Information and Network Security Report: ABC Software Firm Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of information and network security, focusing on the context of ABC software firm. It defines key concepts, identifies security risks and attacks, and highlights the latest technological enhancements in the field. The report evaluates available security applications and tools such as Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, VeraCrypt, and Comodo Advanced Endpoint, detailing their advantages and disadvantages. It also outlines an expansion plan for the firm, followed by a conclusion, recommendations, and findings. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting to technological changes and implementing robust security measures to protect business assets from evolving threats. The document covers various aspects of security, including malware protection, encryption, and integrated security solutions, providing a comprehensive overview of the current security landscape and offering insights into effective security practices.

Information/Network Security
Report
9/19/2017

Information and Network Security
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................3
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Meaning & Definition of Information and Network Security......................................................................4
Security Risks and Attacks..........................................................................................................................5
Latest Technological Enhancements............................................................................................................5
Available Security Applications and Tools..............................................................................................6
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus..................................................................................................................6
VeraCrypt............................................................................................................................................7
Comodo Advanced Endpoint...............................................................................................................8
Expansion Plan............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
Recommendations & Findings..................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................12
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Information and Network Security
Executive Summary
An organization is composed of many of the components and elements. There are assets in the
organization that need to be protected and one such asset is the information and data. The report
covers the aspect of information and network security in correspondence to ABC software firm.
The latest advancements in this area along with the available tools that may be used by the firm
are discussed with their advantages and disadvantages. An expansion plan has been outlined in
the report with the set of findings and recommendations covered at the end of the report.
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Introduction
The business units are set up so that they may provide services to their respective set of
customers and earn revenues and profits in return. Every business organization aspires to achieve
higher profits and revenues along with goodwill in the market. There are initiatives that they take
in this regard in terms of change in strategy, inclusion of enhanced offerings, expansion of office
locations and likewise. The similar approach is being followed by ABC which is a Melbourne
based software firm that works in the area of information and network security. The company is
in business since past forty nine months. The small scale firm has a clientele that comprises of
business units from Australia that come under the category of small and medium scale business
organizations.
The company is planning to expand its customer base and include online security solutions as an
additional offering for the same. It has identified certain industrial sectors that it would target
upon in the first phase of expansion.
Change is a constant process in the field of technology. There are newer technological concepts
that are being invented and the new set of tools is also being set up. The organizations are
required to adapt these new changes in their infrastructure that results in several business benefits
for them. However, there is one area that has emerged as a primary area of concern for the
business units and that area is information and network security. With the implementation of new
tools and technology along with the use of existing methods, there are increased threat agents
that are used by the malicious entities to execute security risks and attacks. The measures to deal
with these occurrences are being therefore researched at a wide scale (Soriano, 2011).
The report has been written for ABC organization to explain its management about the meaning
and developments in the area of network and information security through the explanation of
several applications that are being used.
Meaning & Definition of Information and Network Security
Different forms of information sets are associated with the business organizations for the
execution of business operations and activities. These forms may include the private information
sets, confidential or sensitive information sets, public information sets and so on. The attacker
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Information and Network Security
may attempt to target any of these information sets to capture its contents which may have an
adverse implication on the properties. Information Security is the application of such measures
which may enforce protection mechanisms against all sorts of security violation, vulnerabilities
and threats.
The attackers may also make use of the networking channels and mediums to give shape to the
security attacks. The associated protection measures to avoid and control such events come under
Network Security domain.
Security Risks and Attacks
 The networks may be used as threat agents along with other agents such as human
resources, databases, etc. to breach the information sets.
 Leakage of the information during transmission or the loss of the contents (Nazareth &
Choi, 2015).
 Availability attacks covering denial of service and other types of flooding attacks.
 Attack of viruses, worms, ransomware or other malware on the information sets.
 Man in the middle and cold boot attacks.
 IP spoofing and network based phishing attacks.
 Alteration of the message or media contents without the adequate permission to do so
resulting in integrity attacks (Shameli-Sendi, 2017).
Latest Technological Enhancements
Development is a constant process in the field of technology. There are newer technological
concepts that are being invented and the new set of tools is also being set up. The organizations
are required to adapt these new changes in their infrastructure that results in several business
benefits for them. However, there is one area that has emerged as a primary area of concern for
the business units and that area is information and network security. With the implementation of
new tools and technology along with the use of existing methods, there are increased threat
agents that are used by the malicious entities to execute security risks and attacks. The measures
to deal with these occurrences are being therefore researched at a wide scale (Haider, Samdani,
Ali & Kamran, 2016).
