CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
INTRODUCTION
A system is a collection of inter-related and
inter-connected components that work together to perform or carryout a specific
task in order to accomplish a particular goal. For every system, security is a
paramount issue. Due to multiple security incidents around the world and the
loss of sensitive data, it has become necessary to put in place a mechanism to
prevent unauthorized access into the server housing a sensitive system such as
the Student Result Processing System through scripts run on the website. This
project is therefore concerned with designing and implementing a Php/MySQL to
serve as the security mechanism between the front-end and back-end of the
already existing Student Result Processing System. The Student Result
Processing System automatically handle students' activities in the Department
ranging from student registration,
keeping of studentsfiles for decision making, computation and generation of
students' grade points and transcripts respectively.
1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The
problems identified to be solved by this project include the following:
·
The safety of students records located
on the server.
·
The location of administrator passwords
in the script file easily accessible via the website.
·
Easy access and 4available of student
transcript on demand.
1.2 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The major purpose of this study is to design and
implement a secure database system to record and manage student information and
their result from year one to final year.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This project work will be of immense help in
securing student details and results stored on the Student Result Processing
System in the Departments of Computer
Science and prevent malicious attacks and ease the delay experienced in the
manual examination result processing system. Below are the advantages of this
project:
·
Provide a security mechanism for the
Students’ Result Processing System.
§ To
ensure reliability and transparency in the creation and computation of results
·
It provides security mechanism to check
student or staff mischievous act of changing marks or grades on the result
sheet.
·
The system is secure from unauthorized
access that can effect changes in grades of students and generation of accurate
and error free student results information is assured.
·
The separation of the front end and the
back end to ensure data stored on the server is secure.
·
It will ensure high level quality
service development of the management which will ensure that students are not
subjected to undue suffering in collection of their transcript or clearance
prior to the deployment for youth service.
1.6OBJECTIVES
OF STUDY
The
aims and objectives of this project work are as follows:
. To place a safety mechanism in the
Student Result Processing System and separate the front end from the back end.
. It will ensure high level quality
service development of the management which will ensure that students are not
subjected to undue suffering in collection of their transcript or clearance
prior to the deployment for youth service.
.
1.7
SCOPE OF STUDY
This
project work will cover the entire back-end protection of the Student Result
Processing System in the Departments of Computer Science, print student
transcript at the completion of student academy year in the school. Process student registration and also staff
registration, grant access to staff to allow them access the system.
1.8
LIMITATIONS
Realizing
the financial and time constraints usually associated with students in project
of this nature, there is no research carried out that does not experience some
difficulties. This work is no exception; the following factors posed serious
limitations to the research work.
Financial
constraints: a study like this nature is expected to
be carried out on a broader base but because of lack of funds required, some
function and programs could not be applied.
Time constraint: in
the course of the study, time posed a serious problem in carrying out the test.
The duration given for the conduct of this study was short.
Non-availability of materials: during
the course of this research, there were non-availability of some critical
documents and materials which were classified as confidential.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
The
following are the terms used in the work:
1.
DATA: In computing, data is a collection of observations that has been
translated into a form that is more convenient to move or process for useful
decision making.
2.
PROCESS: This is a series of actions that occur with respect to time in order
to achieve a particular result. It is a program in execution.
4.
SECURITY: This is the something that provides a sense of protection against
loss, attack, or harm.
5.
MECHANISM: This includes the methods,
procedures, or processes involved in the way something works or is done
6.
DESIGN: Design is the creation of a plan or architectural blueprints that is
used for the development of software’s.
7.
DATABASE: This is an organized collection of data for easy retrieval and
updating.
8.
SCALABILITY: Scalability is the ability of a system, network, or process, to
handle a growing amount of work in a capable manner or its ability to be
enlarged to accommodate that growth.
9.
TESTING: This can be described as a process of establishing that a software has
attained a specific degree of quality with respect to user and system
requirements and it is free of errors.
10.
SOFTWARE: Software refers to the programs that control the hardware and produce
the desired information or results.
11.
BACK-END: This specifies all the actions that are done on the server and the
data stored there.
12.
FRONT-END: This specifies the actions carried out on the web browser of a
client accessing the server.