“Exploration of Evolving Aspects and Technologies in Cybersecurity”

Term Paper Guidelines

Introduction

This document provides the topic and guidelines for completing the term paper component of the CIS284C Cybersecurity Concepts Class. You should read it carefully and be sure that you understand it completely. Failure to follow the guidelines can be hazardous to your grade. Get clarification from your instructor if you need it.

There are several reasons for requiring a term paper. First, it will allow you to explore current topics in Cybersecurity. Second, it will allow you to develop your research skills. In a rapidly changing area like Cybersecurity it is important that you be able to use information resources to keep your technical skills current throughout your professional career. And last, you will undoubtedly have occasion to write informational or recommendation reports during your career, and report writing is a skill that can only be learned through practice.

Term Paper Subject

While we have been learning about many of the common Cybersecurity domains, for the purpose of this paper, I want you to explore some of the evolving topics and technologies that are changing the world as we see it.

The subject of this term paper is:

“Exploration of Evolving Aspects and Technologies in Cybersecurity”.

The goal of this term paper is for you to research the following 5 topics and provide an assessment of each topic in the deliverable format described below. The topics are:

Zero Trust Architecture

Data Privacy

Blockchain

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Quantum Computing

Evaluation and Schedule

The purpose of a research paper is to convey useful information to the reader. To do so, the paper needs adequate technical content and be presented clearly. Therefore, the term paper will be evaluated on both content (e.g. quantity and quality of references, validity of conclusions, etc.) and style (e.g. organization, grammar, spelling, etc.).

This paper is to be original work done expressly for this class; you may get technical information from any source, and may get editorial assistance from anywhere, but you must write your own paper. You may not use papers written for another class.

Deliverable

Overview

The paper is to present your view of each topic after digesting the information you have obtained from the references. The idea is not to merely paraphrase a single source. Your goal is to present different views of a topic: contrasting views can point out limitations of an approach, supporting sources can reinforce a view. You should have some opinions of your own; certainly, after reading the references, you should have an informed opinion, allowing you to make the conclusions which will appear throughout your report. However, conclusions must not be the bulk of your report!

Structure

Your report should have a Title Page, Table of Contents listing the major headings, the body of your report and an Appendix where your references will be listed. The paper should also include your name and the class number in the header or footer section. Please include page numbers in the footer.

Style

The paper is expected to be a well written and cited report or article; you should look at published articles. Your coverage of each topic needs to be 2-3 pages, with a maximum of 1.5 line-spacing, 12pt font, excluding title page, Appendix, tables, figures, etc.

Organization for Each Topic

Your evaluation of each topic needs to have three basic parts, the introduction, the body and a conclusions section "tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you told them".

The Introduction

The introduction must include a brief description or outline of the topics place the topic in context (e.g. where this topic fits into the field of Cybersecurity or other discipline). After reading the introduction, the reader should have a good idea of what to expect in the body. A poorly written introduction could cause the reader to ignore this section of the paper without even looking at the body.

The Body of the Report

Since this is a multi-topic paper, you can focus the body of your report on how this topic affects a specific aspect of the cybersecurity sector or industry (for example, how Artificial Intelligence is being applied to improve anti-malware products).

In the body you will cover the various subtopics of each topic. Try to put the sub-topics in order: basic concepts should be presented first, then present more advanced concepts which build on the basic ones. Forward references (referring to material not yet presented) should be minimized, though it is often not possible to completely avoid it. Break the body into sections and use section titles.

Section headers are recommended. Partitioning the paper into distinct sections makes it easier on the reader to understand the organization of ideas.

The Conclusions Section

The conclusions section must contain a summary of the material you presented in the body and the conclusions you have drawn from them. In addition, you will present any overall comments you have about the topic you have presented.

Locating and Citing Information Sources

World Wide Web and other libraries will undoubtedly be necessary. Once you locate a source, it may point you to other useful references. Be aware that some sources may not be immediately available from the library, though they can be obtained via interlibrary loan; be sure to allow enough lead time for references to arrive via interlibrary loan. Not having a paper due to undelivered loan books is an unacceptable excuse.

In your paper you will be including material obtained from your references either as direct quotes (not very common in report writing) or paraphrases. For either case you should cite the applicable references. Direct quotes from a source must be enclosed in quotation marks and the source must be cited; failure to do so constitutes plagiarism which is a form of cheating! Use direct quotes only if they are insightful and well written; otherwise, just paraphrase them. In either case, you must provide a citation; citation allows the interested reader to locate the relevant reference if they wish to read it for themselves; you can think of it as a "see also". Citation also acknowledges the authors of the cited source for developing the ideas referenced while at the same time it lends credibility to the idea (i.e., someone else thinks this idea is true).

At the end of your paper, provide an appendix. This will contain a list of references cited throughout the paper. I would strongly recommend that you use the reference style used in either APA or MLA format. Select one and make sure your citations are consistent throughout the paper.