IT Risk Management Case Study: Big Data Security and ENISA Report

This case study analyzes the ENISA report on IT risk management, specifically addressing security threats related to Big Data. The analysis covers top threats like nefarious activities, interception, and data loss, identifying key threat agents such as cybercriminals, cyber terrorists, and online social hackers. The study examines the agents' motivations, methods, and potential impacts, highlighting the importance of security measures like access controls, anti-virus software, and cryptography. It also discusses the threat probability and potential improvements to ETL processes, with the overall aim of assessing ENISA's satisfaction with the current state of information technology security. The case study offers a detailed overview of the Big Data security infrastructure and the importance of understanding and mitigating these risks.

Running head: IT RISK MANAGEMENT 1
IT risk management
Name:
Institution Affiliation:

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 2
Case Study Review
In this case study it is a research which has been conducted by European agency for the Network
and the information security which is regarded as ENISA (Barocas & Nissenbaum, 2014). This
company usually offers a networking as well as information system security expertise
particularly to the European Union member countries, the private organization and various
individuals (Ballard, Compert, Jesionowski, Milman, Plants, Rosen & Smith, 2014). This report
will provide an analysis to the security threats that relates to the Big Data, a technology to which
has gained various aspects in the society that ranges from the health, climate, food security,
transport system as well as the smart cities (Davis, Wong & Paterson, 2015). In this report it will
further answer questions on the top threats which could be regarded as significant and the reason
as to why they are (Barocas & Nissenbaum, 2014). Additionally, it will focus on the key threats
agents, what might could occur in order to minimize on the impact on the system, and based on
the data which has been provided I will discuss on the threat probability (Davis, Wong &
Paterson, 2015). In the research it is also important to highlight how ETL process could be
improved and to sum on all these aspect is to highlight if ENISA could be satisfied or not
through the current state of the information technology security.
Diagram of ENISA Big data security infrastructure.

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 3
Figure 1: Diagram for the ENISA Big Data security infrastructure.
Top threats
There are various data security threat which have been discussed in ENISA report; some of the
top threat which could be considered most important and which have great effect particularly
when it comes to the security of the Big Data assets and the infrastructure are discussed below;
Nefarious threats
Based on this landscape report (2016), the nefarious activities usually manipulate the existing
data infrastructure through the hackers who uses various software or perhaps a tool (Chance &

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 4
Brooks, 2015). Their actions usually leads to interferences to the security of the infrastructure of
the Big data for example the software, computing models, hardware as well as the storage
models. The major security threats which relates to the nefarious activities are; utilization of the
malicious code which is referred to as virus in order to paralyze on the operations of the
infrastructure of the Big Data (Chance & Brooks, 2015). Another activity is the identity theft
which usually involves stealing of the data systems logins by unauthorized individuals. Another
activity is the denial of the service information, which involves the use of the certificate that are
rogue as well as the misuse of the audit tools. The nefarious activities in most of the case are
rated high due to the fact that in most cases where there is use of the malicious code, it target the
large sources of data particularly in big organization or perhaps the government entities. An
example was the use of the WannaCry Ransome attack which targeted the major organization
data system in 2017.
Interception, hijacking and Eavesdropping
This occurs when the packets travel across the network, these are prone to getting altered, looked
at or perhaps hijacked. Hijacking generally occurs whenever a malicious party intercepts the
network traffic session and postures as one of the session endpoints. The attacker has the
capacity to monitor on the data sources to or perhaps from the target, to have the ability to gather
the most susceptible data (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). This attacks is focused on sniffing
the network traffic, but could possibly include observing other type of information streams.
Sniffing or even eavesdropping is basically the act of monitoring the traffic on the network when
it comes to the data for instance the plaintext passwords or perhaps configuration data. With
merely a simple sniffer packet, the attacker could read conveniently all the plaintext traffic. This
threat is amongst the leading most since it is executed via the net as soon as the attacker is able to

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 5
gain access to a connection using the packet sniffer to the victim system, they can do a lot of
damage for example steal the information, or even modify on it.
Loss of data/unintentional damage
This is human error, unintentional intervention or perhaps the erroneous use of the administration
of system which leads to the data loss or destroyed by failures or neglect in the storage and it
may end up in the unintended individuals (Pahi & Skopik, 2016). Such leakages of the data could
be due to unintended data sharing for example through the emails, web programs or perhaps
inadequate information on to the system data that is in use. This kind of threat could damage
individuals greatly. For example, in the event that the data which was contained in the
information system belong to a patients in the hospital, and it leaked the patient medical data is
no longer confidential as it is required.
Key threat Agents
Based on ENISA threat landscape (2013), defines the threat agent as somebody or perhaps
something that possess reliable functionality, an obvious intention to be able to manifest a threat
as well as document of past actions (Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). With regards to the Big
Data asset owners it is essential to be familiar with the danger agents which have emerged from
threat agent group. The key threat agents are as follows;
Cyber criminals
These are individuals who undertake unauthorized activities through use of the internet or
perhaps a network channels by targeting the data system. These kind of people usually conduct
such activities for the purpose of personal gain (Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). The basis of
carrying such activities would be for information theft or even modify the data for example, the

