Hacker Target and Response Paper
Instructions:
Read the following scenario:
An employee, who had access to the highly-sensitive information stored on the organization’s intranet, has been terminated from your workplace. As the chief information security officer, you suspect that the employee plans to retaliate by hacking into the organization’s information systems.
Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper describing what the terminated employee may target, what methods they may use, and the damage their activities might cause to the Information Systems. Include your preventive actions and responses as the chief information security officer.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines
Solution.
Hacker Target and Response Paper
Introduction
The Chief Security Officer in every organization must by accountable and confident in the approval of all the position within his or her department in an organization. All the employees within a facility are legally responsible to security and safety verifications, background checks as well as series of assessments. An organizational facility must entail a workforce that has pinnacle security and safety permissions which are conscious to the mainly vital information inclusive of exclusive information, confidential information regarding the organization’ workforce and customers, as well as the facilities’ secrets. The industrial policies and employee practices of an organization are that the worker’s top security administrator (CSO) has to outline guidelines for the acquiescence, termination, and rejection of such personnel. Evidently, for any employee who leaves an organization by minute situations or terms is posed to be restricted from the operations of the organization because he or she can act in a manner to revenge upon the organization escalated by disappointments.
Organizations must be alert to such cases; therefore, the CSO must stipulate a way forward to counteract the possibilities of any attacks towards the organization by a disappointed worker. As such, the CSO must be able to lead and prepare for the likelihood of the organization’s weaknesses being compromised and the associated dangers of the threats and violations of the information system at the top most level. For this scenario, a worker senior authorization worker of the ABSAS Solutions Company was terminated for actively breaking the policies and regulations of the company coupled with disobedience. ABSAS Solutions Company has a weak security system, and the CSO at the company has stipulated that the threat is hazardous. After thorough analyses of the threat and company’s weaknesses to the risk, the CSO suggested that the threat is targeted on customer’s database, the surveillance system, the company’s network and the employees’ records.
Targets and Threats
The security at ABSAS for the information system and technology encompasses firewalls, encryption systems, computer virus security as well as password security at every point of strike. Since the worker was able to access top-level organizational security authorization at the maximum level, the laid-off worker is aware of the of the systems access codes at the company. Therefore, he can hack into and surreptitiously penetrate the system from a remote location and document and record any vital activity that is crucial to the company or any activity that takes place at the computers in the organization. Additionally, the employee had full managerial access to company’s workstations.
The CSO stipulated that the simplest way to bar the employee from remotely accessing the computers and workstations at ABSAS was to install undetectable adware programs that are used for computer screening purposes from trusted companies such as Web Watchers and InterGuard. The targeted computers in the organization would be installed with this software so as to monitor any malicious activities on the computers that execute admission, finance related computers and the senior executive workers’ computers. This software was initially created for parents to be able to monitor their children’s activity as well as employees. Evidently, the programs have now evolved in a way that they can monitor activities in organizations’ computers as well as help parents at home to monitor their children’s computer habits. Such programs are essential software for computer screening (Awareness Technology, 2012). However, they are poised to malicious use when the software land to the wrong hands especially individuals who are dishonest and untrustworthy. This is because as a computer screening software it can be used to attack security and foster the hacking culture. Software from InterGuard is utilized to execute actions such as internet filtration, computer screening, information loss deterrence, and computer backup and restore services.
Furthermore, research suggests that the program is poised to embezzle the database information, alter confidentiality of the client/workers and escalates the criminal activities within a client’s computer because of its network filtration and computer screening characteristics (Awareness Technologies, 2016). Additionally, Web Watchers outlined that such software is installed without the client’s knowledge or consent. Also, it is clear that the software opens up a stream of networks that can mess with the safekeeping of documents initiating hazards such as open system connections, crippling antivirus programs, self-transforming and altering system documents as well as installing malware programs anonymously. Alternatively, the program improves the overall performance of the client’s computer as it can act as a rootkit that takes in charge of the customer’s workstation without client’s final authorization (Wampler, 2007).
Internet Filtration
The programs are essential in the way that the screen the usage of internet on the organizational computers within its intranet. Arguably, the programs can turn off when an unusual activity is filtered. Also, it reduces the use of some applications to access the Internet, obtains some screenshots each moment a heedful statement is entered or read, and records all the inquisition terms, and its mechanism works continuously despite of the system being operational or not.
