0.05 Lab 0: Course Setup and CyBOK Navigation

Week 1 · 20 points · about 45 minutes · submit in Canvas

Goal

Get the two tools this course uses working on whatever machine you plan to use, and learn to find things in the textbook. Everything else in the semester assumes you finished this.

If something here does not work, that is exactly what this lab is for. Post in the course discussion board or email me now, in week 1, rather than in week 7 when a lab is due.

Objectives assessed

• 1.1: Define confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and identify which goal a described failure violates. (TLO 1)

Time estimate

Step	Time
Steps 1-2: Python and cryptography	15 min
Step 3: find three things in CyBOK	20 min
Step 4: look up a CVE	10 min
Total	45 min

Before you start

• A terminal. On macOS that is Terminal or iTerm; on Windows use PowerShell; on Linux use whatever you like. If you have never opened one, that is fine: every command you need is written out below.
• A web browser.
• Download docs/CyBOK_v1.1.0.pdf from Canvas Files, or open it in the browser. It is a large file (about 21 MB); download it once and keep it.

If you cannot get your own machine working, every step here works on the lab machines in CCP 240, 241, and 242.

Steps

Step 1: Check that you have Python 3.11 or newer

In your terminal, run:

python3 --version

You should see something like Python 3.12.4. Any version 3.11 or newer is fine.

• If you see Python 3.10 or older, install a newer version from https://www.python.org/downloads/ and run the command again.
• If you see "command not found", try python --version instead. On Windows PowerShell the command is usually python, not python3. Whichever one works, use it everywhere below.

Copy the exact output. You will paste it into your submission.

Step 2: Install the cryptography package

Labs 4, 5, and 6 use one package that does not come with Python. Install it now:

pip install cryptography

Then check that it worked:

python3 -c "import cryptography; print(cryptography.__version__)"

You should see a version number such as 43.0.1. Copy that output too.

• If pip is not found, try python3 -m pip install cryptography.

• If you get an "externally managed environment" error, your system Python is protected. Run these three commands instead, which build a private Python environment in your home directory:

  python3 -m venv ~/cs331-env
  ~/cs331-env/bin/pip install cryptography
  ~/cs331-env/bin/python -c "import cryptography; print(cryptography.__version__)"

  On Debian or Ubuntu, if python3 -m venv says "ensurepip is not available", run sudo apt install python3-venv first and then repeat the three commands.

  If you take this route, use ~/cs331-env/bin/python instead of python3 for the rest of the semester. Write that down.

Step 3: Find three things in CyBOK

CyBOK is about a thousand pages, and you will never read it front to back. What you need is the ability to find a section quickly.

Two things to know first:

• Section numbers such as §1.1 are the reliable way to navigate. Use your PDF viewer's search box, or open the bookmarks panel.
• Page numbers in the footer of each page do not match your PDF viewer's page counter. The book has 38 pages of front matter. Always go by section number.

Now find and answer:

1. Open §1.1, "Cyber Security Definition" (it starts at the bottom of printed page 2). CyBOK quotes a working definition of cyber security from the UK National Cyber Security Strategy. Quote it, and give the printed page number you found it on.

2. Stay in §1.1 and find the definition of information security (printed page 3). This is where CyBOK introduces confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In your own words (not quoted), write one sentence for each of the three explaining what it protects against.

3. Open the Glossary (printed page 951). Look up threat and vulnerability. Quote both definitions, then write one sentence explaining the difference in your own words.

Step 4: Look up a real vulnerability

Go to https://www.cve.org/ and search for CVE-2021-44228.

Read the description. Then answer:

1. What software does this vulnerability affect?
2. In one sentence, what does the vulnerability let an attacker do?
3. Which of confidentiality, integrity, and availability does it put at risk? Name all that apply and give a one-sentence reason for each. Use the definitions you wrote in Step 3.

There is no trick here. The point is to connect the vocabulary from Step 3 to something that actually happened.

What to submit

One text entry in Canvas containing:

1. The output of python3 --version (Step 1).
2. The output of the cryptography version check (Step 2), and a note saying whether you used pip install directly or the venv route.
3. Your three answers from Step 3.
4. Your three answers from Step 4.

Plain text is fine. No formatting required.

Rubric

Row	What is assessed	Points
1	Python 3.11+ is installed and the version output is shown	5
2	cryptography imports successfully and the version output is shown	5
3	All three CyBOK lookups are answered, with the CIA definitions correctly stated in the student's own words	5
4	CVE-2021-44228 is correctly described, and the CIA goals it threatens are named with reasons	5
	Total	20

AI disclosure

You may use AI tools on this assignment. If you do, add one or two sentences at the end of your submission saying which tool you used and what you used it for, per the AI policy in the syllabus.

Note that Step 1 and Step 2 ask for output from your machine. An AI tool cannot tell you what version of Python you have installed.