Project Implementation and Project Testing

Professional Reflection Essay Submission

Jamie Vaughan

8 May 2018

Southern New Hampshire University

Running head: Capstone Component 3 – Professional Reflection Essay Submission

Problem Statement

Security is one of the largest problems for Cloud-based applications or servers. Currently there is a huge security risk for Cloud computing, companies are worried about data breaching, data loss, hijacking, and unauthorized logins. Security risks, companies are having trouble getting financial assistant with the setting up a cloud account. Using the cloud for storage and computing means that you will have no physical storage means or the need to have severs, everything will be web based or interfaced. Most companies that are moving to cloud-base is usually because of the cost for this transformation, being able to be flexible, re-allocation and the effectiveness is another reason that a company would change to a Cloud-base. Company “Data” is a key for the success of any company, the main concern is to ensure that their data is protected. These risks need to be limited, to ensure the all data is safe and secure from outside sources being able to intrude.

Significance of Problem

Significance of the problem is there are to many cloud-based products out there, that is lacking high security features. Sure, they have security features, but there is still Hijacking, Data Breaching, Data Loss and Unauthorized Logins. The problem is the firewalls are not protecting the data that is coming into or leaving the network. Companies are still using servers because of the security features, also people do not want to change to something they are unfamiliar with. There needs to be a team setup that their whole purpose is to create security risks, have them breached to fix the problem. This will allow for a stronger security system. It is like a bank, they often hire people to break into their banks, so that they can find the security risks and fix them.

Implementation and Testing Plausibility

The challenges will be to do testing that other companies have failed to do, or implement the changes to make the network security better.

Planning

· The first part of the planning will be to research what security measures have been done thus far with companies. Right now, there are five basic rules that IT use for security for web-based products: Review your ransom response plan, check the power supply, map data for better security and compliance, update server protection, and push IT security training wider and deeper (ESET). The planning needs to start with the vulnerabilities that occur daily, which is the phishing, malware, wrong software version that is a security risk and firewalls not protecting the data. The plan needs to raise all security awareness for all users, especially when the storage and other applications are cloud-based. Latency will occur once using cloud-based products, with everyone being on the network at the same time, need to ensure that there is plenty of bandwidth to cover all the users.

· Resources

One of the resources needed for cloud-based is the anti-virus program that will be needed to ensure the security of the user’s devices. There are several products out there that help protect but one of the most secure is McAfee. It will not allow a user to do any kind of work without doing ID check, which can be with a token or an encrypted password. The reliability is very important when it comes to keep out vulnerabilities. Another resource that is needed is the type of firewall that will be needed to protect the network from incoming and outgoing traffic. There will be two different firewalls that will be used Next-Gen Firewall and Application-level Gateways, these will protect the data and the user’s.

Proposal Description

Using cloud-based products versus using servers and purchasing software with licenses. It has been said that using servers and purchasing software with licenses is more secure and more reliable. That is not always the case, servers go down all the time and back is hard to get without a lot of data transferring. Servers are very expensive; the products must be updated often which cost the company a lot of money. The purchasing of software can be very expensive especially when you are getting the licenses for every user. The company needs to spend money on hiring specific employees to be able to manage servers and the data that it holds to manage it daily. Using cloud-based will allow the company to be able to spend money on a monthly yearly basis without breaking the bank. One positive note for using cloud-based products is that is you need more space you just call the cloud company you are using telling them you need more space and they flip the switch giving you more space.

The cost of buying a server or managing it can cost as low as $75k and continues to grow the more the company grows. When using a cloud-based server it can cost as little as .5 cents per hour, making it $12 a day, $4380 per year. This is an easier to come up with yearly then to come out of pocket $75k.

There are several areas that the company will need to look at for security, plugging a USB or other devices into a network will allow for security vulnerabilities. The blocking of any ports will be necessary to be able to keep security working and to be able to maintain the health of the company, this will help with and breach that may occur. Applications that will be used will be very specific to what will protect the company’s assets.

The planning begins with the stakeholders, impact of the proposed solution, the research market and the significance of the problem. Once all this information is gathered, the startup of the cloud but the technology and methodologies need to be in place before this can happen. The next phase will consist of (PaaS) and the OS will be Linux for security reasons, for networking we will use (IaaS) meets all the hardware, storage software and security requirements.

Methodologies will be key choosing how the process will be met, they work together with the shared data, the virtualization, tools needed for collaboration and other tools used to make a prosed solution. The virtual desktop need to use Linux as a kernel, this will provide an environment that is simulated to run the OS for real time events.

Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Internet 2

TIER is (Trust and Identity in Education and Research) that provides campus practice tools and open-source tools. The team will be setup to run programming, build trust, and build a stronger security. This environment that is being built will all users to speed-up the process, allow for innovation to be created, and ensure there is enough bandwidth to cover the requirements to build the architecture.

Cloud Computing

Currently there are several Cloud computing going on, the problem is still the security, allowing unauthorized personnel and there are attacks happening from breaching. Cloud computing needs to provide security and gaining trust of users. Attributed Access Control model (ABAC) allows all three models (PasS, IaaS, and SaaS) to make subtle changes to the network. Using ABAC will be less complex to see and make it more ecological.

Solution Application

ABAC will allows limited access to other resources for all know policies. The control principals will be done by individuals or associations that are involved with the exposure. VLANs will be setup to be flexible and enabling scalable, that will be the direct connect between Internet 2 and the endpoints. The service meets the wide-ranging needs of the research and education community—both now and into the future.” (Layer 2 services, 2017)

· User Network and Infrastructure

There will be a wired network that will use switches, routers, cables and the speeds will be 10mbps-100mbps), the bandwidth will be upgradeable. All the computers that will be used will need to use a Network Interface Card (NIC), this will secure the network. There will be four standard types of transmission (802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11, and 802.11a) these will be used with wireless. There will be Virtual Private Network (VPN) for every user that be using wireless interface, this will protect the network.

References:

https://www.cio.com/article/2412506/cloud-computing/7-requirements-for-building-your-cloud-i nfrastructure.html

http://ibmsystemsmag.com/mainframe/trends/cloud-computing/cloud_checklist/

Layer 2 services. (2017, January 10). Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.internet2.edu/products-services/advanced-networking/layer-2-services/

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2018/04/04/5-security-actions-cyber-risks-trends/