Summary of Overall Strategy for IT Security Policy - Coursework Example

IT Security Policy

Summary of Overall Strategy

When a company features that its operations over a given period have been good and decided to merge with another company, the integration of Information Technology security policies which will exist between the two corporations should immediately commence with a responsive interim strategy (Hartman, 2002). Ideally, the approach ensures the provision of essential access for the workers of a company and also enhancing the entire restriction of data in places where it is not needed. In the view of the fact that the integration can be difficult to integrate, it is important to note that the change is always inevitable and a cyber-security policy needs to be implemented to keep away the cyber criminals with the sole intention of capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of security which arises when implementing the system.

During the merging of two organizations to participate in sensitive business operations such as e-commerce, there is always a lack of governance or some of the employees may be reluctant to offer assistance because of the fear of losing their jobs. As such, the strategy should consider adopting a mechanism which will establish consensus since it is necessary for both the two companies to carry out the reconciliation of all the components that are separate. The strategy of assessing the two Information Technology systems involves an interim plan which starts with an all-inclusive look at the security policy from the view of an entity which is newly merged (Hartman, 2002). Primarily, the perspectives incorporate the changes of technology and governance which can affect the confidentiality and availability of sensitive data. Apart from the above strategies, making recommendations to achieve the integration of both corporations efficiently is an appropriate plan which makes sure that every cyber security gap in an IT system or websites is mitigated.

Recommendations for Integrating both Corporate Environments

The inclusion of high-tech security policies can assist to make it possible for the integration between the two corporate environments which are involved to happen. It is first recommended that a background of the merging company is gotten before endeavoring to integrate it with the existing Information Technology security systems of the open company. Since cyber security experts rely on the architecture of an IT system, it would be easier to handle the matter after knowing that the incoming corporation operates on a peer-to-peer networking which refers to a type of an application which executes the partitioning and distribution between peers. As such, the moment the strategy as well as the background is comprehended, it would be easier to determine and address any gap which can be documented based on its relation to the types of securities.

It is a recommendation that the organizational charts of the merging company be made known to an IT expert since it promotes the knowledge of the relationship that the security officer had with the senior management. In the view of the fact that there is one of the workers who refuse to share information about the network architecture of the guest company, it is important to identify key people to cooperate with in ensuring that integration between the corporations occurs. As such, this provides a leeway in the identification of any potential attack which can occur from within to avoid the access to sensitive data by intruders (Newman, 2016). In the case of a computing environment, it is advisable that the integration should be made in such a way that it includes not only the system but also the people (Hattar, 2017). In this connection, the system tells the main areas which raise concerns of IT security such as disaster recovery, the policy as well as awareness, technical security, and physical security.

Recommendation for Intrusion Detection Systems

Various types of IDS are currently available, and they range from the intrusion detection systems which are network based to those that are host based, up to commercial and freeware. As such, it is always tough to correctly choose what is suitable for the integration of a merger. By definition, an intrusion detection system refers to a security monitoring system capable of gathering and analyzing data that originates from different sections of an IT system (Mathew, 2002). Notably, it is important for the two corporations to have in mind that when an IDS is incorporated to function correctly, it can help in the detection of unauthorized activities either within or outside the merged organizations and to give alerts to personnel to respond appropriately on an occasion of a technology security breach.

For the case of merged organizations dealing with products for selling online, this paper recommends a commercial IDS and freeware (Mathew, 2002). Acknowledging an array of IDS available in the market is critical. This IDS is recommendable because it accommodates other intrusion detection systems which when chosen single-handedly can be useful such as network based as well as host based IDS’. With the commercial type of an IDS used in the integration of the two environments, the monitoring of the network wire will be efficient along with the trial for detecting an attacker who targets the systems. At the same time, the commercial IDS is the best choice for an integration exception where employees swear to be uncooperative or do not want to share the details of architecture because it can handle the monitoring of security logs at the level of an operating system. If anything which requires the attention of a security expert to attend to emerges, a response procedure is sent by the commercial intrusion detection system.

Vulnerability/Web Scanners

Web applications in the contemporary cloud computing world have become the central elements of business processes and also an exploitable target for unethical hackers. For the case of an integration of two information technology systems for two environments, adopting web application security is not optional but a fundamental requirement. In the past, many websites which are popular have been hacked, and the hackers are busy doing wherever they can to leak data belonging to organizations after successfully hacking the websites (Vieira, Antunes, & Madeira, 2009). As a recommendation for the two environments, the above vulnerabilities ought to be attended to, and this is the reason as to why there is fundamental importance in the testing of web applications. Ideally, this is the point where the playing part of web application security scanners. By definition, a web application scanner refers to a software program that undertakes automatic black box testing that is usually performed on web applications as well as identifying security vulnerabilities.

