Report On Security Audits, Controls, And BCP Planning For Telstra Corporation Ltd

Working Mechanism of Ransomware with Three Tools for Mitigating Ransomware

Information system is the organized structure, which is useful for assembling, systemizing, corresponding and finally accumulating any type of sensitive information (Marchewka, 2014). It is fully automated and thus is used by not taking any manual help of the working procedure. The information system also consists of the fully computer based database and thus comprises of the restricted sensors, helping to store information easily and promptly (Oztaysi, 2014). Decision making process is also enhanced by this system and the overall time consumption for any data operation is quite less in comparison to other systems.

This report gives a details description on risk or security management for one of the most famous and important telecommunications company of Australia, called, Telstra Corporation Ltd. Telstra helps its customers by providing several services of broadband and telecommunications. Furthermore, they also provide services of information system to the employees. This report will also describe the security audits, controls and business continuity planning of Telstra with proper details.

1. Working Mechanism of Ransomware with Three Tools for Mitigating Ransomware 

Ransomware attack occurs when the victim’s data is being hacked by encryption mechanism. The working procedure of this attack is extremely simple (Schwalbe, 2015). This malware utilizes symmetric encryption for recovering the private as well as undistributed data for decrypting the sensitive data of the victim and hence enhancing vulnerabilities. The most popular ransomware attacks that have taken place are CryptoLocker and WannaCry.

 

Figure 1: Working Mechanism of WannaCry Ransomware

(Source: Eason, 2014)

The above figure has clearly demonstrated the working mechanism of WannaCry ransomware. There are five steps here, which are arriving through exploitation, file delivered through exploiting the running as a service, dropping the ransomware file that could perform encryption, dropping component files for creation of ransomware notes and finally encrypting the files (Holtshouse, 2013).

The three tools for mitigating the ransomware attack are as follows:

1. i) Firewall: The first technique is to implement firewalls for restricting the RDP or remote desktop protocol within network level.

2. ii) Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit: EMET is the second important tool for mitigating the ransomware attacks (Kushniruk et al., 2013).

iii) Anti-Spam Tool: This tool is helpful for restricting the spam messages or mails and hence these attacks are stopped.

The organization of Telstra Corporation Ltd gives several services of IS for their employees (Telstra. 2018). The significant exploitations of these services are possible by few attacks. The most important and noteworthy devices for securing the network are listed below:

1. i) Router: This device helps in forwarding the various data packets within computer network (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). It also performs traffic functionalities and the packets are then eventually forwarded from any one particular router to the next router. All of the routers are connected with each and every data line with various networks.
2. ii) Modem: This particular network security device helps in modulating the carrier wave signal to properly encode the digitalized information and then demodulate and transmit the signal.

iii) Ethernet Hub: This Ethernet hub is helpful for connecting to various Ethernet devices and thus the devices could work as one specific segment of network (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta & Lanvin, 2013).

Three Types of Threats against Network Routers and Switches

The lack of firewalls or antivirus software is the major cause of vulnerability to abuse as well as destructions. 

Telstra Corporation Limited is utilizing Windows Server 2012 for appropriately host the website. The various important requirements that are to be met for these web servers are reliability and availability (Bloom et al., 2014). The reliability could be stated as the major ability to use the computerized software and hardware. Thus, reliability is majorly maintained within this web service. The major factors, which help in determining the reliability factors in Telstra’s web server, are given below:

1. i) Continuity in the Internet connectivity.
2. ii) Proper maintenance of the hardware for maintaining the stability of Windows Server 2012.

iii) Stability of Hosting Facility (Brooks, 2016).

The next factor of availability is even more important for Windows Server 2012.

1. i) Continuity in web server availability.
2. ii) Periodical maintenance of Windows Server 2012.

Telstra is subsequently utilizing the Microsoft Exchange Servers for the major purpose to provide various email services for their staffs (Dahlstrom, Walker & Dziuban, 2013). This particular server is extremely effective and efficient for all companies. The respective OS of the Microsoft Exchange Server is called the Windows Server and there are multiple versions of this server. This organization ensures confidentiality and integrity by few major factors. This confidentiality and integrity are maintained by ensuring that only the authenticated and authorized users are accessing all emails (Tarhini, Arachchilage & Abbasi, 2015). The other important method for maintaining the authenticity of the emails is encryption. This particular technique of encryption hides or encodes the confidential data or information to a cipher text and it becomes impossible for the hacker to guess the original message.

