“Data Breaches: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention Strategies for Companies”

Security Paper Instructions, Grading Rubric, and Topics
You are to write a research essay on an approved computer security or privacy topic (see page 3 for a list
of approved topics). Your essay must include a work cited page for any information that you find from at
least three sources (your book can count for one source). If you choose to use internet sources, they
must be cited correctly. The specifications for the paper are listed below. All essays will be run through
plagiarism-checking and AI-checking software. If any portion of your paper is copied directly from an
internet source or copied from another student, I will act as deemed appropriate according to the
Academic Dishonesty portion of your syllabus.
• You can submit the paper only once
• No late papers will be accepted
• The paper must be written using Microsoft Word
Word Document – Written Essay
• Length: Must be at least 3 full pages but no more than 6 NOT including the cover page and
works cited page (that means at least 3 pages of written text).
• References: You should have at least 3 sources and they need to be referenced according to
APA rules.
• Title page: Your header will appear on the first page only (cover page) in the upper-left header
and contain the words “Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER”. The following pages will only
contain the title of your paper in the upper-left section of the header. The page number should
appear in the right section of the header and not appear on the first page. In addition, the title
should appear centered horizontally and vertically on the page. The title should be your own
unique name for your paper, not just the topic of the essay. Under the title, you should have
your name and the name of the college.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12pt.
• Spacing: Double-spaced, with no extra spacing between paragraphs
• Margins: All margins set to 1”
• Works Cited Page: This page should appear on a page of its own at the end of the essay. No
separate document or file will be accepted.
• No abstract is needed for this paper.
The formatting of this paper follows general APA formatting. If you need further information on how to
set up a research paper using APA format you can go to: Purdue University Online Writing Lab-Gen
My topic what is a data breach and what can companies do to prevent them