7COM1069 Cyber Operations Project: Wireshark Analysis and Critique

This project delves into the realm of cyber operations, commencing with an exploration of the information environment and the 'fog of war,' analyzing their impact on decision-making in cybersecurity. Task 1 examines the information environment, critical discussion on decision-making, and mitigation strategies. Task 2 provides a critique of an article on maneuver warfare utilizing cloud resources, covering principles of maneuver warfare, defensive and offensive strategies, and deception strategy. Task 3 includes Wireshark file analysis, examining packet details, statistical analysis, network boundaries, active nodes, IP protocols, and identification of network activity. The project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of cyber operations and their associated challenges and solutions. This assignment covers the importance of information security and the strategies used to mitigate potential threats.

Running head: CYBER OPERATIONS
CYBER OPERATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CYBER OPERATIONS 1
Abstract
In the contemporary world, the entire system of information is based on the technology. The
information is gathered, processed and optimized such that it can be used for the process of
the decision making. This information has to be protected such that the integrity of the data is
maintained. The ‘fog of war’ is one such method which is used for the determination of the
ambiguity of the data which can cause issues in the decision making. The report discusses
about the importance of the Information environment and reasons which can cause issues in
the process of decision making. It also gives an insight regarding the measures which can
mitigate the issues regarding the decision making. There will be a review of the article
“Deception and Manoeuvre Warfare utilising Cloud Resources” in the task 2 and lastly there
will be Wireshark file analysis included in the task 3.

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Table of Contents
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Fog of War:................................................................................................................................4
Information Environment:..........................................................................................................5
Critical Discussion:....................................................................................................................5
Decision Making In Cyber Security:......................................................................................5
Mitigation of the Issues Identified:........................................................................................6
Task 2:........................................................................................................................................8
Critique:......................................................................................................................................8
Principles of Maneuver warfare:................................................................................................9
Defensive strategies:..................................................................................................................9
Offensive strategies:.................................................................................................................10
Deception strategy:...................................................................................................................10
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................12
Wireshark:................................................................................................................................12
Packet:......................................................................................................................................13
Statistical analysis:...................................................................................................................14
Network boundaries:............................................................................................................14
Active nodes:........................................................................................................................15

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Types of IP protocols:..............................................................................................................15
DHCP:..................................................................................................................................15
Address resolution protocol:................................................................................................16
DNS:.....................................................................................................................................18
HTTP:...................................................................................................................................19
TCP:.....................................................................................................................................21
Identification of activity:..........................................................................................................22
Attack explanation:..................................................................................................................23
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................23
References:...............................................................................................................................25

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Task 1
Introduction:
With the emergence of the digital age, the need for the cyber security has increased as
well. The damage or the loss of the data due to the unauthorized access of the third party or
the intrusion of the hackers can affect the privacy and the integrity of the data. Thus,
protection of the data is the main concern in the contemporary world. The entire concept of
the information system has been updated with the various security measures that are taken in
order to protect the available information over the air. The following report discusses about
the Information system and its importance along with the concept of the cyber security and
the ‘Fog of War’.
Fog of War:
As per Clausewitz, the uncertainty of the data and information system in the
contemporary world is the fog of war. The ambiguity and the chaos in the information system
creates difficulties in the process of the decision making which in turns lead to the severe
consequences in the entire Information system. With the emergence of the digital age, the
flow of the information into the system has increased at an exponential rate (Canabarro and
Borne 2013). This has increased the rate at which the crimes have in the cyber world. It is
very difficult to identify the possible targets in the cyber world which creates a fog in the
cyber war. Recently, one of the technology has been introduced which is known as the fog
computing according to which, the more is the fogginess of the data the more security
insurance can be provided to the system. In this system, a part of the data remains secure
even if some other part of the data has been compromised and this is all due to the
opaqueness of the data due to high fogginess. The fog computing technology ensures security

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by splitting the bulk data into more subparts such that the opaqueness of the information can
be increased. The sub parts or the sub-division of the data is stored in the end user devices or
some other devices which are not the part of the same device. In this way the security of the
data in the online services as well as the information system can be increased.
Information Environment:
The information environment is the aggregate of the organizations or the individuals
or the system which helps in the collection of the data and dissemination of the information.
The data obtained from the various sources are unstructured and raw. These data are process
by information system for optimization which further helps in decision making of the
organization such that goals for the organization is obtained. For this purpose of information
optimization, certain tools and techniques are required which is known as the information
technology environment. There are three dimension of the information environment and they
are namely, physical dimension, cognitive dimension and informational dimension (McHale
2019). The physical dimension is the place where the overlapping between the physical world
and the information environment takes place. The informational dimension is one of the place
where the information is processed, disseminated and protected for providing an optimized
result. The cognitive dimension is the place where the human can make decisions of the
available information. The information system is the medium via which the information
technology and people interact with one another for the generation of results which benefits
the organization.
Critical Discussion:
Decision Making In Cyber Security:
 Uncertainty in the cyber incidents: The cyber system consists of the technology.
The technologies are nothing more than the machines with certain functionalities

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(M’manga et al. 2019). They can malfunction no one can predict the time when it will
do so. Thus the process of the decision making can be hindered resulting in sever
issues in the system.
 Delay in the building of the cyber security: With the emergence of the technology
the needs for the cyber security has increased as well. But the existing process of the
security is not enough to cover the risk associated to the latest technology (Abomhara
2015). To understand the possible measures that can be taken for solving the issues
delays the entire process.
 Risk Assessment problems: Analysis of the risk in the system is important and there
are multiple way in doing so. Choosing the wrong process for the assessment of the
risk can have severe effects in the process of decision making.
 Lack of the knowledge: The advancement of the technology has resulted in the new
technology. The existing people are not acquainted with the technology which causes
problems. Moreover, improper training of the people can lead to the operational issues
of the technology. The lack of the knowledge of the technology of the people who are
responsible for the process of decision making leads to the hindrance in the
development of the cyber security against the crimes.
 Communication issues: For the better access to the system, it is extremely important
to develop a proper communication between admin and employees is essential for the
process of the decision making. It can give rise to conflict in the organization due to
improper interaction.
Mitigation of the Issues Identified:
 To combat with the uncertainty issue, organization must be prepared for any incident.
An Incident response team can be beneficial in this case.