 

Figure 2: Confidentiality and Integrity in Microsoft Exchange Server

(Source: Ahmed & Hossain, 2014)

The staffs or the employees of the department of information technology of Telstra have reported that various problems or issues are substantially present within their web server as well as web mail (Arvidsson, Holmström & Lyytinen, 2014). There are several important and significant security issues, threats and malware that could be vulnerable for the web server and the web mail. According to their priorities, these threats, security problems and malware are listed below:

1. i) Computer Viruses: The first as well as the foremost danger or risk for their web mail as well as web server would be the specific computer viruses. The computer virus can be stated as the explicit kind of malicious programs or software that whenever is being executed, eventually would replicate itself by easily modifying each and every computer program and entering their own significant codes.
2. ii) EmailPhishing: The phishing of electronic mails is the second important type of threat with the main attempt for obtaining the sensitive information or data such as email details, usernames or passwords only when the attacker disguises himself as one of the most trustworthy entities (Cheminod, Durante & Valenzano, 2013).

iii) Electronic Mail Spoofing: The third important threat or malware according to the priority of threat is the electronic mail spoofing. In this attack, the hacker sends mails by creating a fake email address. As soon as the user clicks on that mail, the authenticity is being lost eventually. 

The respective business continuity planning of the entire department of this IT or information technology can be made sure by simply providing major fault tolerances and redundancies (Crossler et al., 2013). The typical email server is available for this organization of Telstra Corporation Limited and is quite effective for the staffs of this company. However, often a significant issue arises when this email server is unavailable for the employees and thus these employees face several issues due to this unavailability. For the purpose of improving this availability of the email server in Telstra organization, two approaches could be helpful. These two approaches are listed below:

1. a) Implementation of the Sender Policy Framework or SPF: The first important approach for improving the availability of the email server in Telstra organization is by simply implementing the SPF or the sender policy framework (Gallagher & Sixsmith, 2014). The specific SIDF or the sender identity framework is subsequently present within this sender policy framework to maintain the authorization and authenticity of their email server. Hence, the previously existing issue of unavailability of the email server in Telstra is easily being resolved.

Reliability and Availability of Windows Server 2012 Web Service

 

Figure 3: Implementation of the Sender Policy Framework

(Source: Kadam & Onkar, 2015)

1. ii) Security of the Applications: The next important or vital approach for the improvement of the availability of the email server is by the security of the various applications. The various malware and threats are easily secured with the help of this particular approach.

 

Figure 4: Securing the Applications

(Source: Power, Sharda & Burstein, 2015)

The above mentioned two approaches are extremely popular and significant to remove the issue of unavailability of email server in Telstra Corporation Ltd.

The employees of Telstra have major impacts in information security. They get the idea of securing the data or information easily and promptly (Arvidsson, Holmström & Lyytinen, 2014). Moreover, the services that they are providing are extremely safe and secured and hence the risk of data loss or identity theft is avoided properly.

The recommendation for managing the risks for reducing the risks of employees or internal threats in Telstra is that they should implement access controls within their information systems. 

The log records within this organization of Telstra are eventually used to monitor or even analyze the respective email servers as well as the web server. Each and every type of log record within this company majorly involves the proper security, access and finally event (Tarhini, Arachchilage & Abbasi, 2015). This type of log record is extremely important for collecting the history of actions or transactions for resolving any type of problem or issue within the organizational business. The hardware or the software failures are easily and promptly eradicated with the help of these log records. These log records are present in all organizations and in all businesses. These log records even list the various changes in the database and a stabilized storage format is being maintained. Since, the organization of Telstra Corporation Ltd helps to provide telecommunications services to the clients, the web server as well as the email server is to be made secured eventually for avoiding the various issues related to the previous data (Brooks, 2016). The security, access and event of this particular organization are required to be kept safe and secured for maintaining the proper balance within the company. There are some of the major functions of these log records for Telstra Corporation Limited and these functions are as follows:

i) CreateLogFile: This particular function helps to create new log files of Telstra organization.

ii) DeleteLogFile: This particular function of log record helps the organization to delete the various unnecessary log files.

iii) AlignReservedLog: This particular function of log record is helpful for aligning the reserved log records within the organization of Telstra Corporation Limited (Laudon & Laudon, 2016).