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 6
point of sales, or even then the banking system among other for the sole purpose of gaining
financial independence. The cybercriminal can target organization that are locally, or
internationally such as the banks or the insurance companies to get the insurance policies data
(Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). Based on the landscape report it has highlighted that the
countries such as Russia, and China have been affected by many instance of cybercrime between
the period of 2011 and 2013. Despite this increase number of criminal activities it is possible to
control them in different ways.
One way would be through control in Access security feature. In the use of this security features
in the Big Data infrastructure it enable a way for the authorization level in order to classify the
process of access where each user of the system has their own access security credentials which
are defined to a given part of the information system. This would assist in preventing the
unauthorized individuals from gaining access to unauthorized data hence reduce on the rate of
the cybercrime activities (Khan, Yaqoob, Hashem, Inayat, Mahmoud, Alam & Gani, 2014).
Another way to prevent the cyber criminals from accessing the system would be through use of
an Anti-virus in the business as well as keeping it up to date. This program ensures that any
malicious software or perhaps a code that is used by the cybercriminals so that they do not
penetrate to the data systems (Richards & King, 2014). Additionally, it is important to note that
the design as well as the implementation of the data systems, it is vital to put the security
protocol that integrate into the system to be able to counter any attack from the cyber criminals.
It is also vital to control on the cybercrime through monitoring of the data system infrastructure
as well as scanning on the data which is contained in the system. This ensures that every
behavior which is unauthorized can be detect and appropriate action is undertaken.
Cyber terrorist

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 7
According to the ENISA reports highlights on the issues of the cyber terrorist as one of the
threats of the system security (Pritchard & PMP, 2014). The cyber terrorist are individuals who
use the internet to enable an attack by use of either a malware, or the virus and infect the network
of computer that belongs to different organization and individuals. The motivation which is
pegged on the cyber terrorism activities is based on political or religious and the capability could
vary from low to high (Pritchard & PMP, 2014). The cyber terrorists usually prefer critical
infrastructure for attack such as public health, energy production as well as telecommunication.
These individuals causes severe impact in the society as well as the government.
To minimize on the cyber terrorism there are various measures which could be employed. Some
of the security procedures which can be implemented are; one is the design of the data system
security mechanism from the beginning (Taylor, Schroeder & Meyer, 2014). This is rather a
preventive technique which makes sure that the system is secure from any attacks. When there is
integration of the security measure during the design it ensures that the intention of the attackers
are prevented and no damages could occur. Other security measures which could be incorporated
would be the physical isolation to the data systems (Taylor, Schroeder & Meyer, 2014). This
could ensure that any physical attack such as stealing of the information system or the devices
could be prevented. Other ways world be through cryptography security techniques. These are
techniques for securing communication in presence of the third parties regarded as adversaries. It
all about constructing as well as analyzing the protocols in order to prevent third parties or the
public from reading private information by encrypting the data. When the business assets have
been encrypted it become difficult for the cyber terrorists to penetrate the system.
Online social hackers or hacktivists: This is another key threat to the information systems.
Based on the report of ENISA agency, these hackers motivated both politically and socially to

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 8
use the computer system especially when protesting or even promoting their cause. Their target
are mainly the high profile websites, corporations, military institutions or perhaps intelligence
agencies (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). Their subversive use of the computers as well as
the computer networks would be to promote the political agenda and even the social alterations.
In relation to the roots in hacker culture in addition to the hacker ethics it ends tend to be more
often associated with free speech, or the freedom of information movements. These kind of
hackers obtain people information or organization without their consent (McNeil, Frey &
Embrechts, 2015). The general function of the social hackers would be to get access to the data
to the constrained information or physical space without appropriate permission. In many of the
cases they achieve their goal by means of impersonating a group or even a person; who is
directly or simply indirectly known to the victims or maybe by representing an individual or
group in high position of authority. This is achieved by means of a pre-medicated research as
well as planning to gain the confidence of the victim.
There are various measures which can be put in place to prevent the online social hackers some
of them are as follows; one is to be cautious with your password. Besides having strong
credential of password which is hard to guess, it is important to be scholastic about other
individual knowing about it (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). Do not share it with any
individual and when not in the system always log yourself out. The second security measure
would be to have a two-factor authentication. This could offer an extra layer of protection to
your password. With the use of the two-factor authentication one is able to eliminate any threat
of individuals breaching the social media accounts or any other account.
The threat probability

