Network Security Proposal

Network Security Proposal
Prepared for:
University of Maryland University College
Prepared by: Kevin Thorpe

A. Vulnerability Assessment
Requirements
Security systems create a sense of insurance from malicious attackers, vulnerabilities can cause
a security system from being labeled great to terrible. Network attackers are consistently
discovering methods to exploit the vulnerabilities to pursue strikes against companies,
individuals, etc. Vulnerabilities can be discovered also within devices such as user accounts,
passwords, network protocols, etc. Assessing vulnerabilities can be extremely helpful in
discovering crucial steps that authorize which route should be taken to eliminate the possibility
of attacks. Tools that could be helpful in reducing this would be port and ping scanners. Along
with those items network mappers are also helpful in discovering the vulnerabilities in the
devices through scanning and successfully getting approval of test.
Proposed Solution
Vulnerability assessment is the process of discovering the threat of any vulnerabilities in a
network or system. Contractors that specialize in networking can identify any vulnerabilities
providing an official assessment of the University of Maryland University College with
vulnerability scanner. With an network that has no protection and has no knowledge of the
holes that are in their network attackers can take advantage of this gaining access to
information that can be detrimental to students and faculty. Having a specialist monitor and
observe the network for any chances of vulnerabilities are essential.
With the access of an tool like a vulnerability scanner holes and cracks that lie within a system
can be discovered to provide an effective method to secure those vulnerabilities. This method
provides the ability to detect the lack of security with scanning unused ports, missing patches,
password issues, available ip addresses and misconfigurations. Along with that this tool with
regular updates are perfect for issues involving assessing vulnerabilities. When having a security
patch established scanners are utilized in ensuring that the threat of vulnerabilities are not
there. Some tools that can utilized to assist UMUC’s network for vulnerability assessment are
MBSA, Nessus and Retina Vulnerability Assessment.
Additional tools that would assist with this would be ping scanners, these are utilized by
sending ICMP echo request packets to various IP addresses. Port scanners are also useful for
probing systems and opening ports. Network mappers can be utilized with displaying devices in
a graphical setting being discovery devices. These mappers ping scanners to coincide with all
common ports. Password crackers provides abilities to perform cryptographic attacks on
passwords, with this it would identify weak passwords and would highly suggest stronger
passwords for users. The best system for UMUC would be the Open Vulnerability and
Assessment Language, it provides simple methods to test, analyze and report any signs of
vulnerabilities within a system.
Justification