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Information and Network Security
There are certain buzzwords in the current technological landscape which include Big Data tools,
Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Business Intelligence and Biometrics. These technologies
shall be coupled with the security mechanisms and protocols so that the overall security is
developed and enhanced to deal with existing and new forms of security risks (Roozbahani &
Azad, 2015).
Available Security Applications and Tools
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
Malware attacks are the most common and frequent forms of security attacks that take place.
These attacks may have low to extremely severe implication and the organizations need to be
ready to prevent and deal with such attacks. There are various threat agents that the malevolent
entities make use of that result in successful launch of malware (Dcu, 2015).
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is a tool that provides malware protection and security from such
attacks by using latest technological components (Pcmag, 2016).
The application has earned positive feedback from the users and is being widely used all across
the globe. It is because of the advanced features and benefits that it offers to its users.
 Phishing attacks can be prevented and controlled and there is no browser plug-ins
required for the same.
 Users are provided with detailed security results and reports so that they may understand
the state of security of their systems.
 Scanning of the system is automatically carried out and can also be manually set up.
 Network based security attacks can be prevented by using Wi-Fi scans.
 Protection from malware such as ransomware, spyware and adware.
Every technology has its own drawbacks and weak points that must be understood so that the
benefits that are caused by it are not nullified. The following set of weaknesses must therefore be
understood in association with the application.
 The Password Manager that is deployed in the application for the purpose of
authentication and access control has flaws in the recent version of the application.
 There may be additional costs that may be revealed after the purchase of the application.
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VeraCrypt
The researchers and technical executives are leaving no stone unturned to develop and
implement the countermeasures to the security risks and attacks. With the execution of all
possible measures, there are still cases that are observed in association with the violation of
security. It has become important to work on the measures to control and avoid the security
occurrences along with the disaster recovery methods as well. The attackers should not be able to
make any use of the network or information contents that they capture. This can be made
possible with the use and implementation of encryption.
Encryption refers to the method in which information security can be achieved by converting the
original form of information to the cipher text which is protected by a security key. The attackers
would require the same key to view the original form of the information. There are many
encryption algorithms and tools that have been developed for this purpose and one such
advanced application is VeraCrypt that is developed by IDRIX. This application implements disk
encryption in which all the files that are present on the system are secured (Fearn, 2017).
The application has earned positive feedback from the users and is being widely used all across
the globe. It is because of the advanced features and benefits that it offers to its users.
 All forms of network based security risks and attacks can be prevented and information
present on the network can be secured (PCMag, 2017).
 Financial transactions can be safely performed and smart cards can be used safely.
 Data security risks associated with loss, breaching and leakage can be avoided.
 Cold boot and backdoor access attacks can be controlled and avoided.
Every technology has its own drawbacks and weak points that must be understood so that the
benefits that are caused by it are not nullified. The following set of weaknesses must therefore be
understood in association with the application.
 The tool may not be easy to use without any prior training.
 The user manual that is provided along with the tool is not detailed (Veracrypt, 2017).
Comodo Advanced Endpoint
The demand for the security solutions keep on changing with the developments in the field of
technology. It becomes mandatory for the organizations to secure every technical component
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from the security attacks which involves a lot of cost. Therefore, the business units look for
scalable and integrated security packages that may fulfill all of their security needs.
One such application is the Comodo Advanced Equipment that is scalable and flexible in nature
and is also an integrated package to solve all the security issues and problems. The application
can be easily maintained and the updates can also be installed as per the requirements of
technology (Strom, 2016).
There are many security solutions that are implemented and integrated in this application. The
forms of security threats and attacks, such as malware attacks, information breaches and leakage,
network based security attacks etc. can be easily controlled with this tool. It is because of the
reason that it comes enabled with malware protection that covers protection from all sorts of
malware including ransomware, firewalls and proxy servers, internet security, intrusion detection
and prevention systems and many more features.
The nature and types of the security threats keep on varying. There are new forms of threats that
may be created and the organizations cannot stick to one form of security control or measure
(Crane, 2013). The use of latest technology in such applications is a must which is realized by
the developers of this application. They have implemented the feature of behavior analysis in this
application by making use of automated data analytics and data mining tools so that the threat
patterns can be understood.
The application has earned positive feedback from the users and is being widely used all across
the globe. It is because of the advanced features and benefits that it offers to its users.
 The root cause of the threat is analyzed and the application works on the measures to
ensure that the root cause is removed.
 Integrated solution that provides patch management and handling as well (Comodo,
2016).
 There are no compatibility issues observed for the operating systems or other tools used
in the organizations.
 Easy to administer and monitor remotely.
 Organizational assets can be protected with this cost effective security solution.
