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Computer Systems Security Foundations

An assignment covering fundamental computer security concepts.

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 1 Computer Systems Security Foundations Computer Systems Security Foundations Analyze the information security challenges faced by Soulmate Ventures, an event planning B2C firm, as it transitions to an online sales model. Discuss the potential risks, necessary security measures, and the impact of implementing a Designated Security Officer (DSO) and staff training programs on the company's overall security posture. Include an evaluation of current asset vulnerabilities and suggest cost - effective solutions to address these issues. Word Count Requirement: 1500 – 2000 words

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 2 Computer Systems Security Foundations Table of Contents Week 1: Introduction to Information Security ................................ ................................ ................ 2 Description of Company ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 2 The need for Information Security ................................ ................................ .......................... 2 Potential risks that exist ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 3 Benefits gained from the new project ................................ ................................ ...................... 4 Challenges encountered by consultant on - site ................................ ................................ ......... 5 Challenges applied to company with recent IPO ................................ ................................ ..... 5 Week 2: Security Assessment ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 6 Current Assets ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 6 Security and Safety Guidelines for protecting the assets ................................ ........................ 7 Risk Mitigation ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 9 Week 3: Access Control and Security Mechanisms ................................ ................................ ..... 11 Information confidentiality ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 11 Access control ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 12 Use in business ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 13 Use of access control in network ................................ ................................ ........................... 13 SSO & VPN ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................... 15 Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 15 Week 4: Software and Database Security ................................ ................................ ..................... 17 Week 5: Network Security ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 22 References ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 27

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 3 Computer Systems Security Foundations Glossary ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 28 Week 1: Introduction to Information Security Description of Company Soulmate Ventures is an accredited even t planning business - to - consumer and market - driven firm which will use s the i nternet to sell products and services directly to customers at cheaper prices than other companies . Typically keep a large collection of accessories for parties and other functions , giving opportunity for customers to make their selection of accessories before s ubmitting their choice to the company’s professional decorators . This saves times and they also send our professional to get the decorations done quic kly. Ima gine having a stress free organized party decoration done for you with a click of a button on your computer. The need for Information Se curity Security breach has now become the order of the day and it happens in diverse means and this can affect s ales, customer service and staff productivity . When this happens, it takes a lot of hours and even days for the system to be corrected . Therefor e the need to have qualified IT staff to detect these threats must be an optimum for the company. The need to value the company’s data is another area that should be checked with a security program since the existence of the business depends on it. For instance, taking into consideration the online sales where customers use the details on their credit card, there must be standardized and legally managed regulations in accessing customer credit card data to avoid business losses, legal liabilities and the reputation or the company’s goodwill. Also through the

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 4 Computer Systems Security Foundations online business transactions, hackers may plant Trojan horse into the less secured software that will allow intruders to sell our secrets to rival companies and therefore causing loss of funds . In dealing with online sales computer network should be properly secured and actively configured to manage known threats because of introduction of malware software package that can be mistakenly installed on the company’ s pc . Potential risks that exist T he company is planning to go public but lacks certain information security infrastructure . I t is the responsibility of management to have a well plan ned security measures that will govern the information resources . In doing this helps the management to think holistically about the security in the company. Accessing the above mentioned company with a survey on the ir information security issues , the team realized that company had only three point of sale ( POS ) computers ru nning on Window XP Professional , low processing speed and an out dated 2011 Avira antivirus giving access to virus and malware intrusion because most of the sales associates were browsing on social media websites and according to ( Andzulis et al, 2012) adding company’s name as a page on social media with the intention of advertising exposes Soulmate ventures which is a business - t o - consumer (B2C) company to internet threats . Administratively, the team recognized that the company is not having a proper chain of command as well as organized Information security policies, procedures, disaster recovery plan, and the required human resource procedures. Last but not the least , all the employees have the same access to classified cu stomer information si nce they have the password to the system .

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 5 Computer Systems Security Foundations Finally , the survey indicated that the network security of Soulmate ventures has not been reviewed since the time they were installed. Benefits gain ed from the new project After the survey by the team, the company was advised to hire a Designated S ecurity Officer (DSO) who will be respo nsible for coordinating and executing their security programs , making internal checks and reporting of IT security issues . The team also did a thorough risk assessment on the operations of the company since it is an important aspect of doing business online and therefore the need to recognized that they do exist gives the company the opportunity to know how to manage risk base on their reso urces. The team therefore documented policies and procedures which will help them to prioritize issues on information security issues. Organizational security awareness depends on the attitude of employees in the company . The security governing the internet connectivity infrastructure needs to be managed by only authorized personnel who have full access (Morgan, 2006) in order to avoid the modification of firewalls and other network security devices. Finally the need for all employees to have training on security awareness issues is also important. The team planned to build the capacity of other employees who do no t have IT background to also know their responsibilities in terms of information security. IT staff will have job specific training on how to assess data, acquire information and how to operate security related hardware and software and regulatory compliance standards.

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 6 Computer Systems Security Foundations Challeng es encountered by consultant on - site A major challenge encountered by the team was on the f inance s of the company . Though we suggested the moderate and cost effective information security infrastructure, the top managers complained about the cost. Another challenge observes was the office space which made it very difficult for the technical team to make necessary expansion on the int erconnectivity of the IT tools. Lastly, most of the employees did not like the idea of the new policies coming into play because they were afraid of losing their jobs and therefore they were reluctant in giving accurate information during the survey. Challenges applied to company with recent IPO With the recent IPO policy act, the new company will not have enough capital and there fore need to access a loan from a bank in order to operate effectively and on a more serious note the cost of complying with regulato ry requirements monitored by the Security and Exchange Commission is very expensive . Investors see the company as a short term one and for that matter doing business with them will not earn them much profit.

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    Dorbsylinks® Page 7 Computer Systems Security Foundations Week 2 : Security Assessment The assets of a company include any equipment or tools used for enhancing business goals and for that matter the need to handle them with much care should an importance for Soulmate Ventures. These assets need to be governed by rules or policies that personnel who operate them have to follow and these may include technological assets, intellectual property rights and c ustomers classified information (Shedden et al, 2010 ). Current Assets Information systems assets may include computers, emails, voicemails and internet connectivity an d these are used according to the purposes and policies of the current state of the company. The monitoring of proper internet usage when it comes to how employees receive voicemails and exchange emails is not effective because of unsecured systems which are liable for multiple int r usion and the need for the company to go in for applicable laws and regulations should be a priority. Some of the risks associated with information systems are ;  Employees habit of using the information systems for their personal interest. In this case, the employee may send certain contents other than the company’ s breaches.  E mployee s also accessing the information create issues of security violation . Intellectual property assets such as trademarks, patents , software copyrights, domain names, database queries, and proprietary information of the company must be stro n gly protected and respected. Risk s of this nature that might be identified in Soulmate Ventures are;  U nauthorized or illegal duplication copyright materials by some of the employees despite all the policies of the company laid down for business activities .

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