cybersecurity 6

Mohamed Conteh

Jeffery Cleveland

CYBR611-1902A-999

Colorado Technical University

April 14, 2019

Cybersecurity Components

Due to the increase and proliferation of cybercrimes, many business organizations have opted to heighten their cybersecurity by ensuring that their Internet-connected systems and networks are fully protected from cyber-attacks in every business organization, security is comprised of cybersecurity and physical security. They are both used to protect an organization against unauthorized access to its data centers or network. Cybersecurity prevents cyber-attacks, data breaches or compromising an organization’s network (Syngress, 2013). An organization that has a strong network security can prevent or mitigating any attack aimed at compromising its computer resources or information system. The cyberattack continues to be an evolving threat to business organizations, their employees and customers. More often than not, they are designed to access and destroy sensitive company data or extort money. For this reason, corporate entities ought to ensure that they have strong cybersecurity systems with multiple layers of protection that are spread across their computer resources, networks, and programs. This paper describes the cybersecurity network tools and cybersecurity network techniques that are used in the business organization that I work for.

Like many other business organizations across the world, Starbucks has experienced security breaches that have resulted in the loss of revenue as well as its reputation. Fraudsters were successfully extorting money from the company’s customers who use Starbucks payment card or mobile payment app to drain money from their Starbuck accounts. For this reason, the company saw it fit to upgrade its cybersecurity by putting in place the most effective cybersecurity network tools. Some of these tools include Wireshark, Nessus Professional, Snort, Kismet and OpenVas (Syngress, 2013). The Wireshark is a packet capture and analysis package that performs an in-depth analysis of the organization’s network traffic. It enables the information system professionals in the organization to capture traffic and decode each packet thus making it easier to see what each packet contains. Elsewhere, the Nessus professional is used by the organization to provide solutions for identifying malware that is used by attackers to gain access to an organization's network, any configuration issues or vulnerabilities that expose the organization to cyber-attacks. This tool gives the organization an outsider’s view of its network security. On the other hand, Snort is an open source detection system used by the organization and has three modes of operation (Syngress, 2013). They include network intrusion detection, sniffer and packet lodger. The intrusion detection monitors the organization’s network traffic while analyzing it against the defined rules of the user. Kismet is a network intrusion detector that works with wireless cards that support monitoring mode with sniffing ability. This tool has the ability to run under OpenBSD, OS X, and Linux among others. This tool is different from other wireless network detection tools because it works passively. Finally, the OpenVas comprehensively scans vulnerabilities that expose the organization to cyber-attacks. The tool is comprised of two components. The scanner, whose obligation is to scan the target computers and the manager which controls the scanner.

There are several cybersecurity network techniques used by Starbucks. They include authentication, encryption, digital signatures, anti-virus, and firewalls. Authentication plays a fundamental role in cybersecurity. The objective of this technique is to verify the identity of the user on the basis of his or her credentials that are stored within the security domain of the organization. Authentication may involve using passwords or the use of SIM cards which are used to identify particular cell phones (Syngress, 2013). Elsewhere, encryption is used by the organization to render company data undecipherable unless proper keys are used to unlock it. Data encryption is cited as the most effective way to secure company data because no one can read encrypted data unless he or she has access to passwords or secret keys that will enable him or her to decrypt it. On the other hand, the company uses a digital signature that uses algorithms that are almost similar to encryption. No one can read the company data unless he or she has a public key that verifies his or her credentials. The digital signature functions on the assumption that an authorized user has a private key that enables him or her to access the company data. Similarly, the organization uses anti-virus software that prevents the installation of virus in the organization's network system as well as scanning for viruses that may have gained their access or got installed into the system (Syngress, 2013). The anti-virus target windows operating systems because they are the most targeted computing platforms that are targeted by unauthorized users. Finally, the organization uses firewalls that hinder any attempt by unauthorized users to access the organization’s computers when they are connected to the internet. Firewalls are bundled up with operating systems and turn themselves on by default.

In summary, every business organization is faced with cybersecurity threats that call for heightened security to protect business organizations against cyber-attacks. Many business organizations including Starbucks use a variety of cybersecurity network tools that include Wireshark and Nessus Professional. Equally, they use cybersecurity network techniques such as digital signature and firewalls.

Reference

Syngress. (n.d.). Network security basics. Retrieved from http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Network-Security-Basics.pdf