Cryptography and Information Assurance (COMP 30029)

Hello,

This is the full breakdown of the Cryptography and Information Assurance (COMP30029) assignment requirements.
I want the work to be highly professional, academic, and detailed enough to achieve a very high grade (First Class).

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

FULL ASSIGNMENT STRUCTURE

1. Title Page
   Must include:

• Assignment Name
• Module Name
• Module Code
• Student Name
• Student ID
• Faculty Name
• Semester
• Submission Date

1. Table of Contents
2. Introduction
3. Task 1
   4.1 HTTPS Protocol Analysis
   4.2 Digital Signatures Analysis
4. Task 2
   5.1 AES Research Paper Summary
   5.2 Symmetric Encryption Limitations
5. Conclusion
6. References

INTRODUCTION

Focus on:
Definition of Information Security
Importance of Cryptography in banking
Importance of HTTPS, AES, and Digital Signatures
Cyber threats targeting banks
Relation to banking sector in Oman

Include:
CIA Triad Diagram
Table explaining:

• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Authentication
• Non-repudiation

TASK 1(a)
Critically Examine HTTPS Protocol for XYZ Bank

This section must include explanation + analysis + criticism + recommendations.

Required points:

1. Introduction to HTTPS
   Definition of HTTPS
   Difference between HTTP and HTTPS
   Importance of HTTPS in banking

Add a comparison table between HTTP and HTTPS.

1. HTTPS Architecture
   Explain HTTPS architecture
   Include a diagram showing:
   Client TLS Certificate Session Key Secure Communication
2. TLS/SSL Handshake Process
   Explain all steps:
   Client Hello
   Server Hello
   Certificate Exchange
   Key Exchange
   Session Key
   Encrypted Communication

Add a professional flowchart.

1. Encryption Used in HTTPS
   Explain:
   Symmetric Encryption
   Asymmetric Encryption
   Hash Functions

Add a table:
AES / RSA / SHA-256

1. Security Services Provided by HTTPS
   Confidentiality
   Integrity
   Authentication
   Non-repudiation

Include banking examples.

1. Critical Analysis of HTTPS
   Strong analysis is required.

Advantages:
Encryption
Secure communication
Prevent packet sniffing
Protection against MITM attacks

Disadvantages:
SSL stripping
Fake certificates
Expired certificates
Phishing attacks
Human errors

Add a threat analysis table.

1. HTTPS Attacks
   Explain:
   MITM attacks
   SSL stripping
   Downgrade attacks
   Fake certificates

Include attack diagrams.

1. Recommendations for XYZ Bank
   Suggest:
   TLS 1.3
   HSTS
   MFA
   Certificate Pinning
   WAF
   Security Monitoring

Add a recommendations table.

1. Conclusion

TASK 1(b)
Critical Analysis of Digital Signatures in XYZ Online Banking

1. Introduction to Digital Signatures
   Definition of Digital Signature
   Importance in banking
2. How Digital Signatures Work
   Explain:
   Hashing
   Private Key signing
   Public Key verification

Include a complete diagram.

1. Algorithms Used
   Explain:
   RSA
   DSA
   ECC

Add a comparison table.

1. Applications in Banking
   Transaction verification
   Secure login
   Document authentication
   Mobile banking
2. Benefits
   Authentication
   Integrity
   Non-repudiation
3. Critical Analysis
   Advantages:
   Prevent fraud
   Legal validity
   Strong authentication

Disadvantages:
Key theft
PKI complexity
Certificate compromise
Computational overhead

1. Comparison with Traditional Signatures
   Add a comparison table.
2. Threat Scenarios
   Stolen private keys
   Insider attacks
   Weak key management
3. Recommendations
   HSM
   PKI
   Key rotation
   MFA
4. Conclusion

TASK 2(a)
AES Research Paper Summary

Select a paper from:
IEEE
or
ACM

Preferably:
Recent paper
Related to AES Security / Performance / Architecture

Required sections:

1. Paper Information
   Title
   Authors
   Year
   Publisher
2. Introduction of the Paper
   Research problem
   Importance of AES
3. Main Concepts
   Explain:
   Key Sizes
   Rounds
   SubBytes
   ShiftRows
   MixColumns
   AddRoundKey
   Key Expansion

Add AES Architecture Diagram.

1. Research Methodology
   Explain how the research was conducted.
2. Results and Findings
   Performance
   Security
   Speed
   Efficiency
3. Critical Evaluation
   Strengths
   Weaknesses
   Limitations
   Future improvements
4. Personal Reflection
   What was learned
   Why AES is important
   Personal opinion

TASK 2(b)
Analyze Limitations of Symmetric Encryption and Suggest Solutions

1. Introduction
   Definition of Symmetric Encryption
   Use of AES in banking
2. Scenario Analysis
   Analyze:
   Global expansion
   Millions of users
   Key management problems
   Key interception
3. Limitations of Symmetric Encryption
   Explain:
   Key distribution problem
   Scalability issues
   Key management complexity
   Single key risk
   Lack of non-repudiation
4. Attack Analysis
   Key interception
   Insider attacks
   Replay attacks
5. Proposed Solutions
   Professional solutions required:

Most important:
Add a Hybrid Encryption Architecture Diagram.

1. Comparison Table
   Compare:
   Symmetric vs Asymmetric Encryption
2. Recommended Banking Security Architecture
   Add a diagram:
   User HTTPS/TLS Firewall HSM Banking Server Encrypted Database
3. Conclusion

IMPORTANT DIAGRAMS REQUIRED

Professional diagrams must include:
CIA Triad
TLS Handshake
HTTPS Architecture
Digital Signature Process
AES Architecture
Hybrid Encryption Architecture
Banking Security Architecture
MITM Attack Diagram

IMPORTANT TABLES REQUIRED

IMPORTANT REFERENCES

Preferred sources:
IEEE Papers
ACM Papers
NIST
IBM Security
Microsoft Security
Cloudflare Learning

Books:
William Stallings Cryptography and Network Security
Charlie Kaufman Network Security

IMPORTANT NOTES

Also, an important requirement:

The assignment must be written professionally in a natural academic style with NO plagiarism and NO detectable AI-generated writing as much as possible, especially when checked using Turnitin or AI detection tools.

Please make sure:

The final report should look like genuine university-level student work written manually and professionally, not AI-generated content.