1. UNDERSTAND THE MAIN ELEMENTS AND INTERNAL FUNCTIONALITIES OF MODERN OPERATING SYSTEMS, BEING ABLE TO CRITICALLY COMPARE THOSE FROM DIFFERENT VENDORS USING A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH.
Enquiry, Analysis, Problem Solving

2. COMPARE THE VARIOUS PROTECTION AND SECURITY MEASURES USED BY MAJOR OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THE INTERNAL ALGORITHMS AND STRUCTURES OF MODERN OPERATING SYSTEMS.
Learning, Analysis, Application

3. DEMONSTRATE CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF A RANGE OF TOPICAL BIOMETRIC DEVICES AND SYSTEMS, AND BE ABLE TO DISCUSS ASSOCIATED LIMITATIONS.
Knowledge and Understanding

4. COMMUNICATE TO VARIOUS AUDIENCES THROUGH CRITICAL APPRAISAL THE APPLICATION OF UNDERLYING TECHNIQUES THAT ARE INVOLVED WITH BIOMETRIC DEVICES.
Application,
Communication

5. DEMONSTRATE CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH HUMANS INTERACTING WITH BIOMETRIC DEVICES AND ANY SECURITY/LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY APPLY. Reflection

Operating Systems content includes -
- Operating Systems Functions & Elements
- Internal algorithms
- Instruction Set Architecture Overview
- Memory Management
- Virtual Memory
- Filesystem Management
- Process Management
- Network Management
- Inter-process Communication
- Basic Assembly
- Security concepts
- OS internals rating and comparisons

Biometric content includes –
- Why Biometrics, Benefits and Key Terms
- Accuracy in Biometric Systems
- Finger prints
- Iris, Retina and face scanners
- Speech, hand, signature and keyboard
- Vein, Palm, Ear, foot signatures, and gait
- 3D face, gesture, odour, DNA signatures, Bertillonage and Zebras
- Privacy Standards
- RFID devices
- Customer facing Apps, Categorisation and Vertical markets
- Designing a Biometric solution
- Biometric Transactions, the need for strong authentication and Biometrics/Security and the Law
- AI concepts and integration
- Applications of AI
- Biometric ‘fails’ and system compromise

26 hours of lectures and 26 hours of practical/tutorials.

This module has a mix of learning methods, including lectures, tutorials/labs, independent reading, seminars, and discussions.

The lectures explain the concept and the theoretical content that give the student a detailed understanding of the topics. The tutorial/lab sessions will allow the student to carry out practical exercises.

The independent reading and discussions held (during the tutorial sessions) will help to acquaint the student with the terminology in the field and current issues associated with the topic. In this module we will use open-source Unix/Linux as an example to elucidate the operating system concepts. For the Biometric aspects of the module specialist devices will be used. It is expected that students are involved in measuring the metrics of biometrics, and in the delivery of seminar sessions based on topical issues that they inform their peer group and provoke analysis and reflection.

Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR 2018 ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011
Fox, R. (2014) Linux with Operating System Concepts. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1482235890
ISO 8000-8:2015 Data quality -- Part 8: Information and data quality: Concepts and measuring
Silberschatz, A. (2013) Operating System Concepts. 9th edn, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1-118-06333-0

Jiang, R. et al. (2018) Biometric Security and Privacy: Opportunities & Challenges in The Big Data Era (Signal Processing for Security Technologies), Springer, ISBN-10: 3319837036
Bespoke videos on current biometrics and social/political events Ranging from 2010 onwards
Stallings, W. (2017) Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, 9th edn. Boston: Pearson. ISBN: 9780131479548

Tan, Y. (2016). Artificial Immune System: Applications in Computer Security. Wiley, ISBN: 978-1119076285

Virtual machines on both desktop and through cloud connection
Linux and Windows operating systems

Assignment 1 covers Learning Outcomes 1 and 2. This will consist of a practical implementation that showcases and illustrates differences of internal functionalities of an Operating System with appropriate built in security measures, and evaluative testing to determine the success of the students work.

Assignment 2 covers Learning Outcomes 3, 4 and 5. This will require students to write a Biometric based essay that analyses methodically biometric devices and systems, considering these in relation to human use and security / legal issues.