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 9
Based on the facts which have been provided on the report in regards to threats agent by ENISA,
it is evident that these threats could be caused by any of threats agents for example the
cybercriminals, online social hackers, script kiddies and the cyber terrorist (Morabito, 2015).
This clearly highlights that there is no specific threat to which could be associated by any given
threat agent (Morabito, 2015). Therefore, it is observed that any agent could be arise from any
threat and thus the information systems can be protected against any security threat agent that
arises to make it more secure from any attack.
Discussion on improvement of ETL process
As a result of the huge volume of data in the processes of the ETL, improvement to its
performance is very vital to enable the whole process to run smoothly. This process may be
improved in the following ways; one way would be to load the data incrementally. Merely
loading only changes between the previous and the new data which can save a lot of time as
compared to the full load (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). It can be difficult in implementing
as well as maintaining, but difficult does not mean impossible. The second thing would be to
partition of the large tables. In case one uses relational databases and you intend to improve on
the data processing window, one can partition large tables (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015).
This could cut big table down to be physically smaller maybe by date. Each of the partition
would have its own indices as well as the indices tree which is more shallow hence enabling
quicker access to the data. Moreover, this would allow switching of the data in and out of the
table in quick Meta data operation as compared to the actual insertion (McNeil, Frey &
Embrechts, 2015). Another way would be through batching. This may be used in improving the
performance of the ETL process by extracting numerous rows by means of separation logically
or through recurring used data that has been extracted (Rivers & Lewis, 2014). This ensures that

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 10
the data has been extracted at various intervals hence making the process much efficient.
Moreover, this process is important because it reduces on the amount of data which is utilized in
each implementation load of ETL.
Whether ENISA should be satisfied with current state of Information Technology security?
Based on this research I believe that ENISA should be satisfied with their current state of the
information technology strategy. This is because this organization has been able to identify the
security threats and they have been able to group them into various categorizes and provide
techniques on how to mitigate them (Chance & Brooks, 2015). The measures which have been
employed by ENISA provide a platform for securing the information through different
infrastructures without any cause of interferences. Moreover, in the research it has identified the
various strategies used in improving ETL operations (Chance & Brooks, 2015). ENISA has been
able to resolve different threats which are embedded in the systems as well as other hardware
devices. Additionally, the report has highlighted on other threats which could bring about the
information leakages or unauthorized access that could be controlled by use of the control access
mechanism and presence of secure credentials. In my view, ENISA should appreciate on the
current state of their IT security strategy.

IT RISK MANAGEMENT 11
References
Ballard, C., Compert, C., Jesionowski, T., Milman, I., Plants, B., Rosen, B., & Smith, H. (2014).
Information Governance Principles and Practices for a Big Data Landscape. IBM
Redbooks.
Barocas, S., & Nissenbaum, H. (2014). Big data’s end run around anonymity and consent (pp.
44-75). Cambridge University Press, NY.
Chance, D. M., & Brooks, R. (2015). Introduction to derivatives and risk management. Cengage
Learning.
Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and
practice. Sage.
Davis, T. A., Wong, M. L. M., & Paterson, N. M. (2015). The Data Security Governance
Conundrum: Practical Solutions and Best Practices for the Boardroom and the C-Suite.
Colum. Bus. L. Rev., 613.
Khan, N., Yaqoob, I., Hashem, I. A. T., Inayat, Z., Mahmoud Ali, W. K., Alam, M., ... & Gani,
A. (2014). Big data: survey, technologies, opportunities, and challenges. The Scientific
World Journal, 2014.
McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., & Embrechts, P. (2015). Quantitative risk management: Concepts,
techniques and tools. Princeton university press.
Morabito, V. (2015). Big data and analytics: strategic and organizational impacts. Springer.
Pahi, T., & Skopik, F. (2016). A Public-Private-Partnership Model for Na-tional Cyber
Situational Awareness.
Pritchard, C. L., & PMP, P. R. (2014). Risk management: concepts and guidance. CRC Press.
Richards, N. M., & King, J. H. (2014). Big data ethics.
Rivers, C. M., & Lewis, B. L. (2014). Ethical research standards in a world of big data.
F1000Research, 3.
Taylor, L., Schroeder, R., & Meyer, E. (2014). Emerging practices and perspectives on Big Data
analysis in economics: Bigger and better or more of the same?. Big Data & Society, 1(2),
2053951714536877.