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 Organization that deals with cyber technologies must lay focus upon the security.
That is the most important aspect for the organization. Implementation of the firewall
technology or encryption of data helps in enhancement of the security of the data
(Adhie et al. 2018).
 It is not possible to consider all possible methods of risk assessment all though the
most suitable method must be considered.
 People with expertise in the technologies that are in the organization must be recruited
or given the responsibilities of the decision making in the organization.
 The transparency in communication helps in prevention of the conflicts arising in the
organization. This is mainly achieved with experience in the particular field of the
organization (Haesevoets et al. 2019).

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Task 2:
Critique:
The paper aims at describing the key Manoeuvre warfare operations with the use of
cloud computing resources. It has been observed that technology has become one of the key
aspect that is needed to be managed properly. With the help of an efficient technology it
becomes easy to gain better real world access. The assets needs to be protected properly so
that it can prevent from offensive strategies. Beside this the paper has focused on
implementing and integrating a deception strategy so that the security can be designed
properly. The paper has successfully focused on developing a proper computer strategy that
will ensure that the risks are successfully mitigated. However the article has focused and
analyzed the strategies that are needed for mitigating the risks so that it can enhance the
performance. Beside this the paper has also evaluated the necessary manoeuvre warfare
principles so that it becomes easy to carry out the functions within the system. The article
has evaluated offensive and defensive strategy within an organization so that it becomes easy
to use the manoeuvre warfare. It can be stated that with the help of defensive strategy it
becomes easy to withstand the different types of security attacks. Thus in order to enhance
the performance there is a need to manage the cloud resources. After analysing the article it
can be stated that the way intelligence gathering process takes place within a system needs
proper resources so that they can offer maximum output.
Thus the article has focused on determining the act of manoeuvre warfare effectively.
It states that the manoeuvre warfare not only simply moves from one place to other but it has
been observed that these gets interpreted frequently by environmental aspects. Thus with an
intelligence gathering process it becomes easy to prevent the attack from taking place.

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Cloud computing offers a model that helps in enabling the ubiquitous and convenient
network. Beside this the network also becomes on demand and will offer access for the
purpose of sharing the configurable computing resources. This will enhance the performance
and will also improve the interaction procedure. With the help of the article it becomes easy
to organize the key objectives. Thus with the help of technology it will become easy to
organize the threats.
Principles of Manoeuvre warfare:
Manoeuvre warfare aims at following the key principles that will help in reducing the
vulnerabilities within the design. The main objective behind including principles is that with
the help of effective principles it becomes easy to achieve the security. This will enhance the
way performance is maintained. The key principles that are followed includes targeting the
critical vulnerabilities, focusing on decentralized decision making and using combined arms.
The three major principles are as follows:
 Identifying and targeting the enemy centres of the gravity
 Setting and maintaining a favourable terms for the battle
 Finding the gaps and exploiting them
Defensive strategies:
In order to deploy the cloud resources effectively it becomes very much essential to
ensure that proper operations have been integrated. The article stated that with the help of
proper defensive strategy the security can be obtained successfully within the cloud. With the
help of through defensive strategy the system will be able to withstand the different types of
attacks. The cloud operations are deployed with the use of deception plan as this helps in
ensuring that the chances of security breaches has reduced. The OPSEC is used with the aim
of determining the security control aspects.

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Offensive strategies:
Offensive operations mainly takes place within the system for the purpose of
destroying the asset or controlling the assets completely. For the purpose of carrying out
offensive strategy it becomes very much essential to integrate cloud technology offers on
demand rapid elasticity service. This allows the individual to change the layout of the
computing infrastructure so that it can ensure a cost- effective and transparent structure. The
strategy involves combining the characteristics of manoeuvre warfare with the cloud
computing so that it enables asymmetric system. Apart from this the cloud technologies are
mainly offered as a service that helps in evaluating the different operations and also focuses
on analysing the impacts that are created with the actions. Thus it can be stated that with the
help of offensive operation it becomes easy to control the assets conditions.
Deception strategy:
The deception strategy mainly focuses on granting right of information at the time of
need by ensuring that proper decision is made so that information are processed
successfully. The article states that the essence of “deception,” mainly focuses on identifying
the core capabilities associated with information operation. In order to evaluate the deception
strategy the paper has selected three key operations that are Psychological Operations
(PSYOP), Military Deception (MILDEC) and Operational Security (OPSEC). With the use of
deception the behaviour and the psychological aspects can be made clear. The article stated
the deception strategy with the help of a quotation that is “A wise man has great power, and a
man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory
many advisers.” Apart from this several quotes have been provided within the article that is
used for the purpose of determining the Information Operations and deception. Thus it can be
stated that with an effective deception strategy it becomes easy to organize the performance
within a system.

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The deception strategy that is used for protecting a computing infrastructure will
further lead to impacting the decision making process. The affects that are created has the
potential to affect the motivation and also impacts the opportunity. Beside this the capability
also gets impacted with the use of deception strategy. The article stated that the SME
specialized methodology helps in targeting the audience. The deception plan mainly involves
planning reaction, PSYOPS planning, INFOSEC planning, OPSEC planning and NETOPS
planning. Thus the article has explained all the necessary components effectively.