project_them Cloud Data Security

e:
project_outline: Evaluating the security
challenges of simulated patient
medical records in a cloud hosted
database with recommendation
for strategic mitigation.

Required Documents:
1. Project Report and artefact
2. Code in github and link to the github
3. Screencasting of working of project
4. PPT showing the working of project

Report Requirements:
BCS accreditation criteria state that projects must produce a
report which includes:

 elucidation of the problem and the objectives of the project

 an in-depth investigation of the context and literature, and

where appropriate, other similar products

 where appropriate, a clear description of the stages of the

life cycle undertaken

 where appropriate, a description of how verification and

validation were applied at these stages

 where appropriate, a description of the use of tools to

support the development process
  a critical appraisal of the project, indicating the rationale for
any design/implementation decisions, lessons learnt during
the course of the project, and evaluation (with hindsight) of
the project outcome and the process of its production
(including a review of the plan and any deviations from it)

 a description of any research hypothesis

 in the event that the individual work is part of a group

enterprise, a clear indication of the part played by the author
in achieving the goals of the project and its effectiveness

 references

Word Count

There is a 10,000 word limit for the project. Do not see this as a
target, but rather a limit to the number of words we expect a
project to have. All words in the main body, excluding words in
figures and tables, will count to your word count. If you think you
will go over 10,000 words, you should consider what can be
removed from the main body and placed in an appendix.

Report Structure
Although every project is unique, there is a common structure to
MSc Project reports, with some variability in the middle.
Fundamentally, the report has four sections:

 Front Matter

 Main Body

 References

 Appendices

Front Matter

The front matter of the report is a common set of pages that

provide the gateway to the work presented. You should not
number the sections of the introductory information. The pages
are normally numbered using Roman numerals excluding the Title
Page.

Title Page
A standard report title page will be made available that you must
use as the cover of the report. This page is not numbered.

Abstract
The abstract summarises your work giving the reader an overview
of the project. It is meant to persuade people to read the project
or not based on the content within it.

Abstracts are approximately 300 words and no more than 500

words (about half a page to a full-page). It should explain:

 The aims of the project.

 How the aims were achieved.

The abstract is typically written last. You should review some

academic papers for examples of the style and format of an
abstract.

Declaration
You must attach the declaration sheet provided. You must
complete, date, and sign the dissertation declaration and sign the
own work declaration before submission.

Acknowledgements
It is common to acknowledge people who have supported you
during the project, either in terms of knowledge, equipment, or
support. This is your chance to formally acknowledge the people
who have helped you in your work. This page is not essential, but
it is normal practice to acknowledge your supervisor and any
other staff who have supported you.

Table of Contents
The sections and subsections of the main body are listed with
their page numbers. References and appendices are also
numbered.
Main Body

The main part of the report. Each section should be numbered

using Arabic (standard) numerals. The introduction should start
on page 1.

The structure of the main body will somewhat vary based on the
nature of the project. However, there is a general flow through
the project, with additional sections added as necessary.

 Introduction to the project.

 The legal, social, ethical and professional issues relevant to

the project.

 The structure then varies based on whether the project is

build-orientated or research-orientated:

o Research Orientated:

 An investigation, generally driven by a search and

review of relevant literature.

 A methodology defining how you will undertake

your research.

 The results from performing the research

methodology.

 Discussion of the results and what they tell us

about your area of research.

o Build Orientated:

 A review into the background of the work, which

can be driven by technology, literature, and other
resources.

 A design of the artefact to be built.

 Details of the implementation of the artefact.

  An evaluation of your artefact to objectively
determine its quality.

 A conclusion to the report, summarising the findings,

discussing related work, and any future work.

It is, however, up to you how to structure your project and

the contents of these sections. This guide lets you know
what we expect and what is likely to provide you with the
most success.

The main body has a maximum word count limit of 10,000

words. Organising the writing of your report is one of the
significant challenges you will face. Some suggestions on how to
organise and write the main body are:

 Early in the project, plan the sections and estimated size.

This will help you keep within the word count.

 Start writing early. Ask for feedback from your supervisor.

And don't write from page 1 -- the biggest obstacle is staring
at the first blank page and wondering how to start. Write up
parts of your work as you do them.

 You are writing your report for your examiners first and
foremost. They will use the assessment criteria defined here.
Importantly, it is expected that you use a formal, academic
writing style relevant to the discipline. Your supervisor can
help here by giving you feedback on your early writing.

Introduction
This section should introduce the work. Depending on the nature
of the project, you might have the following parts:

 An initial paragraph introducing the project context and idea

(all projects).
  A hypothesis and/or research question(s) (research-based
projects)

 Aims of the project (all projects)

o Aims are broad statements of desired outcomes and

intentions.

 Objectives of the project (all projects)

o Tangible steps that will be taken to achieve the aims --

tasks that will be done.

 Breakdown of the rest of the report (all projects)

o Describe the upcoming sections in order -- this provides

your reader with a roadmap of the report.

Legal, Social, Ethical, and Professional Issues

Your project must include a description of the legal, social, ethical
and professional issues relevant to the project. All projects will
have either a legal, social, ethical or professional issue
element. You must discuss these here and highlight any issues
that had to be addressed before undertaking the project.

If your project required ethical clearance, then this must be

clearly stated in this section, including how the ethical
considerations were managed.

Background
You need to convince your examination team that your project is
a viable one by answering the question -- why is this a suitable
project for an MSc Project?

The aim of the background section is to provide the reader with

the relevant contextual information necessary to understand your
work. This section must be suitably referenced based on the
reviews undertaken. There are two reviews that are likely to take
place within this section -- a technology review and a literature
review. The section concludes with a summary of the findings
from the background investigation and how that justifies the
work undertaken in your project.

