Running Head: INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION 1
Apply: Signature Assignment: AntiVirus and NMAP Scans
CYB 205 – Infrastructure Administration
INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION 2
Most network breaches go undetected for weeks or even months, and an attacker usually
takes steps to go undetected. With that in mind, write a short paragraph describing how
the DEFAULT Windows® firewall and security settings might contribute to this
inability to detect an attacker probing from inside your network.
The fundamental goal of attacking the defense of a network is to deplete its resources
so that the network is forced to shut down. In this way, the network cannot provide its services
for a prolonged period of time. A certain type of attack is a protocol attack that aims at
breaking down the firewall and load balancer programs so that the website is unable to process
good quality traffic (Johansen, 2020). Default security settings in general do not provide
enough security as they are setup for functionality over security. Specific to Windows
Security Settings and Default Firewall Settings, they do not protect from traffic originating in
the internal network.
Firewalls keep a website or network secure, but they can also be overwhelmed with a
flurry of protocol attacks. There is no particular fix for such attacks because your business
organization's network has many weaknesses that can be exploited through different attacking
strategies.
Describe the complication in the AntiVirus and NMAP scan process for a large
Enterprise network with over 1000 computers as opposed to a small three computer
network?
Enterprises attacks are much-targeted attacks. To carry out an enterprise attack,
hackers observe the personal behavior and information of the employees of a certain
organization. The hackers observe their likes, dislikes as well as the websites they visit. The
hackers thus try to gain access to the people. The hackers figure out their laptop operating
system and personal email addresses so that they can gain access to individual computers on a
network. If a network has numerous computers, it is easier to access a network (Network
INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION 3
Vulnerability: Network Security Vulnerabilities. Network Vulnerability | Network Security
Vulnerabilities, 2020). Complications of scanning a large network: It takes more time. There
are a lot more results that have to be reviewed and handled.
Consider a cloud-hosted Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment with many new,
internet-accessible systems regularly being built and brought online. Describe the
challenges in preventing attacks in this environment?
With cloud services, the network has a scalable online platform that helps the
organization handle an increased level of work without any malfunction. Cloud computing
offers an advantage of computing ability and economic scale that works best for all kinds of
organizations. Small scale and medium level organizations can easily enhance their IT
efficiency with cloud services. The small-scale and medium-level enterprises do not have to
completely invest in high-level infrastructure. On the other hand, they can provide unique
services to their clients using scalable technology. This way, the enterprises are investing in
actual capacity IT infrastructure but can cater to fluctuating demand for services. The
enterprises can then reduce the actual capacity or increase it per convenience. Enterprises can
depend on rented server spaces without worrying about fully upgrading the existing server
spaces. The enterprises also command the flexibility to host the virtual IT infrastructure when
necessary through cloud services at locations that offer the lowest costs. The enterprises now
can have optimized IT infrastructures without the costs inflicted on the organization
(Johansen, 2020).
Finally, conclude this week's assignment with a page explaining how the same types of
tools demonstrated in this lab or discovered in your research might be used by an
infrastructure administrator to help secure an environment.
INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION 4
Networks act as easy targets for hackers and other attackers. This happens because
most of the networks do not have the security level of general desktops and servers. Some
network devices like small office devices and home office devices run anti-virus and
maintenance programs that protect general-purpose hosts (Johansen, 2020). Many
manufacturers produce these devices in bulk. These devices have the benefit of operations,
maintenance, and installation. Operators do not usually change default settings or harden them
for use. They also do not perform regular patching. The manufacturers also fail to replace a
device on a customer's premises once the device is not supported by the manufacturers.
Operators also fail to investigate any network device breach properly in case of cyber
intrusions.
INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION 5
References
Johansen, A. G. (2020). What is a firewall and do you need one? NortonLifeLock.
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-emerging-threats-what-is-firewall.html.
Network Vulnerability: Network Security Vulnerabilities. Network Vulnerability | Network
Security Vulnerabilities. (2020). https://www.redteamsecure.com/blog/the-most-
common-types-of-network-vulnerabilities.
