Skip to content

A NSW Government website

Welcome to the NSW Curriculum website

NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

11–12Software Engineering 11–12 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2024
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Year 12

Secure software architecture
Designing software
  • Describe the benefits of developing secure software

    Including:
    • data protection
    • minimising cyber attacks and vulnerabilities
  • Interpret and apply fundamental software development steps to develop secure code

    Including:
    • requirements definition
    • determining specifications
    • design
    • development
    • integration
    • testing and debugging
    • installation
    • maintenance
  • Describe how the capabilities and experience of end users influence the secure design features of software

Developing secure code
  • Explore fundamental software design security concepts when developing programming code

    Including:
    • confidentiality
    • integrity
    • availability
    • authentication
    • authorisation
    • accountability
  • Apply security features incorporated into software including data protection, security, privacy and regulatory compliance

  • Use and explain the contribution of cryptography and sandboxing to the ‘security by design’ approach in the development of software solutions

  • Use and explain the ‘privacy by design’ approach in the development of software solutions

    Including:
    • proactive not reactive approach
    • embed privacy into design
    • respect for user privacy
  • Test and evaluate the security and resilience of software by determining vulnerabilities, hardening systems, handling breaches, maintaining business continuity and conducting disaster recovery

  • Apply and evaluate strategies used by software developers to manage the security of programming code

    Including:
    • code review
    • static application security testing (SAST)
    • dynamic application security testing (DAST)
    • vulnerability assessment
    • penetration testing
  • Design, develop and implement code using defensive data input handling practices, including input validation, sanitisation and error handling

  • Design, develop and implement a safe application programming interface (API) to minimise software vulnerabilities

  • Design, develop and implement code considering efficient execution for the user

    Including:
    • memory management
    • session management
    • exception management
  • Design, develop and implement secure code to minimise vulnerabilities in user action controls

    Including:
    • broken authentication and session management
    • cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF)
    • invalid forwarding and redirecting
    • race conditions
  • Design, develop and implement secure code to protect user file and hardware vulnerabilities from file attacks and side channel attacks

Impact of safe and secure software development
  • Apply and describe the benefits of collaboration to develop safe and secure software

    Including:
    • considering various points of view
    • delegating tasks based on expertise
    • quality of the solution
  • Investigate and explain the benefits to an enterprise of the implementation of safe and secure development practices

    Including:
    • improved products or services
    • influence on future software development
    • improved work practices
    • productivity
    • business interactivity
  • Evaluate the social, ethical and legal issues and ramifications that affect people and enterprises resulting from the development and implementation of safe and secure software

    Including:
    • employment
    • data security
    • privacy
    • copyright
    • intellectual property
    • digital disruption
Related files