Crabber is a recommended web application scanner with the capability of detecting several security vulnerabilities that can be encountered. With this type of a web application scanner, the performance of scans and being able to trouble shoot where the vulnerability exists can be enhanced (Vieira, Antunes, & Madeira, 2009). For the two environments, crabber web application scanner will detect vulnerabilities such as Ajax testing, backup file check, cross site scripting, JS source code analyzer, and file inclusion. For the choice of crabber, the desirable quality is straightforward and portable.

The other recommended web application scanner is Wapiti which is nice because it allows an IT expert tasked with carrying out the integration to audit the security of the internet applications. Most importantly, it is able to perform black-box testing through the scanning of web pages as well as the injection of web applications. This web application scanner is recommended because it supports both POST HTTP and GET attacks and ensures the detection of multiple vulnerabilities. In a similar manner as Crabber, the vulnerabilities include file inclusion and detection, backup file disclosure, command execution detection, and cross site scripting. I prefer the Wapiti web application scanner over crabber because of its ability to detect multiple vulnerabilities.

Firewall

The generation of firewalls exists in different types whose evolution have advanced to meet the demands that are directed to network security because of their relevance at a particular point in time. As such, the advancements in technology is promising because it allows for the development of new networks as well as approaches. By definition. A firewall is a network security device functioning to monitor incoming as well as outgoing network traffic and afterward, make decisions on whether to either block or allow specific traffic by basing mainly on the set of security policies and rules (Vacca & Ellis, 2004). For the case of this integration of the two environments knowing the domain model on which the other companies network operates on, firewalls form the defense lines protecting against any malware that may harm the system during the merger integration.

A stateful type of firewall is recommended for an integration of two network environments because of its ability to monitor as well as undertake the storing of session and connection states. Based on the structure of the OSI (Open System Integration) model, the connection states fall under the layer four. The stateful firewall is ideal for the merger integration where there is little information of a network of a company with no security policy because it can technically determine if a particular packet belongs to a similar connection state or not (Vacca & Ellis, 2004). Ideally, this is through its capability to associate related packets by basing source as well as the destination Internet protocol (IP) addresses, destination ports, and the protocol used on a website. Therefore, those packets which deviate from a state expected to access entry into the network will are prevented by the stateful firewall.

An application firewall is another type of firewall which is capable of introducing an ability to function in the OSI"s the seventh layer and inspect the contents of the traffics getting into the network. For the case of integrating two environments, the application firewall is preferred over the stateful firewall. This is because of its ability to exanimates the traffic and ensure the verification of the application in which the traffic is made of providing the firewall with a means to put an end to stop malicious traffic which hides behind other ports and protocols.

Overall Conclusions

The integration of IT networks in the past and current times have been faced with many challenges associated with cyber security where hackers have been reported to take advantage of vulnerable systems to steal and leak information (Tafti, 2011). As such, the strategy during the integration of systems of a merger requires that the necessary approach only allows authorized members of the staff to access sensitive data without breaching the security policies. In the currents trends and information security best practices, corporations have been struggling to do everything possible to protect their data and keep them safe from any kind of intrusion or attack. The use of an appropriate method to undertake the integration of two environments as in this case is essential in realizing the benefits the use of the most recent and lucrative approaches. Employing a risk-based approach is the primary tool to enhance effective network security.

Forming a merger integration security policy is a much better strategy which prioritizes measures according to on the way they influence the bottom-line of the two merging corporations. As such, implementing the recommended intrusion detection systems ensures that all kind of harm or attacks are detected before they interrupt the network. Along with this, the current information security policies require that an appropriate and the most useful method of forming the first defense line in a system is through a firewall such as the stateful and application firewalls. In the view of the fact that many employees play a critical role in enhancing the success of the company, an IT expert ought to employ the principle of least privilege because this is what currently makes up the current trends in information security. Ideally, this is because allowing many privileged employees or users to access company sensitive data is extremely dangerous because it constitutes what is known as the insider threat.

Budget

No.

item

Quantity

Price ($)

Total ($)

1

Computers

60000

400

24,000,000

2

Gateways:

110

171.99

18,918.90

3

Router:

3300

341

1,125,300

4

Multilayer Switch:

8700

321

2,792,700

5

Bridge:

1

8900

8900

6

Hub:

3

1000

3000

7

Repeater:

2

10000

20000

8

Firewall

1

8700

8700

9

Intrusion Detection System

1

5410

5410

10

Staff Training: This is to ensure that members or employees of the merging company are well acquainted.

N/A

23600

23600

TOTAL

28,006,528.90