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Identifying Potential Risk, Response and Recovery

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Assignment 2
Identifying Potential Risk, Response and Recovery
Karen Raglin
Professor West
Networking Security Fundamentals
March 3, 2013

I previously identified several types of attacks, threats and vulnerabilities that exist with your multilayered network. You have requested that I develop a strategy to deal with these risks as well as a plan to mitigate each risk to reduce the impact that each will have on your organization. With any network organization you want to make sure that you keep on top of vulnerabilities of anything that reaches out to the internet. Computers and servers that touch the internet are ones that must be scanned. As a company you have to make sure that you configure the security settings for the operating system, internet browser and security software. As a company you also want to set personal security policies for online behavior. There also needs to be an antivirus installed on the network like Norton or Symantec which blocks threats targeting the vulnerabilities.
Your firewall, which is your first line of defense, is susceptible to two common types of attacks. First there are attacks against the firewall itself with the purpose of the attacker being to take control of the firewalls functionality and then launching a DoS attack. The second type of attack against firewalls is an attack on the LAN side of the firewall. These attacks circumvent the rules and policies of the firewall to gain access to the devices that are supposed to be protected by the firewall. The largest vulnerability that exists with firewalls is improper configuration settings. This can lead to the development of security holes which allow unauthorized access from both outside and within your network. All of the aforementioned attacks, threat and vulnerabilities can be mitigated and or avoided altogether.
There are several keys to ensuring that your firewall is as secure as possible. Use a VPN for all non-public traffic. Ports on your firewall should only be open for services that are utilized by the public. Because most people have dynamic IP addresses, your firewall has to constantly open ports and modify its rules to allow access, this can lead to ports being left open and vulnerable to attacks. Limit the size of your network. Simply put, if you don’t need it, turn it off. If your servers are not running a service that is used by the public, don’t allow it to pass through the firewall. Enabling a firewall logging allows you to detect problems that are currently going on as well as those that have previously occurred. Additionally, if you see that your server is getting strange requests or a single IP address is consistently scanning your network, it will raise a red flag. Monitoring your firewall traffic is essential, if you know what the typical traffic pattern is, you will know when it changes too. The sooner you discover unusual patterns, the better. Try to keep your firewall configuration as simple as possible. Constantly review your rules and permissions to ensure that the security level is appropriate for your organization.
The Web/FTP server is responsible for connecting to the internet to make websites available to anyone on the network who may be looking for them. The biggest vulnerability with this type of server is that it requires that a connection to the internet remains open. With this connection open, your network resources are also exposed to the internet as well. There are attackers that specialize in surfing the internet looking for open connections to access peoples’ internal networks. Preventive measures include the creation of a DMZ within this server; you will develop a buffer zone where traffic from both sides is let in, but not able to penetrate the network itself without the proper permissions.
Internal controls to mitigate this risk include the creation and management of an Access Control Matrix. That way you can assign access and usage rights only to those who require access to the files. Additionally, you can overlap permissions so that it acts as an internal system of checks and balances, therefore no one person has completed control to access, modify and delete content from the server.
The most common type of attack on your email server is the DoS attack. There are so many different types of devices connect to and utilize the email server, security in this area is very difficult to attain. DoS attacks are also common on Active Directory Domain controllers. In the case of these DoS attacks risk acceptance is necessary and you must mitigate these risks and vulnerabilities to minimize damage. You can ensure that your antivirus protection is up-to-date as well as requiring that employees do not stay logged into their email. You can also adjust the time out length to ensure that idle computers are automatically logged off the server if they lay dormant for too long. These can all help prevent unnoticed attacks from occurring.
The sharing of files which are located on your server can pose a unique threat. This could be considered more of an internal than external threat. You have to be careful who you give the ability to access and change files to.
Wireless access points are another vulnerability and target for attacks. The signal can actually extend to your network and outside the walls of the building. It is extremely important that you enable all of the available security features offered by your wireless access point device. Encryption is a must over your wireless network because radio waves can easily be intercepted.
Email server needs to be sure that spam doesn’t get through the network. The ways that spam works is unwanted email messages get solicited to a large number of recipients. “Spam should be a major concern in your infrastructure since it can be used to deliver email which can include Trojan horses, viruses, worms’ spyware and targeted attacks aimed specifically in obtaining sensitive and personal identification information.”
The last vulnerability and risk I have identified is the use of laptops and other types of mobile devices such as smart phones or tablets. These portable devices pose additional risk because they may not always be in view of the operator and they may not be used strictly for business only, especially handheld devices. Smart phones have become a hot target for attacks where information such as passwords and personal information is being stolen via downloadable apps. Attackers are then utilizing this information to gain unauthorized access the resources this information is used for. Viruses and Malware can also be introduced into your network via these devices, especially if users are using them to access the internet, download files or check email. This could be crippling to your organization. You must mitigate this by stressing the importance of utilizing these devices strictly for business access, having the latest antivirus software installed and maintaining physical possession of the devices at all times.
All of the threats and vulnerabilities I have identified can be potentially crippling to your organization. They can cause loss of data, the inability to access important files and resources, and can cost your organization tens of thousands of dollars in property loss, time loss and revenue loss. If you take all of my recommendations seriously, I think you will find that we have minimized the impact that attackers can have on your network and your business.

References
Kim, D. & Solomon, M. (2012). Fundamentals of Information Systems Security http://www.gfi.com/blog/5-steps-to-protect-exchange-server-from-security-attacks Steps to Protect Exchange Server from Security Attacks. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc700820.aspx Northrup, T. Firewalls.

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