Operations Management Report: Billabong's IT Security Issues

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the operations management challenges faced by Billabong International Limited, primarily focusing on the issue of cryptojacking. The report details how cryptojacking, a form of cyberattack, has compromised the company's IT systems and impacted its operations. It explores the difficulties and challenges posed by cryptojacking, including the exploitation of CPU power and the use of malicious code. The report also examines the scope of these issues, organizational implications, and the need for an operational plan. It emphasizes the importance of capacity management, total quality management, and security awareness training as potential solutions. The report concludes by highlighting the need for proactive measures to mitigate the risks associated with cryptojacking and protect the company's IT infrastructure.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations Management
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to discuss about the operations management problem in
relation to Billabong International Limited. It elucidates on the difficulties and challenges
that is perpetrated on the organisation on account of crytojacking. It discusses about the
merits in relation to operations management theory and the need of operational plan for an
organisation.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Operations Management Problem..............................................................................................3
Concept Map..............................................................................................................................4
Difficulties and Challenges for the Organisation.......................................................................5
Scope of the issues and organisational implications..................................................................6
Merits to OM theory...................................................................................................................6
Planning......................................................................................................................................7
Need for Operational Plan..........................................................................................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................8
References:...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Operations Management is indicative of an area of management that deals with the
production of business operations in relation to goods or that of services. It can help to ensure
that the operations pertaining to business are effective and it is concerned with the managing
of the entire production system. Industry 4.0 is indicative of the current trend in relation to
automation along with data exchange within the manufacturing technologies. It is also
referred to as the “smart factory” and it refers to the ability of the machines along with
devices in connecting people. Billabong International Limited refers to a clothing retailer that
is instrumental in producing different kinds of accessories like watches along with backpacks.
This report throws light on the IT security issues of Billabong International Limited. It
discusses the lapse in relations to operations management of the organization on the basis of
my observation and the planning along with contingency plan that can help in solving the
problem.
Operations Management Problem
The IT systems have become the backbone of the society and these systems if
vulnerable poses a threat to that of the individuals along with the companies. The malwares
lead to operations management problem in Billabong International Limited and the attackers
in the present age are trying to find new ways that can help them in getting around the
established defense (Heizer 2016). Cryptojacking in Billabong International Limited has
threatened the computer system of Billabong and JavaScript cryptocurrency has hijacked the
CPU power of the organisation. The criminals are making use of ransomware-like tactics so
that the computers of the employees of the company can mine cryptocurrency. The hackers
made the victim to click on a link that is malicious and on the clicking of the link the entire
system of the employee gets affected. Crypto-mining code started working in the back ground

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and the unsuspected victim of Billabong International Limited stayed unaware of this when
they were operating their computers normally. The employees could not properly notice that
their computers were slowing down that added to the problem. The lag pertaining to
execution helped in revealing the problems in relation to operations management. Technical
skills are not much required for crypto jacking and one can get hold of the crytojacking kits
very easily. The hackers would be able to gain more amount of money in return of lesser
amount of risk and hence this process was resorted to by the hackers of Billabong
International Limited (Jacobs, Chase & Lummus 2014). In the event of crytojacking, risk
pertaining to being identified is a lot less as compared to ransomware and hence this
compounded the problem for the organisation. The cryptomining code infected the computer
systems of the employees of Billabong International Limited and it ran surreptitiously and
went undetected for a long time. This created problems related to operations management for
the company and the management of the company found themselves in a grave situation.
Concept Map
Operations Management Problem
Difficulties for Organisation
Implications on Organisation
Need for Operational Plan

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Figure: Concept Map
Source: Created by the Author
Difficulties and Challenges for the Organisation
Cryptojacking can work off the browser of the user and it can be plugged into that of
the popular websites. The hackers inserted low-risk malware that targeted the individual
computers. It then made use of the resources from the computer of the visitor by making use
of their browser. The malware was inserted in the online portal of Billabong International
Limited and this gave rise to problems. The portals of Billabong International are visited by
many people and there are many users who log into the portal. All the users who were
accessing the portal got their computer infected. The clothing retailer got infected and
personal data related to the organization were siphoned off that had a big impact on the
performance of the firm (Jay & Barry 2016). Crypto jacking created technology disruptions
in the computers of Billabong International Limited. It affected the Windows Operating
system of the computer along with that of Mac OSX along with android. The internal
network of Billabong International had restricted access to that of internet and suddenly the
starters started communicating with various external IP address. The industrial control
systems need high processor availability and any kind of effect on it can pave the path for
serious safety concern for the company (Haksever & Render 2018). The sophistication
pertaining to the attack has made it all the more difficult to trace the hackers associated with
the crime. The mining malware affected the clothing retailer and it spread internally. It
moved laterally from that of the remote monitoring server to that of other people. The mining
malware was installed in the computer of the victim and it made use of the computing
resources to mine the crypto currencies in the systems of the organization (Gonzalez 2016).

