course project

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According to your organization, discuss the security measures you
will apply to:

T4.1: Ensure software security and reliability.

Regularly conduct network auditing and mapping

Before you start putting any network security measures into place, it's crucial to
have a firm grasp of the complete network infrastructure. You should be familiar
with the fundamental configuration of firewalls, switches, routers, wireless access
points, ethernet cabling, and ports, for instance. As well as knowing what computers,
servers, printers, and other devices are linked to the network, where they are linked,
and what the connectivity channels are across the network, you should be aware of
them. You can find network flaws and security vulnerabilities that need to be
rectified with the aid of this auditing.( Moen ، 2020).

Maintain the Network's Updates

To safeguard the network from the most recent security risks, regularly check for
firmware or software updates on all network infrastructure components. Make sure
the antivirus is updated and functioning, the operating system and drivers are
current, passwords are established, and firewalls are operational. Make that
stronger passwords have been used in place of the default ones. Don't forget to
check the settings for any unsafe configurations; failing to do so could jeopardize the
security of your network.( Stich ، 2019).

Make 802.1x Authentication available

WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK network security keys were once thought to be the only
useful security measures you could implement for user authentication. To access the
network, though, all users had to use the same password. By permitting user
authentication regardless of device, 802.1x authentication resolved issues with
personal-level password or port security network protocols. Another feature that
sets 802.1x authentication unique is its capacity to dynamically allocate users to
VLANs.( Josh ، 2016).

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Methods for Increasing Software Reliability

Simple is best.

By keeping the program design route and development simple, you may greatly limit
the probability of failures. Complexity in the code could lead to further issues. Be
sure to spot unnecessarily complex code before implementation and search for ways
to make it simpler.

Verify its dependability

The field of software reliability engineering (SRE) is concerned with specific methods
for predicting the dependability of software systems. It evaluates a system's or
component's capacity to function at a certain moment or stretch of time. The idea
that failure data should be accurately measured using a variety of techniques during
phases of software development is also stressed by software reliability engineering.
This increases your probability of identifying and resolving software issues before
they arise.( Russell ، 2016).

Prepare yourself for failure

Even with your best efforts, failures will occur. Making ensuring that your design can
handle faults is one step you can take to ensure software reliability. Find every
possible weakness and look for solutions to lower the danger. Recognize how the

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software behaves in the worst-case scenarios and take action to stop it or recover .(
Andersson ، 2017).

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T4.2 : Secure and harden your OS.

 setup of the firewall. A firewall may or may not be configured by default in

your operating system. Even if a firewall is active, its security policies might
not be as stringent as they ought to be. Because of this, OS hardening should
include checking firewall configurations and making changes to ensure that
only traffic coming from IP addresses and ports that are strictly necessary is
admitted. Any open ports that are not necessary pose an unnecessary
security risk.( Moen ، 2020).
 access management. User, group, and account management tools are
available in Windows, Linux, and OS X and can be used to limit access to files,
networking, and other resources. However, these characteristics are
frequently not as stringent by default as they may be. Review them to ensure
that only users who actually require access to a resource are permitted
access. For instance, you might want to alter the file permissions on a Linux
server if each user account has read access to the home directories of other
users, even though this access is not truly necessary for the use case that the
server serves. ( Russell ، 2016).

 Anti-virus. You might wish to install and configure anti-virus software to find
and remove malware, depending on the sort of system you are hardening
and the workloads it is supporting. Antivirus software, for instance, offers

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 valuable additional security if you are hardening a Windows desktop where
users will be accessing email messages in the event that they open a harmful
file attachment. ( Andersson ، 2017).
 program upgrades Determine whether the operating system you are
hardening will automatically install security updates, and then adjust that
setting as necessary. Automatic software updates are generally a good idea
because they keep your system up to speed with new security concerns.
However, in some circumstances, you might wish to forego automatic
updates and instead demand that administrators explicitly approve software
changes in order to reduce the possibility of an upgrade that could interrupt
a crucial service. ( Andersson ، 2017).
 frameworks for hardening OS. Some operating systems offer frameworks
that are created specifically to give the system and the programs it hosts
additional access control and anti-buffer-overflow features. Examples of this
kind of Linux software include AppArmor and Linux. Installing or making
these tools available is generally a wise move that belongs on your system
hardening checklist.( Stich ، 2019).
 Workload and data separation. Isolating data and workloads from one
another as much as you can is a smart approach for OS hardening. By hosting
several databases or programs inside various virtual machines or containers,
or by limiting network access between various workloads, isolation can be
accomplished. By doing this, an attacker won't necessarily be able to access
other workloads if he successfully takes over one.( Josh ، 2016).
 Disable any extraneous features. Disabling any operating system or program
functionality you are not utilizing is a best practice as well. For instance, if
your Linux server by default has a graphical user interface but you will only be
using an SSH client to access the system, you should disable (or, better still,
uninstall entirely) the graphical user interface. Similar to this, disable or
delete Skype if it is already installed on your Windows PC but none of the
users will be using it. Features that are not used cause possible security holes
in addition to wasting system resources. ( Stich ، 2019).

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 References

Andersson, H (2017). Cyber Security and Network Security. Eric Digest. (237).
Ed:996357.
Josh, L (2016). Cybersecurity: Current Legislation, Executive Branch Initiatives. Eric
Digest. (89). Ed:78511.

Moen, M (2020). Transforming Cybersecurity Solutions using Blockchain. Eric Digest.

(49). Ed:75826.

Russell, J (2018). Research Anthology on Advancements in Cybersecurity Education.

Eric Digest. (105) . Ed:885632.

Stich, S (2019). Cybersecurity Issues, Challenges, and Solutions in the Business

World. Eric Digest. (284). Ed:536981.