Case Study Paper 2 November 4, 2010 Amanda Segner

November 4, 2010

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

It is very important to secure your servers because you may never know who is on the network. People are important to any business and can also be a security risk to the company because of the network. You need to secure data internally and externally in your business. Attackers can use anything to try to steal data from a company especially data that they can use to their advantage. Attackers also get information about the businesss customers especially credit cards, social security numbers, addresses, and any information they can find. Even contractors and employees can put a business at risk. There are several ways that you can secure your network. Each person in a business has a workstation that they are at. Some work outside the office and some work inside an office. As a business you want to make sure that both are secure. Attackers can do several of things without even using a computer. These things are dumpster diving where a person goes through a companys trash and try to get data for anything. Another is eavesdropping where if say an employee is talking about a new product or even system that is going to be put into place can be heard by someone else intentionally. You also got piggy backing where it is to follow closely behind a person. Shoulder surfing is another one where people stand over you when you are putting your password in. Routers can move TCP/IP packets from a LAN (local area network) to another one. This means you can receive a packet from an outside source. When the data is broken up into smaller pieces and these smaller pieces are the packets. Attackers use these packets to hide programs, spam, or viruses in these packets. Access Control List (ACL) provides the host with a list of authorized groups or users on the network. It also provides details about each user.

November 4, 2010

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

The directory allows a user to read or write certain files. It also allows these users to execute programs on the computer. You would set what each user could do through the Active Directory. In the Active Directory, you can also set what each user name and when they need to change their passwords or even what programs the users can use. You can also protect your workstations by Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which is an outside LAN protected by a firewall. In the workstation you also want to make it as secure as you can. Some of these ways are (Wm. Arthur Conklin, 2004): 1. Remove unnecessary protocols. 2. Remove any unneeded modems. 3. Rename administrator account. 4. Secure the administrator account with a strong password. 5. Remove unnecessary user accounts. 6. Install antivirus and keep the updates up to date. 7. Disconnect any drives that are not needed. 8. Install a firewall. 9. Keep your Operating System up to date and patched. There are also different Operating Systems (OS) that you could use also. One of the most popular one is Microsoft Windows and then there is UNIX by Linux. Windows has its vulnerabilities but Vista is the most acceptable to the vulnerabilities. You want to create layer defenses (firewalls), dont run programs that are not trustable or Internet sites, replace programs with a bad security track record, and always keep up with your patches. There are some tips to try to limit some of the problems. These tips are (Wheeler, 2010): 1. Limit or isolate user privileges (limit the users privilege and make sure they dont have administrative rights).

November 4, 2010

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

2. Have good passwords by having more than 8 characters and putting numbers and special characters in the password. 3. When on the Internet dont use information you really want private (such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) 4. Get ant-virus and spyware programs and keep them up to date. 5. Make sure you are behind an external firewall. 6. Stop using Internet Explorer and switch to a different web browser such as Firefox that has Ad block. 7. Install all patches. 8. Turn off any third party cookies. 9. Disable filename extensions. 10. You dont ever want to run any programs sent through email or open anything through the email if you dont know where they came from. 11. Dont open any attachments not unless you know where they came from. 12. Check out what programs you use by researching them. 13. Limit information that you send. 14. Make any backups that you can. 15. Disconnect from the Internet or turn off the computer when not using it. 16. Change the configuration that way it makes it harder for an attacker to attack. 17. Make your wireless secure also.

November 4, 2010

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

18. Do physical security also because you still have dumpster diving and shoulder surfing. Some people feel that Linux servers are more secure than Windows servers. One of the reasons is that there are several different levels of security with Linux servers. Another reason is that you can limit the access to the root of the server or even disable the Root SSH Logins (makes it available for hackers to gain access to files and other resources). You can have special user attributes that allow them to have administrative rights if you allow those users to do so and others are restricted so if an attacker gets a hold of one of the user accounts, the hacker only has certain rights on the server. Software options are less vulnerable on Linux servers so an attacker would have to go through every individual software component. There is a lot of software that is developed for Linux and is designed to have the highest level of security. This software has more updates and more frequent updates. Linux also does not support .exe files and most files with .exe are spreading viruses. Linux also rewrites the information in the registry (which contains a lot of important information). Backups are made quick and easy. The last one is that you can restrict access to the FTP for Linux server, which allows different levels of access to the accounts on the server (Rias, 2010). When dealing with 1,500 employees you would want to make sure that you are using the best security measures that are possible. By doing the research it seems that you can protect your computer with many different ways. Linux seems more secure than Windows, but not that many people are familiar with Linux. If you use either Operating System you want to take all the precautions listed above to keep your network and server secure from attackers. You want to also make sure that your employees know the risks of what could happen if an attacker got into their

November 4, 2010

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

system. Running a business is crucial in the information world because an attacker can steal data from you and make you lose your customers. It also wou ldnt hurt if you hire an IT Specialist do all these security measures to help you protect your network.

November 4, 2010 Works Cited

SEC 280

Amanda Segner

Rias, M. (2010, January 9). 6 Reasons Why Linux Servers are More Secure. Retrieved November 3, 2010, from Smashing Tips: http://www.smashingtips.com/6reasons-why-linux-servers-are-more-secure Wheeler, D. A. (2010, March 16). Securing Microsoft Windows (for Home and Small Business Users). Retrieved November 3, 2010, from www.dwheeler.com: http://www.dwheeler.com/essays/securing-windows.html Wm. Arthur Conklin, G. B. (2004). Principles of Computer Security "Security+ and Beyond". Burr Ridge: McGraw Hill.