Computer Screening Through Software
Arguably, these software also has some useful characteristics when it comes to the screening of computers in an organization setting. The program works without physical monitoring and in a subtle manner on each and every computer in the organization without affecting the primary workstation. Also, the program traces all the communication by the client, verifies and monitors every keystroke actions in spite of the programs used, transforms all the information into decipherable reports, and it provides an archetypal information or feedback that is linked to each and every workers’ personal computer. The CSO chose programs to form WebWatchers and InterGuard as they are able to store, manage, and screen the targeted devices’ visited internet sites, e-mails, direct messages, program usage, GPS location sites, general surfing, deleting and entering information, keystrokes used, and the recovered significant data.
Counter-measuring
As a countermeasure, the CSO at ABSAS solution must be able to realize that the program is obscured and hardly noticeable. Hence it is imperative to recognize the computers that are affected. The CSO must convene a meeting with the administration with an objective of advising the management of the risk involved in the system as well as the general functioning at ABSAS. Consequently, a meeting with the workers must be held. Having a conversation with workers can be beneficial since they figure out a plausible experienced stage and get in touch with the laid-off worker utilizing the computer. The best strategy, rather optimistic that can bar the employee from accessing information from the organization is through discouraging any physical use by the employee from the organizational computers. Not allowing the worker to access the computers physically will radically decrease the threats. The pessimistic approach the IT department must inspect each and every workstation within the company to warrant that every employee is free from the imperceptible ad-ware attack.
Evidently, Web Watchers advise that one should recognize and remove the program from credulous victims. However, it is evident that the Web watcher program un-installation is hard since it does not utilize the add/remove utility on the computer as it cannot appear on the current list of programs. Additionally, the antivirus cannot detect the program as it runs anonymously since the program was designed to create hindrances to such typical protections. Also, the software cannot be deleted physically since it utilizes scoundrel anti-virus software as the program runs in an unnoticeable manner and one cannot delete its registry and related files. If one discovers a way to eliminate this program, the program will reproduce itself and restore the documents and directories (Awareness Technologies, 2016). Web Watchers postulate that there is a prescribed way to eliminate the program by utilizing a reliable and secure technique with the use of StopZilla by IS3. The program eliminates the Web Watcher and any malware related to it. The program is efficient as it assures one that there is no harm on the computer and the adware is removed out from the inside (Howard & Hu, 2012).
Organizational Preventive Measures
The organization must stipulate a conference that will deliver information to current workers regarding them to disallow the revealing of passwords and ensuring that each and every workstation is appropriately logged off when they are not using them. Also, the CSO must collaborate with the CEO and the legal expert within the organization to come up with a rule that employees must not execute downloads that are not permitted by the IT and security department. This rule must be introduced and implemented efficiently. Another boost in line to protect the organization is by using the programs from InterGuard and Web Watcher as a method to spot and distinguish unauthorized and prohibited procedures that take place on behalf of the company. A succinct implementation process can only achieve prevention; therefore, the staff at ABSAS must be keen on the methods, rules and punishments of the facility with the complete understanding that those going against the stipulated rules will be penalized heavily or terminated from the organization. Additionally, the employees must be aware that company will search for criminal condemnation or indictment for deliberate wrongful acts that can modify, damage, and misuse information underneath the federal and state legislations of professional crime and cyber crime (Herr & Romanosky, 2015).
Conclusion
Conclusively, the
security and the Information Technology department at ABSAS Solutions Company
must be conscious of the probability of a disgruntled worker attacking the organization’s
information system, assets, resources or individuals. ABSAS Solutions being a company
focused on protecting valuable information
of the client is focused on having measures that will protect this information
from terminated workers as well as typical
hackers. The company was able to distinguish the danger, stipulated the
weaknesses, outlined the target, and used the accurate
measures to defend the information system. Additionally, it fostered education
and training of workers on the new methods to cont-attack the threat.
References
Awareness Technologies. (2016). Features and Use. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from Web Watcher: https://www.webwatcher.com/#features
Awareness Technology. (2012). There’s no need for dedicated hardware if you choose to host your solution with us. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from Inter Guard Software: https://www.interguardsoftware.com/solutions.html
Herr, T., & Romanosky, S. (2015). Cyber Crime: Security Under Scarce Resources. American Foreign Policy Council Defense Technology Program Brief, , 11.
Howard, A., & Hu, Y. (2012). An approach for detecting malicious keyloggers. Proceedings of the 2012 Information Security Curriculum Development Conference at ACM, (pp. 53-56).
Morozov, E. (2010). Battling the Cyber Warmongers. The Wall Street Journal, 8.
Patil, J., Nage, P., Chhabda, G., & Jain, S. (2016). Application of Data Mining Techniques for Web Personalization. International Journal, 4(3), 50-65.
Wampler, D. R. (2007). Methods for detecting kernel rootkits. New York: ProQuest.