CNIT 125 Policy
Instructor
Sam Bowne
Web Site: samsclass.info E-mail: sbowne@ccsf.edu Text
CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide, 7th Edition; by James M. Stewart, Mike Chapple, Darril Gibson; ISBN-10: 1119042712 Grades
The number of points you accumulate during the semester determines your final grade. You can earn points in the following areas:
| 10 Quizzes @ 20 pts. each | 200 points |
| 11 assignments (including resume) | 110 points |
| Final Exam | 90 points |
| Total | 400 points |
Your final letter grade is determined from your total points as shown below:
| % | Grade |
|---|
| 90% or more | A |
| 80% - 89.99% | B |
| 60% - 79.99% | C |
| 50% - 59.99% | D |
| 49.99% or less | F |
Please keep all graded papers until you have received your official grade report. If there is any dispute over a recorded score, you must produce the graded paper. This course allows "Pass/No Pass" grading, if that option is requested before the deadline.
Quizzes
There will be quizzes almost every week, each worth 20 points. Each quiz focuses on recent material but may also cover material from the beginning of the semester. The quizzes will be based on class lectures as well as the textbook and techniques you have used on the related homework assignments. There will be NO makeup quizzes. Quizzes missed due to unavoidable absences, or absences arranged in advance, will be assigned a score determined from averaging scores from other quizzes or the final exam.
However, if a student's percentage scores on all the quizzes combined falls below that student's percentage score on the final exam, due to missed quizzes or any other reason, the quizzes will be assigned a percentage score equal to the final exam percentage score. This means that a student who has done well on the homework but badly on the quizzes can still get a good final grade by doing well on the final exam.
Final Exam
The final exam covers all material for the semester. No notes or aids are permitted during the final exam.
Teams, Assignments, and Managers
Working efficiently in teams and maintaining cordial working relationships with others is an essential part of this course. The class will work in teams of 3-6 students, on real-world security projects such as performing security audits, warning operators of vulnerable systems of their security risks, assisting companies with security problems, etc.
Managers will be selected by the instructor at the start of the class. Managers have these responsibilities:
- Attend Managers' Meetings each week
- Report on progress and discuss future plans
- Inform team members of their weekly Assignment
- Evaluate performance of team members and assign points
- Keep clear records of each Assignment and the performance of Team Members
All students must be in a Team. Each team member has these responsibilities:
- Attend Team Meetings each week
- Report on progress of their Assignment
- Determine the next week's Assignment
If a Manager or Team Member cannot attend a meeting or complete a required task, he or she must arrange for someone else to fulfill the obligation. Each week, the teams will work on projects. Team members will be required to report their progress to their Manager each week.
Assignment Grading
The points earned on each Assignment vary, according to the guidelines below. The final grade is based on 10 pts. per assignment.
| Satisfactory Work | 10 pts. |
| Exceptional Work | 15 pts. |
| Poor Work | 5 pts. |
| Unexcused Absence (AWOL) | 0 pts. |
| Excused Absence | 10 pts. |
Problems
Routine questions should be handled via the chain of command; Team Members should ask Managers, who will either resolve them or ask the Instructor at a Managers' Meeting. Any student who wishes to go directly to the Instructor may do so, during or after class, or at other times by arrangement. Resumes
Each student must prepare a resume stating their real experience, education, and goals. Non-Disclosure Agreement
We will perform real security projects. We will learn and discover things that are confidential. Each student will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and abide by it. If you are not willing to do that, do not take this class.
Professional Communication
It is very important for technical professionals to communicate in a polite and effective manner, especially when using email or other online services. Students are expected to be professional in all communications in this course.
Students who send hostile, rude, or abusive messages will suffer a point penalty, typically -5 points, which they can earn back by re-writing their message in a professional manner.
Email Response Time
Projects and other emails should be answered within 7 days. However, sometimes emails get lost--if you don't have an answer after 7 days, please speak to your instructor in class about it.
Ethics and Cheating
Security professionals are held to high standards of ethics, like police officers. Lying, copying others' work and passing it off as your own, and performing cybercrimes will not be tolerated in this class. Offenders will be punished by losing points, or by immediate expulsion and a final grade of F, at the discretion of the instructor. If you are unsure whether something is unethical, please discuss it with your instructor before submitting questionable work for credit. Students who demonstrate serious irresponsibility or immaturity may be expelled at any time.
Warning: Hackers in Lab S214
Do not do online banking, shopping, or personal emailing in S214. Students are doing “Ethical Hacking” projects in that room that involve eavesdropping on other machines. They are stealing passwords from the computers and the network. If you wish to send email from S214, you should make a new email account just for that purpose and use a password that you don't use anywhere else.
Passwords stolen from lab machines appear on the "Wall of Sheep" in the lab.
Hacking Sam
Students (and everyone else) are invited to find my security vulnerabilities
and report them to me. If you take reasonable precautions not to anyone or
disrupt my classes,
I promise not to prosecute you. Students who hack me earn
extra credit, and appear on the
Hall of Fame.
Changes
I reserve the right to change any of these policies as necessary during the semester and will inform you of any changes.