Remote Access Attacks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Remote Access Attacks - Case Study Example The other assumption would be the network was setup by a rookie as the topology is poor and vulnerable to attacks. Finally the final assumption would be the management is not aware of the need of a secure network. The management needs to be informed and enlightened on information confidentiality, integrity and availability (Lammle, 2008). Firstly the network is vulnerable as the firewall doesn’t serve its purpose. Firewall is meant to barricade the traffic between a public and private network. In our case the public network is the internet and the private network is the Quick Finance Network. It uses access lists and other methods to ensure the security of the private network. From the diagram the firewalls should be deployed between the router and the internet, and the web server and the internet and between the internet and the VPN server. Access lists that are employed on the firewall are set of conditions kept by routers that determines allowed traffic to and from various services on the network. In the quick finance network access lists can be deployed in the network to control the movement of traffic between the different buildings and also in a building, in case of information applying to specific offices/departments. Access lists are helpful in exercising control over network traffic. Access lists offer network control. These lists enhance the flexibility to filter the packets that flow in or out router interfaces. The access lists help protect expanding network resources without impeding the flow of legitimate communication. They differentiate packet traffic into categories that permit or deny other features. Proxy is another security measure that can be deployed. Proxy restricts who accesses what and which sites to block. The layer design deployed also needs to be improved. The network needs to be created using the proposed three layer design. The proposed three layer design comprises of core layer- this is where the public and private networks meet through a firewall router/switch, distribution layer – this layer holds switches which lead to different buildings and offices and access layer – the layer where the user is connected to the network. Vulnerabilities on this network There lots of vulnerabilities on this network and lots of access points where intruders can gain entry of this network. For starters the firewall has been wrongly placed. The firewall should be put across the perimeter of the network in order to limit access to the network. From the topology the firewalls don’t serve their purpose as they have been put beside the servers. The firewall is used for basic packet filtering. The filtering decision is made separately for every packet, thus a packet that was allowed earlier won’t dictate the entry of a later packet. It’s based on source and destination IP address, protocol and source and destination port numbers. The network should use the proposed layer 3 network model. Where we have three layers: access layer, distribution layer and core layer. This will avoid a bad topology as the current one where all the machines are connected via an Ethernet cable. With a layer three topology it would implement use of switches and more routers to control movement of packets and enforce access control. It would also have all the servers well placed in order to ensure data security, availability, integrity and confidentiality