis of the
network. What you will need: a WiFi-enabled laptop (some smartphones also work, see below), and a
place to scan. You can perform a survey of your home or, of an office space or, of parts of the Monash
University campus, or inside a shopping centre. If you don’t own a suitable device that you could use
for this activity, please try to borrow one from a friend, or contact us to find out an alternative. This
activity has two sub-tasks: (a) conduct a survey, and (b) write a report on your observation.
1.1. Survey
Create a map of the place that you want to do a survey. A simple floor-plan will be sufficient, which
doesn’t have to be perfectly scaled. Your survey should cover an area of at least 60 square meters
(e.g. 6x10 meters, or 3x20, or two storeys of 6x5 each). Be creative about the survey, which can
include indoor hallways or outside areas. Your survey should include walls, doors etc. as
obstruction to wireless signals. It will be easier to write something interesting in the analysis in part
1.2). Furthermore, your survey must include at least two WiFi access points (AP). These APs can
be inside your own residence, but can also include neighbours’ APs. If you are scanning in a
commercial area or on campus, you should be able to see enough APs. If you want, you can create
an additional AP with a phone (using Personal hotspot or Tethering features).
For the survey, use a WLAN sniffing tool (see below) and collect data from more than or equal to
eight different locations on your map. For each location, record the technical characteristics of all
visible APs. In particular, you should record network name, MAC address, signal strength, 802.11
version(s) supported, band (2.4 or 5 GHz) and channel(s) used. Some of these parameters may not
be available depending on the tools and/or the laptop brand that you use. In that case, collect as
much data as possible. Create maps, based on your floor-plan, that visualises the information you
have gathered. Do not use automatically generated “heatmaps” as produced by professional
versions of the apps mentioned above. Simple maps that show the values of the different
characteristics in different locations are sufficient. You can submit one or two maps, showing
different aspects of your scan. The maps need to include locations of the access points (as far as
you can determine them, or an approximation of the location based on the observed signal
strength).
(30 Marks )






1
Monash College MCD4700 Assignment 2
1.2. Write a Report (Word limit 600)
Write a report on your observations analysing the data collected in the previous step. Your analysis
should investigate the following aspects:
1.2.1. Channel occupancy: Are different access points competing on the same channels? Are they
configured to use overlapping channels? (7.5 Marks )
1.2.2. Interference from walls, doors etc.: How do different materials affect signal strength and noise?
Can you notice a difference in attenuation for different APs? (7.5 Marks )
1.2.3. Coverage​: Do the access points sufficiently cover the desired area? Could the placement or
configuration be improved? (7.5 Marks )
1.2.4. Any other one aspect of your own choice​. Here are a few suggestions: (7.5 Marks)
a. measure the attenuation caused by your own body, or
b. measure the download and upload speeds in different locations, or
c. determine the overlap that has been implemented to enable roaming, or
d. describe how you interpolated the locations of access points from the signal strengths.

Describe your findings and explain them with some technical details (i.e., not only say what you found, but
also how you performed the analysis or why you think the network is behaving that way).

Tools: ​You can use e.g. Acrylic WiFi (https://www.acrylicwifi.com/en/) for Windows, NetSpot
(http://www.netspotapp.com) for Mac OS and Windows, and LinSSID or wavemon for Linux. If you have
an Android smartphone, apps like WiFi Analyzer can also be used. On iOS, WiFi scanning apps do not
provide enough detail, so iPhones won’t be suitable for this task. For drawing the site maps, any drawing
tool should work, for example LucidChart, or even presentation tools such as Powerpoint, Keynote or
Google Slides. Scans of hand-drawn maps are acceptable if they are neat and easily readable.






2
Monash College MCD4700 Assignment 2
2. Cyber Security
Information on security problems, weaknesses and attacks can be found in many places (blogs,
newsletters, experts’ pages, etc.). Your task is to pick one item from the following list, read the news item,
look up and read the referenced sources, and finally write a report on the findings. [Note: all the links were
checked while preparing this document. If any of the links couldn’t be traced, please check for any broken
link or missing characters like ‘-’ or ‘_’ etc.]
a. https://www​.​wired​.​com/story/russia-fancy-bear-hackers-phishing/
b. https://www​.​wired​.​com/story/rowhammer-ecc-memory-data-hack/
c. https://krebsonsecurity​.​com/2018/11/usps-site-exposed-data-on-60-mill
ion-users/
d. https://krebsonsecurity​.​com/2018/11/busting-sim-swappers-and-sim-swap
-myths/
e. https://www​.​zdnet​.​com/article/new-linux-crypto-miner-steals-your-root
-password-and-disables-your-antivirus/
f. https://www​.​zdnet​.​com/article/ukrainian-police-arrest-hacker-who-infe
cted-over-2000-users-with-darkcomet-rat/
g. https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/mirai-evolves-from-iot-
devices-to-linux-%20servers/d/d-id/1333329
h. https://www​.​schneier​.​com/blog/archives/2018/11/using-machine-l​.​html
i. https://hotforsecurity​.​bitdefender​.​com/blog/hackers-target-critical-w
ordpress-plugin-flaw-to-install-backdoors-and-create-admin-accounts-
20597​.​html
j. https://thehackernews​.​com/2018/11/apple-macos-zeroday​.​html
k. https://thehackernews​.​com/2018/11/word-processor-vulnerability​.​html

Choose one of the news items above, read the text, and look up and read the articles and information
referenced in the news item. Then,
a. Write a short summary of the news item in your own words (between 50 and 200 words).
b. Identify which software, hardware or system is affected (max 50 words). The identification should
be as precise as possible. Include exact product names, distribution of the product, version
numbers, etc.
c. Describe how the problem was discovered and how it was initially published. Try to find this
information in the referenced articles. The problem might have been found by researchers at a
university, by a professional security company, by some hacker, published in a scientific
conference/journal, in a newspaper on a blog, etc. Was it the result of targeted research, found by
chance, were any tools used, etc? (write 50-100 words)
d. Estimate how serious the issue/weakness/attack is, describe what is necessary to exploit the
weakness, evaluate what the consequences might be if it is exploited, and what reactions you
think are necessary/useful on (i) a technical level, (ii) in terms of human behaviour, and (iii) on a
policy level (between 150 and 300 words).
(30 Marks )
3
Monash College MCD4700 Assignment 2
Report Structure
For task 1 and task 2, you should stick to the word count. A maximum of 10% above the maximum word
count is acceptable. You should first think about the main statements you want to make and then write a
concise text. Additional text will be ignored in the marking. The report must be your individual work (no
group work is permitted). You should structure the report in accordance with the items in the task
description. It should be well structured, readable, and use of correct language and grammar is required.
All information from external sources must be properly referenced (see resources on Moodle about
referencing). References do not contribute to the word count.
A report, well-written and presented professionally, must include:
● Title page
● Table of Contents
● Appropriate use of figures and tables
● References and in text citations
● Overall structure, presentation and formatting
● Grammar punctuation and spelling
(10 Marks )



File to be submitted

One file only named ​”YourLastName-FirstName-StudentID”.docx​ or doc: Your report should include:
1. Title Page (including: Title, Your Name, Your Student ID, Lecturer Name, Tutor Name, Tutorial
Day/Time).
2. Table of contents (auto generated).
3. Summary or Abstract or Introduction (e.g. This report is about .... ” no more than 100 words”).
4. Add Part 1 and Part 2 (with appropriate heading and subheading for each part).
5. Add References.
[Note: The word limit doesn’t include the title page, the contents page, summary, references, labels and
the description of the figures.]
4