Project Manager:

Major Mohamed
ProjectMaatouk

Project Name: Hack Simulator

Contractor: XDS Community
Date of Issue: 15th February 2016

Table of Contents
Understanding the problem...........................................................2
Problem Statement.....................................................................2
Preliminary Investigation............................................................2
Information Systems Diagram...................................................3
Planning / Making decisions..........................................................4
Summary of Investigation...........................................................4
Feasibility Study.........................................................................5
Designing Solutions....................................................................... 6
Design Specifications..................................................................6
Context Diagram........................................................................6
Data Flow Diagram.....................................................................7
Implementation............................................................................. 7
I. Conversion Method................................................................7
Direct Conversion.....................................................................7
Parallel.....................................................................................8
Phased conversion...................................................................8
Pilot Conversion.......................................................................8
Recommendation.....................................................................9
II. User Training.......................................................................... 9
Testing, Evaluation and Maintenance............................................9
I. Testing................................................................................... 9
II. Evaluation............................................................................ 11
III. Maintenance........................................................................11

Understanding the problem

Problem Statement
Many people have been advertising online for tutorials and guides involving hacking
computer security. As there are many guides and tutorials out there in the internet
ranging from some quality work to unsatisfactory workings. Most guides are too
assumptious of the users knowledge resulting in frustrated user experiences. This issue
of the XDS community has been proposed to my company to further expand on these
guides and tutorials by developing in theory the best interactive tutorial there is which
would not only give users and participants a great experience but also a better
understanding behind the art of network penetration and Linux terminals.
The Mazh Corporation has found that the best format to the program would be a
Hacking Simulator with a comprehensive interactive lesson which involves the user to
do a little hacking of his own. In order to complete the game one will have to go
through many obstacles in order to successfully complete the game. This game format
has already been decided to be our solution as it fits our businesss goal You think we
make.
Simply put current guides and tutorials are inefficient; non-newbie friendly and therefore
needs to be reviewed.

Preliminary Investigation
I.

II.

In order to solve the problem money, time and staff are needed, with this in mind
the project will be developed over a series of months in order to perfect the
game and tweak it to the customers likings. Therefore there will be a document
outlining the project details following the project management scaffold.
After consideration from the company, we have decided to include as many
features as possible that the participants and users would like to include in the
game. While this may backfire as there would need to be an advanced menu, it
is also good to include as the game needs to have a sense of free roaming.
The data collected from the survey presented us with 98% of people looking
forward to the game, where the remaining 2% did not have interest. The survey
was given to a random selection of people around Sydney and an online survey
was also available.
There are a few similar systems which are available to download on the internet
such as Hacknet and Hacker Evolution which are simulators as well and are well
structured; however our company wants to create a superior experience for
users.

III.

The new system must be informative and to the point, simple but professional. It
has to have the quality that gives a person Oh, WOW! Thats Awesome.
Therefore objectives are:
Structure
Informative
Attractive
By following the objectives we can achieve the aim of wowing the people to
solve the problem.

Information Systems Diagram

Environment: The need for a
more beginner friendly
command terminal.

Users: Anyone
interested in
programming

Purpose: Create an interactive

learning simulator for beginners and
intermediate hackers that effectively
brings out the process of breaching a
firewall

Input
Recei
ve
com
man
ds

Staff at Mazh
Corp

Dete
rmin
e
stru
ctur

Verif
y
infor
mati
on

Proces
sing
Store
data
in
tempo
rary

Feedback from
commands, the
commands given
to the terminal.

BOUNDARY

Planning / Making decisions

Act
acco
rdin
g to
com

Tr
an
sf
er
da

Outp
ut
Outp
ut
Feed
back
from

Computer, Notepad
Editor, Command
Prompt, Monitor,
Input Devices

Summary of Investigation
Current system Overview
Advantages:
-

Highly efficient for expert users

Community karma high

Disadvantages:
-

Beginners and Intermediate users find it hard to understand Experts

terminology
Complete Beginner Quarantined
Navigation difficult unless explored

Website is known for developing software for phones based off a popular OS known
as Android, in order to build the OS for ones self they would need knowledge of
Linux and the terminal interface which in this case a simulator is being offered a
solution.
So therefore the contractor is asking for a way to welcome beginners to start
building on their own, which the forums currently lack at this point of time.
So therefore the possible solutions below are being considered in order to solve the
problem at hand.

