INTRODUCTION
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC), has developed a building in which the network access is available for the students and visitors. A network refers to an interconnection of devices with the purpose of sharing resources. A network can either be public, private or hybrid, that is, a public network allows third parties to access the network, and a private network is based on the internal organization of a company while a hybrid can be a combination of both. UMUC has decided to offer a public network which can help in the sharing of resources such as printers, internet among the students and the visitors. By opening up this kind of network, the university has opened up doors to risks and vulnerabilities. As an IT expert, various ways have been described to help the UMUC know they can be able to keep the network open and protect their data from access and loss.
PART ONE:
Define the vulnerability assessment requirement, propose a solution and justify the solution.
Vulnerability refers to the open chances within an application that can make the system open for cyber attackers to access the system. The University Of Maryland University College, (UMUC).offers network access and data to visitors and the students leased to the building thus has a chance of having their data exposed to unauthorized personnel. The solution for vulnerabilities in the UMUC can use of advanced installation and configuration hardening, that is use of virtual resources, configuration of the networks resources which can be done by testing of the hardware and software components before configuration and ensuring traffic filtering specific to the university environment. Use of firewalls, switches, and log aggregation will also help keep the network secure thus protecting UMUC data from cyber-attacks. This solution is secure since it provides a chance for one to confirm their identity before gaining access and also protects the network against access.
Define the Security policy requirement, propose the solution and justify the solution.
Security policies refers to procedures or limitations that define what should be done or not done within an organization. University of Maryland University College, (UMUC) need to set security procedures which will control how students and visitors will access the university’s network. This will involve having the following requirements: clearly defined goals of the security policies, consistency of the policies such as covers physical security, policies that are acceptable, that define the roles of each member of staff and finally should be enforceable. This will help keep the students and visitors from accessing the network without control and protects the University from unauthorized access. According to the Cloud ERP”Security policies helps determine the method both hardware and software are used. The policies will enable everyone within an organization to be on the same track.”
Define risk management requirement, propose a solution and justify the solution
By opening a building that offers network to its students an visitors, University of Maryland University College, (UMUC), has opened up a chance for its network to be accessed by unauthorized personnel thus a risk.to handle this risk, UMUC could employ the Risk Management Plan rule, that is, come up with a risk management plan (RMP), access the RMP information and finally offering training to the staff on risk management. Having a RMP can help the university to be ready in case of being cyber attacked.
Define the business continuity plan requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
A Business continuity plan is a plan that is set up in case of a risk happening that can help the University of Maryland University College,(UMUC) to go on with their day to day activities.to have a business continuity plan ready, UMUC will have to a record of critical business functions that should not be stopped no matter the risk, have a business continuity plan team that will be in charge of handling the plan, offer training, testing and exercises with the team and staff on what is expected of them in case of a failure. This solution is very important as it will help keep the organization running in case of a network cyber attacked. According to Business Continuity plan “Business continuity plan is essential to ensure a business continues as expected.” in Business Continuity Plan2017. The process of coming up with a business involves the following steps: coming up with a business impact analysis, setting recovery strategies in case of failure, then development of the continuity plan and finally testing and exercises.
Define the access controls requirement, propose a solution, and justify the solution.
Access control refers to methods that will be used in enabling access to the network within the University of Maryland University College, (UMUC) .the University should have a log in page that every person within the building must go through to access the network. In UMUC, the access control model that can be used can be Identification and Authentication. That is, a student or visitor will need to provide and identification card and then prove that he is who he says he is. This method will help control how the network is accessed and who access it thus protecting the network against unauthorized personnel accessing the network.
PART TWO:
Define the physical security requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution.
Physical security refers to the protection of the University of Maryland University College, UMUC, and environment by ensuring it is safe and secure. According to Margaret Rouse and Michael Cobb,”physical security involves protection of hardware and environment against fire, flood and natural disaster. “Physical Security, (2017) WhatIs.com. To ensure that their environment is secure, UMUC could consider the following main factors of prevention detection and recovery of their information: for detection the use of fire detectors, access control methods, surveillance cameras, for prevention use of biometric scans, identification cards and fire suppression systems. To recover, the university should have disaster recovery procedures and policies.
Define the mobile device security requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
The University Of Maryland University College could employ use of devices such as laptops and smartphones in order to ensure that their network is safe and protected against unauthorized personnel. This is because such devices have a security system that enables encryption of data, data backup control on access and storage of information, locking and use of passwords and also offers secure communication across the network due to cryptographic techniques employed within laptops and smartphones. UMUC should encourage use of mobile devices that enable encryption and security of information through the use of passwords for the students and visitors who have access to their network.
