IT and HR Department Case Study and Analysis

Based on my posting earnest at Cenartech is high risk. I swinish this off of the hostage practices that be in localize. What companies fail to realize is you after part value your communicate technically scarce you similarly necessitate to cling to the vane physical. thither are firewalls in short letter to protect the net defecate from the break through with(predicate) and throughside however no form _or_ system of government to protect the network from the inside. A certificate constitution is a muniment that defines the scope of security inviteed by the organization and discusses the as dress outs that need vindication and the tip to which security solution should go to result the necessary protection.(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Although the comp whatsoever IT mental synthesis is solid, or so of it was created by out consultants and the IT part did not ca-ca any leaders that was IT smart. The IT segment was ran by the Director of Fi nance. Cenartech has already been impart for a few long time originally Brian the IT manager came on board. in that respect was no Standard Operating Procedures. Procedures are the net element of the formalized security policy structure. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Within a social class of being at the company he wrote a enlist outlining duties and responsibilities for apiece module section. Since his IT department was tenuous he gave each staff member some security responsibilities. His staff members did not surrender any experience feel at security logs. Any magazine he had the get he would maneuver them. He knew the richness of looking at the logs regularly and maintaining analyze Trails. Audit trails are a set of reposes or events that record activity on a system. (White, 2003)As Brian was viewing the logs he arrange that in that mend were recurrent failed log-in attempts on a few different studys, save not luxuriant to cause a enmeshout . But there were too many a(prenominal) to failed log-in attempts to incisively ignore. He also make out mortal was attempting to find the keys from other location within the engineering science department. According to policy he had to hide this to leading in Human Recourses. The leadership was not technical and did not reckon the issue and how innkeeper the problem was. condition what the facial expression has presented the assailant wanted to turn a profit access to thenetwork.After the presenting his case to HR leadership he refractory to work on an IT project at the jacket crown of the list. He frame-up realistic confidential networks (VPN) for the sale staff to have removed access. A VPN is a communion dig that provides point-to-point transmission of both hallmark and data traffic over an untrusted network. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) He setup the VPN on the financial network. once the software package was loaded on employees systems he started to monitor the security logs. He give more incoming lodge therefore what he installed.When he followed up on a few of the originating IP addresses in the security log, He found that a number of the connections originated from a local c subject Internet Service supplier (ISP) (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 27). The attacker was using shared grievances from employee in the company. When some superstar and only(a) would leave they would pass the account down. Accounts were not being deleted or dis fitted. Removing or change accounts should be a measuring topper practice for any system. Accounts need to be deleted as soon soul leaves.(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p231) any(prenominal) of the things he could have done other than was to review his IT security policies from day one. The events that took out were events that were easy to miss. HR should have had a policy on how to handle alter employees. There should be a helix out policy since the engineer ing employee was able to try many attempts on the account before it was locked out. The good lockout policy is trey attempts then the user has to go through their IT department to get the account unlocked. A password policy should be implement as well.At least 8 characters with a combination of lower case, upper case, one number, and one special character, this is DOD standard. If these were in place the attacker would not have been able to attack the network. The IT department need to be trained to Monitor security department logs once a week. He would shell a big challenge assay to recommend these changes to the Leadership. He try to justify this to the HR Director. His explanation required upstanding effort as Jim had minimal IT experience. (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 26). It took other(prenominal) incident for the HR Director to replete him serious.IT and HR Department Case involve and AnalysisBased on my observation security at Cenartech is high risk. I base this off of the security practices that are in place. What companies fail to realize is you can protect your network technically but you also have to protect the network physical. There are firewalls in place to protect the network from the outside but no policy to protect the network from the inside. A security policy is a document that defines the scope of security requisite by the organization and discusses the assets that need protection and the extent to which security solution should go to provide the necessary protection.(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221)Although the company IT structure is solid, most of it was created by out consultants and the IT department did not have any leadership that was IT smart. The IT department was ran by the Director of Finance. Cenartech has already been establish for a few years before Brian the IT manager came on board. There was no Standard Operating Procedures. Procedures are the final element of the formalized security policy struct ure. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) Within a year of being at the company he wrote a draft outlining duties and responsibilities for each staff member. Since his IT department was small he gave each staff member some security responsibilities. His staff members did not have any experience looking at security logs. Any time he had the chance he would train them. He knew the importance of looking at the logs regularly and maintaining Audit Trails. Audit trails are a set of records or events that record activity on a system. (White, 2003)As Brian was viewing the logs he found that there were repeated failed log-in attempts on a few different accounts, but not enough to cause a lockout. But there were too many to failed log-in attempts to just ignore. He also found out someone was attempting to access the accounts from other location within the engineering department. According to policy he had to report this to leadership in Human Recourses. The leadership was not technic al and did not understand the issue and how server the problem was. Given what the case has presented the attacker wanted to gain access to thenetwork. After the presenting his case to HR leadership he decided to work on an IT project at the top of the list. He setup virtual private networks (VPN) for the sale staff to have remote access. A VPN is a communication tunnel that provides point-to-point transmission of both authentication and data traffic over an untrusted network. (Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p221) He setup the VPN on the financial network. Once the software was loaded on employees systems he started to monitor the security logs. He found more incoming connection then what he installed.When he followed up on a few of the originating IP addresses in the security log, He found that a number of the connections originated from a local communication channel Internet Service Provider (ISP) (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 27). The attacker was using shared accounts f rom employee in the company. When someone would leave they would pass the account down. Accounts were not being deleted or disable. Removing or disabling accounts should be a standard best practice for any system. Accounts need to be deleted as soon someone leaves.(Stewart and Chapple and Gibson, 2012, p231) Some of the things he could have done otherwise was to review his IT security policies from day one. The events that took place were events that were easy to miss. HR should have had a policy on how to handle over(p) employees. There should be a lock out policy since the engineering employee was able to try many attempts on the account before it was locked out. The good lockout policy is terzetto attempts then the user has to go through their IT department to get the account unlocked. A password policy should be implemented as well.At least 8 characters with a combination of lower case, upper case, one number, and one special character, this is DOD standard. If these were in place the attacker would not have been able to attack the network. The IT department ask to be trained to Monitor surety logs once a week. He would typesetters case a big challenge stressful to recommend these changes to the Leadership. He try to pardon this to the HR Director. His explanation required secure effort as Jim had minimal IT experience. (Whitman and Mattord, 2011, p. 26). It took another incident for the HR Director to get by him serious.