Description

Advantages

Disadvantag
es

Interactive Website
An Internet page that uses
various software to create
an interactive experience
that allows the person
viewing the webpage to be
actively engaged with the
site.
Easily accessible

Education

Intellectual and
strategically thinking

No high hardware
requirements

Maintenance

Time

May not be
interesting

Interactive game
Development and
application of simulations
which produce a dynamic
display of the system
model, and allow the user
to interact with the running
simulation.
Educational
Intellectual and
strategically thinking
Games are generally
fun
Employee familiar
with game
programing
Take a lot of time

Hardware
requirements may be
high

Technical

Operational

Economic

Scheduling

Harder to make in
terms of employee
current skills
Requires:

Requires:

Computer with
associated
peripherals

Computer with
associated
peripherals

Windows/Mac OS

Windows OS

Required software
packages

Compatible with:

Purchased Game
Compatible with:

All OS

Windows Only

US $19.99 per month

for domain

Staff salaries
(Approx. $30000 for
the six months)

Staff salaries
(Approx. $30000 for
the six months)
Both solution will take a lot of time and will
idealistic finish about the same time if either option
were chosen

Feasibility Study
Alternative Solutions

From the feasibility study the solution which came to my needs was based on past
projects which involved both solutions. Based on the past projects specific employees
were able to create amazing interactive games compared to the interactive website and
so the simulator was taken as the solution to the problem. Economic wise the game is
preferred as we are looking for a complete game with regular patches then a website
with $20 for the domain each month. While the game will only be compatible on
windows users are able to use boot camp or VMware Player in Mac OS or Play on Linux
with certain software making it effectively available across all platforms. Games are
generally more fun to us then a website based on the survey.

Designing Solutions
Design Specifications
Requirements
PC
Keyboard
Mouse
Monitor
OS (Preferably windows)
An editing program (e.g.
notepad ++)
Software developer

Reasons for use

In order to access game
To input commands into the systems
In order to execute program
To output feedback from the system
Compatibility with software
To develop software for the simulator
Brains behind program

Users need their graphics drivers installed along with DirectX in order to play the
game. A minimum of 512 MB ram and 128MB dedicated graphics.

Context Diagram
Command

Syntax System

User

Output Command

Data Flow Diagram

Command
Defined

RAM

Check
Command
Syntax
Command
Analyzed
Command

User

Output
Command

Carry out
Command

Implementation
I.

Conversion Method

There are four methods that may be utilized in implementing our solution. They are:
-

Direct conversion
Parallel conversion
Phased conversion
Pilot conversion

The following is a brief summary of each conversion method in the context of the
XDS community solution
Direct Conversion
Direct conversion is an implementation process that involves essentially switching
off the current system entirely and switching on the new system to take its place
all at once. The old system is no longer available for use from that point forward.
In the context of the interactive game solution, there was no system in place for
relatively new users and so this new system can be implemented without any
disadvantages.
Judgment: This method would be the cheapest and fastest way to get the
application available to new users. The earlier the game is provided the quicker the
site is to profit from the new system.
Parallel
Parallel conversion involves running both the current and the new system together
for some period of time. At some pre-determined time, the current system is
decommissioned entirely and all users interact solely with the new system.
In the context of the game solution, this is redundant as there was no previous
system put in place. It was WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and in the
current situation would be exactly the same as direct conversion.
Judgment: cannot distinguish between direct and parallel conversion due to the
solutions context and so will not be useful due to it being inapplicable in these
conditions.
Phased conversion
Phased conversion involves a gradual introduction of the new system, while at the
same time replacing elements of the current system until the current system is
completely replaced by the new system.
Due to the new system being a package solution, this method is redundant in terms
of the overall process Mazh Corp is trying to achieve. It can be arguably the best
solution if there was an old system set in place, therefore being inapplicable.
Pilot Conversion
Pilot conversion involves setting up the new system for a small group of users and
participants, while the remaining majority of users and participants still interact with
the current system. At some pre-determined time, the pilot system is installed for all
users and participants and the current system is switched off.
Pilot conversion is ideal for certain scenarios, such as retail chains, where a new
point of sale system can be installed in one store as a trial, and on success after a
period of time, the system is rolled out to every other retail store. In the context of

the system being implemented online on a single domain, it doesnt fit the situation.
The distinction between phased conversion and a pilot conversion is blurred in this
situation. Therefore pilot conversion is not applicable to the current system.
Recommendation
The recommended conversion method would be direct, where the new system is
implemented over a set few days, whereby cost is reduced due to it being the
simplest method and also the fastest approach to achieve the new system. There is
no associated risk with the method and so will not disturb existing users.

