Introduction
Avisitel is an international telecommunication US-based Company. In this project, the team will prepare a brief, itemized list of cyber-security policy issues as they apply to Avisitel. Premised on the list and the same industry-specific focus, a report about policies governing the different states as well as the federal government as a whole shall be reviewed taking into consideration the similarities and the differences between the two entities.
Cyber-security Policy Issues
The services for Avisitel Telecommunications directly or indirectly affect the synergy of other sectors that banking, defense contractors, power, and the federal government. The sectors heavily depend on Avisitel services. Cyber-attack incidents, natural disasters, and a breach of network security can cripple Avisitel services which will elicit a domino effect on the other sectors. To avoid such attacks, Avisitel has put in place the following defensive cyber-security strategies:
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- a) Ensure that control systems that connect to the network are secured from malicious networks.
This means that network administrators have the obligation of ensuring that workstations using the internet do not take control of the network. This is reinforced by regular system assessment, which will take into consideration the various sectors by exposing vulnerabilities (WaterISAC, 2015). This measure will go a long way to reduce network vulnerabilities.
- b) Implementing Network Segmentation and Apply Firewalls.
Network segmentation helps to secure a Layer3 network in different servers. It also maintains the security of host networks with similar security features. This involves grouping information technology equipment, parameters, and users into a particular segment, and making sure that one segment does not have control access that is meant for a particular group. For example, a finance personnel or user should not have the access design for IT administrators and vice versa. By implementing such a measure, it will be difficult for all groups or segments of the network to be compromised compromised. A firewall offers extensive security over traffic controls from end to end in a network system. This helps protect devices linked to the internet. Access points on the networks are limited to ensure that security protocols on existing pathways make it tremendously difficult for a malicious user to access the network (WaterISAC, 2015).
- c) Externalizing Web Access.
Securing the enterprise network is one of those things which the management of Avisitel takes seriously. In this regard, web browsers have been externalizes linked to the cloud. Web connectivity is enabled when an endpoint is linked to a secured host IP address. For example, https://.The application of this strategy goes a long way to protect the network and system against unauthorized access and malicious actors (Clark & Graham, 2014).
- d) Develop and Enforce Policies on Mobile Devices.
This is also known as the “Bring Your Device (BYOD)”.This means that employees may be allowed to use a personal authorized mobile device to perform work-related activities. This phenomenon pushed the management of Avisitel to put in place a mobile device policy that would protect its network system. In so doing, the elements of Information security, Network security, and Device security were taken into consideration in establishing mobile security (Mathias, 2008). These measures must be respected and applicable to all employees irrespective of their position within an organization. It is, however, imperative that employees do not use devices that do not belong to them as they might be infected. Employees who violate this policy are disciplined by internal policy regulations
- e) Implementation of a cyber-security training program for all employees.
Every employee is involved in ensuring that the network of Avisitel is secured. In so doing, all employees must take cyber-security training quarterly to help them stay abreast with the security measures put in place by management to secure the general organization (WaterISAC, 2015).
The Federal and State Policy Comparison Report
Both the Federal and state governments face different flavors of cyber-security threats. The Ponemon Institute (2017) conducted an extensive study on how states and the Federal Government access cyber-security-related incidents. The above institute realized that a majority of personnel in states and federal agencies who participated in the project could not attest to a comprehensive cyber-security strategy, policy, or practice that is known across the board. The majority of those who participated in the survey were in agreement that the effectiveness of detecting and preventing cyber-attacks is low (Hallas, 2017).
The study further reported that the Federal government has been playing its role in keeping state agents informed well ahead of time in the event of an imminent threat of cyber attacks consistently (Narayan, 2017).
Federal agencies will be well equipped, funded, and with trained personnel as they have a greater responsibility of protecting the entire country as compared to state agents.
Individual states usually will be called in the event of a cyber breach. This will begin the investigation and then later turn it over to the Federal government. This phenomenon is a result of the fact that the latter designs and implements cyber-related strategies that stay within the boundaries of the state whereas the latter extends its investigation to the larger scale due to its level of operation.
According to (Groebner, Shannon, & Fry, 2016), individual states are faced with a lack of resources to improve their intelligence, prevent, detect, investigate, and propose measures to prevent cyber-attacks as compared to the federal government.
About choosing the security technologies, cost and performance are of critical focus at all agency levels. Notably, inadequate skilled personnel to handle the products’ high technical complexity levels hit hard the individual states.
It is however worth noting that state cyber-security agencies shine in security innovation. The individual states are more positive regarding their ability to innovate compared to their federal peers. Roy explains that this can be attributed to the flexible and autonomous nature of the individual states.
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