Ensuring Confidentiality and Integrity for the Staff Emails

iv) AllocReservedLog: This specific functionality of log record of Telstra Corporation Limited helps to allocate the reserved logs subsequently.

The accessing, event as well as security is properly utilized for the purpose of helping for monitoring and analyzed the several problems regarding the email servers and web servers within Telstra Corporation Ltd organization.

The various kinds of the audit log records could be utilized by the organization of Telstra with the significant purpose to obtain a better performance by properly analyzing the audit and hence a proper support to various internal investigations within the organization or the issues related to log term are completed efficiently (Holtshouse, 2013). The respective operational trends are eventually intended with this particular phenomenon.  The various problems related to the email server as well as the web servers are easily and promptly resolved by the specific audit log record. The various systems as well as the account of the various staffs of this particular organization of Telstra Corporation Ltd could be maintained properly and thus the various organizational transactions could be tracked easily.

The network security can be stated as the major activity that is being designed for the protection of the integrity as well as usability of both network and data. This type of security also involves technologies of hardware and software (Schwalbe, 2015). The effective and efficient network security controls the network access and it also targets the variety of risks and then stops these risks from spreading or entering within the network. Several defence layers are combined together to form this network security and hence the users could easily obtain proper access to network resources and carrying out threats and exploitations.

Several devices of network security are present that could be helpful for providing better efficiency to control the privacy or security within the business operations of Telstra Corporation Ltd (Oztaysi, 2014). The five major devices of this network security are given below:

i) Bridges: The first and the most important network security device is bridge. The typical router helps to link two types of network and then the specified bridge is being utilized to connect the two sub networks. Thus, this network security is easily and promptly controlled by the help of network security device, bridge. 

ii) Modems: The second important device for securing the network of Telstra Corporation Limited is a modem (Marchewka, 2014). It is the proper combination of a modulator and a demodulator. The significant signal within the network of the company is either modulated or is demodulated with the help of this particular network security device of modem.

Discussion and Prioritization of Threats and Malware for Web Server and Web Mail

iii) Repeaters: Another important and significant network security device to secure the respective network of the organization of Telstra Corporation Limited is a repeater, which is responsible for amplifying the specified signal whenever is being received. The repeaters are highly efficient and effective in terms to secure the network.

iv) Network Routers: The fourth significant and noteworthy device for securing the network in Telstra Corporation Ltd is the network router (Kushniruk et al., 2013). This particular device is solely responsible to route the traffic from any one network to the other.

v) Network Switches: The fifth or the final important device to secure the complete network within the organization of Telstra Corporation Limited is a network switch. This network switch could eventually work in the distinct layer of local area network for the major or the core purpose of filtering the packets and then sending the packets to each and every interface of this network.

Conclusion

Therefore, conclusion is eventually drawn that this information system could be depicted as the specific compilation of different equipment pieces, which are required to circulate sensitive information securely. This is the most important computerized system, although helps in describing the environmental control system or telephone switching system. These information systems also include the processed information as well as shared resources with other people, who help in system management. This above provided report has properly outlined the impact of information system for a famous Australian telecommunications company, called the Telstra Corporation Limited. The tools for ransomware threat are provided here and the major security related problems with web server and mail server are also identified for Telstra. Two distinct approaches to improve the respective availability of the web servers and email servers are also provided here. Other details of network security device and many more are also given in this report. 

References

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Kushniruk, A. W., Bates, D. W., Bainbridge, M., Househ, M. S., & Borycki, E. M. (2013). National efforts to improve health information system safety in Canada, the United States of America and England. International journal of medical informatics, 82(5), e149-e160.

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Telstra. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/our-company [Accessed on 28 Sept. 2018]