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Information and Network Security
Every technology has its own drawbacks and weak points that must be understood so that the
benefits that are caused by it are not nullified. The following set of weaknesses must therefore be
understood in association with the application.
 There may be issues at the time of deployment of the model that is selected for the
purpose is not adequate.
 Lack of system documentation and user aid (Stephenson, 2017).
Expansion Plan
ABC organization is currently following two types of measures for providing security services
and solutions to the customers. The first is the in-house development that is carried out by the
internal members of the staff in the organization’s location. The second is the customization of
the off-the-shelf application that is carried out at the client location by the employees of the
software firm.
The tools and applications that are discussed and described above can assist the organization in
both of these processes. There are drawbacks and risks associated with these applications which
can be controlled by adequate analysis and regular monitoring (Berg, 2010).
The process of expansion by the organization must be done after an initial round of feasibility
analysis and requirement analysis. The plan must estimate the scope, cost and schedule along
with the method of communication. The execution shall be done as per the new set of clients that
are targeted and the marketing processes shall also be carried out accordingly.
The expansion process must be done in a series of steps so that the goals are met and the changes
that come up are easy to manage.
Conclusion
Much advancement is being done in the area of security with each passing day.
There are various threat agents that the malevolent entities make use of that result in successful
launch of malware. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is a tool that provides malware protection and
security from such attacks by using latest technological components. It has become important to
work on the measures to control and avoid the security occurrences along with the disaster
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Information and Network Security
recovery methods as well. The attackers should not be able to make any use of the network or
information contents that they capture. This can be made possible with the use and
implementation of encryption. There are many encryption algorithms and tools that have been
developed for this purpose and one such advanced application is VeraCrypt that is developed by
IDRIX. This application implements disk encryption in which all the files that are present on the
system are secured. Comodo Advanced Equipment is a security application that is scalable and
flexible in nature and is also an integrated package to solve all the security issues and problems.
The application can be easily maintained and the updates can also be installed as per the
requirements of technology. The use of latest technology in such applications is a must which is
realized by the developers of this application. They have implemented the feature of behavior
analysis in this application by making use of automated data analytics and data mining tools so
that the threat patterns can be understood (Mohammed Salim, 2016).
The security occurrences and the presence of the malevolent entities is a reality that needs to be
accepted. It is essential to work on the enhancement of security along with the research on the
technologies that can be integrated. The installation of updates shall be frequently and regularly
done so that security is always maintained.
Recommendations & Findings
The organization often fail to update their security practices, policies and tools that result in the
enhancement of the probability of execution of security risks. It must be ensured that the updates
are installed frequently and there is absence of any of the unsecure or outdated technological
element in the organizational infrastructure. The use of latest technological concepts and ideas
shall be integrated and used so that the security is enhanced (Pareek, 2011).
The choice of the operational measure that the software firm shall use must depend upon the
client’s requirements. The first step in any project shall be analysis of the requirements of the
clients so that the same may be fulfilled with utmost satisfaction.
There are many ready-to-use applications that are available in the market that shall also be
referred by the ABC organization so that it may expand with ease and new customers are
attracted towards the organization. The management must also carry out strategic alignment and
enhanced decision making processes so that organizational goals are met. It is certain that there
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will be new concepts and operations that will be introduced with the expansion of business. The
readiness for handling these changes must be present with a detailed change management plan.
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References
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September 2017, from http://ww.gnedenko-forum.org/Journal/2010/022010/RTA_2_2010-
09.pdf
Comodo. (2016). Comodo Launches Advanced Endpoint Protection Solution. comodo.com.
Retrieved 19 September 2017, from
https://www.comodo.com/news/press_releases/2016/02/comodo-launches-advanced-
endpoint-protection.html
Crane, L. (2013). Introduction to Risk Management. Retrieved 18 September 2017, from
http://extensionrme.org/pubs/IntroductionToRiskManagement.pdf
Dcu. (2015). Introduction to Risk Management. Retrieved 18 September 2017, from
https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/ocoo/pdfs/Risk%20Mgt%20Training%20Slides.pdf
Fearn, N. (2017). Top 5 best encryption tools of 2017. TechRadar. Retrieved 19 September 2017,
from http://www.techradar.com/news/top-5-best-encryption-tools
Haider, S., Samdani, G., Ali, M., & Kamran, M. (2016). A comparvative analysis of In-house
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September 2017, from https://www.rroij.com/open-access/network-security-an-approach-
towards-secure-computing-160-163.pdf
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Pcmag. (2016). Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. PCMag India. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from
http://in.pcmag.com/bitdefender-antivirus-plus-2015/52300/review/bitdefender-antivirus-
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Roozbahani, F., & Azad, R. (2015). Security Solutions against Computer Networks Threats.
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