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Scope of the issues and organisational implications
Cryptojacking occurs when the website gets compromised that can help in injecting
the cryptojacking malware. Once the malware was placed in the website of Billabong
International Limited the visitors to that of the site began the process of mining of the
cryptocurrency on the part of the cyber-criminal who had initially placed it over there. The
hackers were not simply attacking that of the public cloud for stealing sensitive data but it
was hijacking the cloud system so that it could mine the cryptocurrency like that of Bitcoin in
the system of Billabong International Limited (Sempreboni & Viganò 2018). Billabong
International Limited lacks that of skilled security experts and hence they were more reactive
as compared to being pro-active with the aspect of problem solving. Billabong International
Limited have not done long-term planning and this proved to be a major cause for the
occurrence of cryptojacking to take place. The occurrence of crytojacking resulted in
turnover among the employees as they could not meet deadlines on account of interruptions
taking place due to the breaking of technology (Stokel-Walker 2018).
Merits to OM theory
The transformation model in relation to operations management helps in the
delivering of goods along with services that is produced by that of an organization. The
transformational model in relations to operations management lays stress on the three
components of input, transformation process along with output. It helps in controlling the
processes that can transform the resources into that of the finished goods. Capacity
Management is indicative of the practice that can help in right-sizing the IT resources so that
it can help in meeting the future needs pertaining to the organization (Sampson 2018).
Effective capacity management can prove to be a proactive method and it can help in
ensuring that the business needs of the organization have been met. The optimization
pertaining to IT resource allocation can be achieved with the help of capacity management. It

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can help in the creation of a model that can help in the process of understanding the future
resource needs pertaining to the company.
Planning
Total quality management refers to a continuous process that can help in the
elimination of the errors in relation to manufacturing. Total Quality Management can be
taken recourse to in Billabong International that can help in improving the experience of the
customers and it hold all the parties accountable that can help in removing the operations
management problem in Billabong International. A mission should be developed in Billabong
International that can help in warding off the evils related to cryptojacking. The capacity
management skills in relation to the IT staff of the organisation should be tested that can help
in solving these issues. It can take recourse to the tools along with software that can help in
mitigating the risks related to cryptojacking (Roberts & Gollob 2018). The three important
components in relation to the operations management like people, process along with tools
should be established that can help in the identification of any kind of necessary work that
can consolidate the performance tools (Fernandes et al. 2014). The capacity management
system of Billabong International should focus on the aspect of service capacity management
that can help in the developing of a capacity plan. It can help in addressing both the current
capacity along with that of performance issues. The process of capacity management can help
in definition of the metrics that can be made use of during service operation for measuring
(Fennelly 2016). The capacity management system can help in managing the resource
performance in such a way that the service can meet that of service level agreement.
Need for Operational Plan
Operational planning is indicative of a process that can help the organization in
meeting the strategic goals and it lays down the conditions that can help in ensuring the

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success of the organization. The operational plans contains the clear objectives that can help
in ensuring that the quality standards in relation to the organization have been met. Cross-
departmental dialogue can help in the making of an operational plan that can help in
monitoring the progress in relation to the organization. The cryptojacking threat can be
incorporated in the security awareness training of Billabong International that can help in the
process of focusing on phishing-related attempts (Gupta 2015). It can help in loading the
scripts into that of the users of the computers. Training can prove to be a vital solution for
Billabong International Limited in case of failure of technical solutions. It is phishing that can
help in being the primary method that can help in delivering of malwares of different kinds.
Training however cannot prove to be much effective because it cannot direct the users
regarding which are the websites that should not be visited. An ad-blocking or that of anti-
cryptomining extension can be installed in the web browser that can help in minimizing the
risk relating to cryptojacking (Ahmed & Hossain 2014). The cryptojacking scripts are
delivered with the help of web advertisements and installation of an ad blocker can serve to
be a useful way that can help in the prevention of crypto-jacking. The web-filtering tools in
relation to Billabong International Limited should be kept updated and in the event of
recognizing any cryptojacking scripts the users should be blocked from visiting that site again
(Chelli 2015). A mobile device management solution can help in the process of controlling
the devices of the users. This can help in the process of managing the apps along with
extensions on that of the devices of the users. Cryptojacking can adversely affect the
organization despite best efforts made for stopping it. There can be a rise in relation to help-
desk complaint and this should be taken of in relation to Billabong International Limited.
Conclusion:
Crytojacking will pave the path for collapsing the computer system within Billabong
International Limited and it led to the hijacking of the CPU power pertaining to the

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organization. Ransom-ware like techniques have been employed by the hackers that can pave
the path for the criminals of mining cryptocurrency. One can easily get hold of the
cryptojacking kits and this made it easier for the hackes to get inside the computer system of
Billabong International Limited. Capacity Management can help Billabong International in
dealing with the threat. A model can thus be created that can help in allocating the future
resources in relation to the company. The operational plan can be made with the help of
cross-departmental dialogue that can aid in the process of monitoring progress within
organization.

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References:
Ahmed, M. & Hossain, M.A., 2014. Cloud computing and security issues in the
cloud. International Journal of Network Security & Its Applications, 6(1), p.25.
Chelli, K., 2015, July. Security issues in wireless sensor networks: attacks and
countermeasures. In Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering (Vol. 1, pp. 1-3).
Fennelly, L., 2016. Effective physical security. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Fernandes, D.A., Soares, L.F., Gomes, J.V., Freire, M.M. & Inácio, P.R., 2014. Security
issues in cloud environments: a survey. International Journal of Information Security, 13(2),
pp.113-170.
Gonzalez, R.V.D., 2016. Knowledge retention in the service industry. International Journal
of Knowledge Management (IJKM), 12(1), pp.45-59.
Gupta, U., 2015. Survey on security issues in file management in cloud computing
environment. arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.00729.
Haksever, C. & Render, B., 2018. Service and Operations Management. World Scientific
Books.
Heizer, J., 2016. Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B. & Lummus, R.R., 2014. Operations and supply chain
management (pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Jay, H. & Barry, R., 2016. Operations Management. Pearson India.
Roberts, J.D. & Gollob, M.H., 2018. Trending Now. Culture, 4, p.4.
Sampson, J., 2018. Secret digital coin mining and trading is a threat to your
business. Computer Fraud & Security, 2018(4), pp.8-10.

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Sempreboni, D. & Viganò, L., 2018, April. MMM: May I Mine Your Mind. In Companion of
the The Web Conference 2018 on The Web Conference 2018 (pp. 1573-1576). International
World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee.
Stokel-Walker, C., 2018. Are you making cryptocurrency for crooks?.