II.

User Training

Users will be able to educate themselves on the new system by doing any of the
following:
-

Play the game the application has an inbuilt tutorial, which provides
information on commands and associated data throughout the course of the
game
Reading the manual a manual will provided to the users explaining all game
features just like it would when you play the game. Also with a detailed
instruction on how to report problems to the support site.
Reading forum posts many users have already posted tutorials in more
depth than the game for further study while also revising the in game
commands.

People will be able to learn whatever they want, whenever they want, however they
want in this flexible learning environment at the XDS community.
Further information is provided in the appendix.

Testing, Evaluation and Maintenance

The amount of glitches and flaws has become significantly reduced through
consistent assessments every week since its production. So far the development
team alone has conducted one hundred and three tests and as a result the
application has attained a stable foundation for its users.

I.

Testing

Since the application was developed for inexperienced programmers, the

developments team by itself is not sufficient for convincing results and as such
many users will be able to download the game and evaluate its performance.
In order to gain acceptable results, information is gathered from users, segregating
them into one of the following:

Experienced: Users in this groups input will be considered but will generally
factor insignificantly then the other.
Inexperienced: Those in this group can play the game and offer feedback
based on its difficulty, explanations and total feel of the game. Their input will
be indispensible in achieving the purpose of the application.

Each user will have varying system specifications and therefore their computer will
need to be provided before user downloads the game. This will help narrow down
the game system requirements and also allow the team to implement design
features that increase the range of support.
A certain group, only of experienced users will be given the system documentation
and then from what they can gather, analyze what and how the game components
can be tested. This group will undertake a systemic testing approach analyzing
every part of the game. These parts include:

The menu and menu functions,

Art (texture, objects, etc.),
Animation (the like and feel of movement, frame rate),
Game flow and logic,
Action attributes,
The event/object triggers,
Progressive levels of difficulty, and
The game options

Also the operations manual will be available online with the application, its impact
being monitored throughout the beta stage. Users requesting for help will help in
further revisions of the manual and possible FAQ section for those who are not techsavvy oriented.

User Ratings
10
9
8
7
6

Average rating per 100 players

5
4
3
2
1

The table above are includes a range of ratings from game testers, expressing their
overall experience with application based off functionality, stability and primarily
satisfaction.

II.

Evaluation

The information system does indeed satisfy the purpose, creating an interactive
hacking simulator for relatively new programmers. This judgment was made from
many well received reviews about the application, multiple optional online surveys,
and the increase of downloads over the two weeks since its release on the 14 th of
July 2016. Further information is included in the appendix with the associated data
collected.
From a technical point of view the game is not graphic dependent and so therefore
does not depend on latest hardware, which will support a significant amount of
devices ranging from mid-low to high performance builds. In terms of system
support, the game will be updated monthly for the duration of its five year support.
From a financial standpoint, more users have been accessing the site having
interest in the game. More visitors usually lead to an increase in forum population
which results in an increase in overall profit from ads and services provided by the
XDS community. Basically with the introduction of the application its provided a
base for those who are looking for a start point and so from there is an increases in
long term users (LTU) which also benefits the client.

III.

Maintenance

The XDS community website has created a support system for the application for
those who experience technical and gameplay related issues which will continue

support for five years ending on 14 th of July 2021. After the end of support the game
will become open source to the community where anyone is free to tinker with the
project.
Whenever the game is modified a backup is made and named according to its build
date and associated version, and then from there the developer documents the
changes being made whether it being a bug or glitch so that consistency and overall
structure is easy for the team to understand.
User are able to download the operations manual alongside the game if they wish to
with information regarding the future direction the game with the possibility of
online multiplayer system in which players will have the ability to hack each other
to their hearts content. Also included in the manual will be information regarding
how to report bugs and issues, which also directs to the support system.
Further information regarding maintenance is provided in the users documentation.