Define perimeter defense requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
Perimeter defense refers to employing protection methods for network environment against attacks. These types of attacks that ca affect a network include, Application layer attacks which take advantage of gaps in the firewalls across application layers .according to Edward Tetz, ”Limiting the number of connections to your network can help manage protection of the network. ” in Cisco Networking All in One for Dummies: Network Firewalls: Perimeter defense (n.d).therefore the solution in ensuring perimeter defense is by reducing and limiting the number of people getting connected to the network. This can help limit the instances of the University of Maryland University College being hacked. Use of deep-packet inspection technology can help deal with application-layer attacks as it offers maximum inspection across applications and continuous monitoring.
Define network defense requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
When configuring a network, devices such as routers, gateways, modems and are employed. These devices are open to attacks within the network for example. To handle this vulnerabilities, the University Maryland University College should employ the use of firewalls, which are software programs designed to protect the devices against unauthorized access. Firewalls check for traffic across the networks and ensures packets do reach their destinations. UMUC should employ the use of firewalls as they try to prevent unauthorized access to the network devices.
Define the host requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
Some of the attacks host are vulnerable to include active or passive attacks that is an attack on the host can be from an insider or an outsider. Example of attacks on a network can be wiretapping, port scanning or and idle scan which are passive or active attacks such as buffer overflow, head overflow and stack overflow which are mainly on the host. To handle these vulnerabilities, the University of Maryland University College should employ the use of firewalls to fight against unauthorized access and traffic management, and use of security policies to control who accesses the host and who shouldn’t. These solutions can help keep the host in track and safe from loss of information.
PART THREE:
Define the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), refers to a set of software, hardware, people, policies and procedures needed to create and manage an organizations network. The University Of Maryland University College (UMUC) should employ PKI for their network because it controls access to the network, protects user data, secure data traffic, ensures factor authentication with smartcards, secures network traffic and implements secure emails. The level of PKI hold be high and UMUC will have to get the right certifications for their PKI. Employing a team that will design a manageable, secure and flexible PKI is very important.
Define the secure protocol implementation requirements, propose a solution and justify the solution
Security protocols are rules designed in order to control and ensure the sensitivity of data across a network is not jeopardized.to ensure that security protocols are implemented, the University of Maryland University College should implement cryptographic methods across the network in order to ensure that their data is protected and its sensitivity maintained. According to Giambiagi Dam, “implementing of security protocols is very important as it maintains the sensitivity of data across a public network “in Implementation of Security protocols, (2004), Swedish Institute of Computer Science.
Define the file encryption requirements propose a solution and justify the solution
Data/File encryption refers to a means of transforming clear text into private unreadable text by passing the file into a key that hides the main details of the file, thus protecting the data against unauthorized access. Data at rest can be referred to as the data being stored in a storage media within a system. Data at rest can be protected by encrypting the storage that is data is automatically encrypted before it gets into eh main memory, and also setting a limit to the number of people that are authorized to access the data being stored in a file, it involves making access control to sensitive data across a network.
Define the file hashing implementation, propose a solution and justify the solution
Hashing is a form of encryption method that transforms a set of characters into indexes commonly used to encrypt documents and files. Hashing should be implemented within a network design in order to protect the information across the network. Since there is no absolute security, hashing can ensure that data accessed across a network by unauthorized personnel is not understandable to them. The University Of Maryland University College can employ the hashing technique within their network since the network is public, they can protect their information by the use of the hashing technology. People with the reverse hashing index within the network are the only one that can access the data across UMUC network. According to Margaret Rouse,”a good hashing system makes sure that a string of characters is not hashed the same way twice, “in Hashing (2017), WhatIs.com.
Define the backup and restoration implementation, propose a solution and justify the solution
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC), should have an implemented backup plan and restoration plan for their network. A backup plan simply means that the university has a copy of their network’s activities, these who access it and thus any cyber-attack will not result to the loss of information. A restoration plan is a plan of how UMUC will use their data that is in the backup in case of a cyber-attack.to implement a backup and restoration plan, the following is required, testing and validation of the plan, how the plan will be communicated and finally how the plan operations will be validated. This solution will help ensure the university has a copy of the network activities and those with access no matter what.
REFERENCE
The Cloud ERP, Computer Security Policy Requirements, 2017, Available: www.comptechdoc.org/independent/security/recommendations/secpolicy.html
Business Continuity plan, (2017), Available: https://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/continuity
Edward Tetz, Cisco Networking All in One for Dummies: Network Firewalls: Perimeter defense (n.d) Available: www.dummies.com/networking/cisco/network-firewalls-perimeter-defence/
Margaret Rouse and Michael Cobb, Physical Security (2017) Available: www.searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/physical-security
Giambiagi Dam, Implementation of Security protocols, (2004), Swedish Institute of Computer Science,
Margaret Rouse, Hashing, Whatis.com Available www.searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/definition/hashing
