Final Project

Information Security and Data Recovery Approach

Student Name Nezar Al Massad

Institution Name Dr. Mark O'Connell

Information Security and Data Recovery Approach

Introduction

The firm will be collecting and analyzing data which is vulnerable to security incidents that have become rampant in the last decade. All organizations are at risk especially due to competition . There are rivals who can employ malicious strategies which are about accessing data belonging to a rival in order to learn about secrets and strategies being planned for. Loss of data is costly to an organization which causes organizations to put in place information security mechanisms. In addition, we will have a business continuity and recovery plan which will ensure that the firm continues with the operations in the event of an incident. All firms need some kind of data backup system that will go online when the main system has been exposed and we are no exception. The following sections look into information security strategies and business continuity and data recovery plans that will be employed by the firm.

Discussion

When it comes to data and information security, the following measures will be undertaken. Creation of a security system will entail aligning professionals with the security infrastructure. The firm will put in place a computer system incident response team (CSIRT) whose main functions are; monitoring the system, identify and contain threats, and servicing the system. The team will be made up of IT experts with the required skills that are applicable in identifying and containing the threats (Rahman & Choo, 2015). Roles and responsibilities will be shared between them in a bid to ensure that each team member is aware of their responsibilities in the event of a security incident. Also, the team will be made up of an administrator who will represent the upper management in the team. His or her function will be to make important decisions when the team is facing any difficulties. On the other hand, the team will service and update the system so as to minimize the weak links and the vulnerabilities. It is deemed a good practice if the CSIRT team is able to update and service a system in a bid to ensure that vulnerabilities are being minimized.

Improving the skillset of the employees is also an information security strategy. It is normally said that the security of a system is as strong as the weakest link. Employees who use the system may expose it to hackers especially when they are not aware of the risks. There are employees who will connect their personal unsecure devices to the network which is a big risk. Regardless of their specialties, it is important that employees are offered preliminary training so as to make them understand the basics of information security (Tøndel, Bartnes & Jaatun, 2014). With the required skills, the employees are unlikely to expose a system to threats. It is imperative to note that the training should be continuous as newer vulnerabilities will be experienced as time goes on. For best practice, the training should be coupled with formulation and implementation of policies that will guide the performance of the CSIRT team and the workers. The policies will indicate the regulations that need to be followed by all the internal stakeholders. It will attain a certain level of uniformity which will improve the security level.

The other strategy entails investing in the IT infrastructure with the aim of promoting security. This refers to various assets such as buying and installing firewalls and antivirus programs. These two are effective in keeping out threats hence complement the performance of the CSIRT team. The firm will invest in the latest form of anti-malware software and can also invest in partnerships with cyber security firms that will be offering services and advisory to the firm. The upper management needs to invest in infrastructure as it is key in ensuring that information security has been upheld (Tøndel et al., 2014). Some firms have the tendency to invest limitedly in IT infrastructure which should not be the case. The upper management should have a sufficient budget for IT security infrastructure.

Finally, the firm will put the cloud to work which is about seeking cloud services. A majority of modern firms are wary of doing so citing security risks. However, security of data is much improved if the resources can be moved to such an environment (Erl, Puttini & Mahmood, 2013). As such, the organization will work with the cloud services provider on ensuring that the data and information are encrypted and secure. Small and medium-sized business firms do not have the required resources for upholding the integrity of data hence are encouraged to consider seeking the services of a cloud services provider. The above are the strategies that will be taken with the aim of promoting the integrity of the data at the firm.

When it comes to business continuity and data recovery, there are a number of strategies that will be employed by the firm as follows. First, there will be personalized file backups through use of a hybrid cloud approach. Though the data will be 100% stored in a cloud environment, there will be filed backup that will be stored at on-site server that will be located away from the organization’s current premises . In the event of an incident at the organization’s premises, the server will be safe. It will be located at an undisclosed location that is free from natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons among others. It will be continually updated so as to ensure that it has the same data as the current running system. In the event of an incident, the backup system will go online but access will be limited. Only the administrators will be allowed to use it and will authorize access of other users.

The other strategy entails cross-device continuity solution. When an organization is facing an outage or a physical issue, various issues such as communications getting cut-off and failure to process transactions can be experienced. Cross-device solution can help address the issue through the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. There will be a policy that will oversee the use of employees’ devices to sustain communication and also allow coordination of various functions (Tondel et al., 2014). There are devices that will be used for official communication while others will be for supporting and coordinating the various communications. For this strategy to work, the devices will need to use similar applications in order to allow uniform performance.

The above strategy will work in a situation there is a complete outage. In the event there is no complete outage, collaboration of the communication software will be employed. It refers to a unified messaging approach where messaging, emails, voice calls, and faxes will be done on a single interface. The firm will install effective collaboration software that will be used in the event of a partial outage. The software needs to be secure from threats and vulnerabilities in a bid to ensure that issues have been minimized (Tondel et al., 2014). On the other hand, the collaboration software will be used by authorized individuals who are aware of its functionalities and optimization.

Finally, employees need to be empowered so as to helpful in the event of an incident. For instance, the CSIRT team should be able to jump into action without requiring authorization by the upper management as the process may take time exposing the firm to more danger. More so, the social media team should be able to use unofficial channels for responding to customers’ requests without authorization. In essence, when there is an incident that has led to an outage, the various workers and teams should be empowered to act in a manner they deem best in relation to upholding business continuity. It is an important approach that minimizes the harm caused when a firm faces a serious incident.

Conclusion

Information security is a major business function especially for organizations that need information so as to further operations and strategies. The firm will strive to uphold data integrity through investing in IT infrastructure, putting in place a CSIRT team, training employees, and seeking the services of a cloud services provider. On the other hand, the firm will need to uphold business continuity and data recovery where it will put in place a personalized file backup, install collaboration software, empower staff, and employ a cross-device continuity approach. These approaches will enable the firm overcome challenges and issues associated with a computer security incident.

References

Erl, T., Puttini, R., & Mahmood, Z. (2013). Cloud Computing: Concepts, Technology & Architecture. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.

Rahman, N. H., & Choo, K. R. (2015 ). A survey of information security incident handling in the cloud. Computers and Security 49(3), 45-69.

Tøndel, I. A., Bartnes, M., & Jaatun, M. G. ( 2014). Information security incident management: Current practice as reported in the literature. Computers & Security 45(1), 42-57.

�Are you suggesting the competition causes the malicious attacks??? That’s how this reads. Delete

�That’s not a job… “..make important decisions…”

�Hmmm a second site??? Expsnsive!!!