Technology Review
The technology review focuses on technology that will be and
could be used for the project. Typically, it is expected that you
have reviewed different technology options for your project and
summarised these options here. It should be clear why the
technology choices taken were made.

Literature Review
All projects should reference some academic literature, although
it is primarily research-orientated projects that will conduct a
significant literature review in the background section. As with the
technology review, the goal here is to make it clear why the
choices were made in the project. It is expected that at least the
research methodology and/or evaluation approach is defined from
existing sources.

Design or Methodology
Now you must tell your examination team what you are going by
by answering the question -- how are you going to undertake
the project?

The aim of this section is to explain to your reader the work you
are going to undertake. Depending on whether the project is more
build or research-focused, this section can take one of the
following forms.

Design
If your project is a build focused project, you should provide a
design for what your project will build. The nature of this design
will depend on your project, but it should provide a complete idea
of what you are going to build, including the technologies to be
used.

Methodology
If your project is research-focused, then you need to define the
particular research methodology you are using to gather and
assess data. Typically, this will involve some sort of data
gathering process and statistical analysis of results. However, you
should also describe the tools (e.g., technologies) that you will
use as well.

Alternative Approaches
Another important point in this section is to document any
alternative approaches you could have taken to complete the
project. For example, were there different technology choices,
design choices, or methodological choices you could have taken?
You should explain why you have taken the approach you have
taken rather than these alternatives.

Implementation or Results
Once the examination team what you planned to do, you must tell
them what happened -- what was the outcome of the work
you undertook in the project?

A build project will discuss the implementation. Do not just

paste in lines of code to your report and call that an
implementation! Your report should feature minimum
code to only discuss points. The idea for implementation is to
describe how the design has actually turned out.

A research project will present the results from performing the

methodology. These results must be correctly presented, using
appropriate tables, charts, and statistical tests that suit the
nature of the project. Results should be summarised and any
findings clearly presented.

Evaluation
The examination team now need to know how well the project
went -- how good was the outcome from the project?

Evaluation is an important element of any project. You must tell

your reader how good the final deliverable is. Your project does
not have to be perfect -- indeed the outcomes might have
been bad. The point is you must evaluate the outcome and
discuss its strengths and weaknesses.
A key element of this section is a reflection on the aims and
objectives set out at the start of the project, and how well these
have been met. Again, it is possible not to achieve an aim or
objective. The point is you evaluate how well you did meet your
goals.

Related Work
Answer the question -- who else has done something similar
and how does my work compare?

Another key element of this section is evaluating your work

against that of others. How good is your work when compared to
other people who have undertaken similar work? It is important to
be able to understand how well you have achieved your goals in
relation to others, while also considering the time limitations of
the project.

Conclusion
The conclusion summarises the project. You need to highlight
your key outputs and/or discoveries. There are some particular
subsections that must appear in your conclusion.

Reflection
You must critically reflect on the entire project process and how
well you have worked on the project. What particular things have
you learned during the project? Why were you able and unable to
meet project goals? What would have you done differently in
hindsight?

A common approach many students take in this section is to

claim poor time management. Poor time management is
rarely a problem unless you had too much to do in the
project. Normally, what is called poor time management is poor
organisation, planning, and motivation. Being honest in your
reflection will help you understand how you can improve these
issues rather than focusing on time management issues.

Future Work
Answer the question -- what next?
You've completed a significant piece of work -- perhaps the
largest piece of work you have ever done. But no project is ever
100% complete, and you will have found new ideas along the
way. If someone were to pick up your project, what avenues
should be explored next?

References

In this section, you must reference any sources used in your

work. Typically, these sources will have come up during the
investigation and related work sections. Your referencing must
use the IEEE referencing style IEEE Citation [Link] (ieee-
[Link]) .

It is highly recommended that you use reference management

software such as Mendeley or Zotero.

Many students ask how many references are required. That is like
asking how long a piece of string is. Your project should have as
many references as is required for it. However, having few
references indicates that no thorough investigation has occurred.

Appendices

Appendices appear after references. Your appendices depend on

the nature of your project. Do not assume people will read
your appendices. Even if you direct them to do so in your main
text, appendices are considered additional information and should
not be relied upon to understand your main body of work. Refer
readers to an appendix using a phrase such as see Appendix A for
further details.

The following documents must be included as references:

 Your Project Proposal.

 Your Progress Review Form.

 Your original plan and revised plans as your project evolved.

 A description of how to access any technical output. It is
strongly recommended you use GitHub or something
similar to do this.

 Any important communications between you and external

stakeholders -- please ensure private data is removed
and communications anonymised.

Report Layout and Style

A template will be provided on Moodle to support your work.
However, the following guidelines must be adhered to:

o All text will be black in the report unless in very

exceptional circumstance.

o Main body text must be at least 11pt font using either

Arial or Times New Roman.

o Main body text will have 1.5 line spacing.

o Margins will be a minimum of 2 cm on each side.

o All pages will be numbered consecutively.

o Figures must have captions and be numbered (e.g.,

Figure 1).

o Tables must have captions and be numbered (e.g.,

Table 1).

o Figures may be black and white or colour.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Your report should be written considering that it will be
within the public domain. Normally, you retain copyright
over your written work and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
over any technical work. There are situations where this
might not be as simple, for example when working with a
company or on a larger university project. There are
strategies you can utilise:
o You can inform your supervisory team that the project
cannot be made available to other students
undertaking an MSc Project.

o You can provide a shortened report for sharing that

does not contain the protected information.

o You can assign IPR to the external collaborator,

although you should take great care when doing so. It is
best to speak to your supervisor.

o Non-disclosure agreements can be made between the

external collaborator and the supervision team.