Hello,

I need two responses of at least 150 words each for the below students discussions for this week. Also in the bold below are the questions the students at answering.

Instructions:

What are modules in Python? How can you secure Python modules.

Student one:

Just like other scripting languages, if you want to create a longer program using Python it is best to use a text editor. When creating a script, and the program gets to be long, you may even want to split your script into multiple files for maintenance purposes. To support this type of work, Python can put definitions in a file, and use them in a script. This type of file is called a module. Definitions from a module can be imported into other modules. According to docs.python.org, “a module is a file containing Python definitions and statements.”

Python modules can host executable statements, and function definitions. These types of statements are meant to initiate a module, and is only executed during the first time a module name is encountered during an import statement. All modules have a private symbol table that is used as a global symbol table for all functions defined within a module.

As great as Python is, it is still vulnerable to attacks. Therefor users should secure their scripts. One way to maintain security is to use the most up to date version, which is Python 3. Although Python 2.7 is still supported, and used by many it was announced that Python 2 will end 1 January 2020. Another great tool is to scan your code with Bandit to pinpoint vulnerabilities. When it comes to modules, you need to watch your import statements. There are two types of imports, absolute import, and relative import. An absolute import will use an entire path of a module, while a relative import start at the path of a current module.

Reference:

Denbraver, Hayley. Python Security Best Practices Cheat Sheet. 28 Feb 2019. https://snyk.io/blog/python-security-best-practices-cheat-sheet/

Python Software Foundation. Modules. 01 Oct 2019. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/modules.html

-Rory

Student two:

Hi All

A python module is simply a python file that contains python statements, python definitions, or/and python code . A python file is just a file which has a “.py” extension. A python statement can be an import or a print statement inside a python file. Python definition is of course a python function that might take in parameters and return a value or a function that accomplish specific action for the overall program. Python code can be a full runnable python program with classes and functions or just few lines that achieve an action. Python modules can be compiled together to create a python package.

Python code like node.js code or c# code from security or lack of security perspective. Securing Python code requires almost the same security measure as node.js where input values must be sanitized and controlled before they are accepted and used.

Python developers have created extra advanced measure to secure python code. For example, defusedxml is a third party library that was developed by Christian Heimes to add safe-guards measures against “billion laughs” or external entity expansion (EEE) attacks. These attacks can consume multiple gigabytes of RAM when python XML parser tries to parse the payload.

Another way to secure python code is to prevent security vulnerabilities. This can be done by using another tool called Bundit where it scans each .py file. This tool create an abstract syntax tree (AST) then it runs security plugins to common software security issues.

Besides using third-party tools to scan codes to securely parse xml stream, the developer can follow best-practices when coding. Experienced python developers recommend checking SSL certification when making http requests. Also, they recommend not to deserialize data from an unknown or untrusted sources.

Dania

1. Topic: Cyber Incident Response Plan Overview: A computer security incident is a violation of (or imminent threat of) a violation of computer security policies, acceptable use policies, or standard security practices. As successful Doctoral candidate that completes ITS 834 you must be able to:
   • Define and structure metrics to manage cybersecurity engineering.
   • Identify and evaluate existing capabilities for cybersecurity engineering.
   • Identify competency and capability gaps for cybersecurity engineering.
   • Define and prioritize cybersecurity engineering needs.
   • Explore the options for addressing cybersecurity engineering needs.
   • Summarize and plan for improvements in cybersecurity engineering performance.

   Scenario: You have just been appointed as the Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer (CTO) in the City of New Cumberland (See “City of New Cumberland Organizational Structure” diagram). In the recent months, several team members from the Incident response team, research and development, and the IT team manager were fired due to their alleged involvement with cyber incidents. The city manager is concerned that the firing of the employees may cause them to retaliate and/or disrupt the critical services in the City of New Cumberland. Additionally, the city manager believes there may be an unmanageable amount of attack surfaces in the current network design. As your first as the CTO, the city manager has asked that you:

   1. develop a cyber incident response plan that addresses the concerns (should contain a high-level flow chart – see “Example incident response flow chart” and a brief description of how it is supposed to work),
   2. restructure your CISO and CIO teams as you see fit (diagram and description),
   3. provide an analysis of potential threats and vulnerabilities,
   4. summarize your organization revisions and provide key areas of focus for your current and future employees.

   Guidelines for Submission: Using APA 6th edition style standards, submit a Word document that is 5-7 pages in length (excluding title page, references, and appendices) and include at least five credible scholarly references to support your plan. The UC Library is a good place to find these sources. Be sure to cite and reference your work using the APA guides and essay template that are located in the courseroom. Include the following critical elements in your cyber incident response plan:

   1. A cyber incident response plan that addresses the concerns:
      1. Retaliation and/or disruption of critical services in the City of New Cumberland from a previous employee.
      2. Address the attack surfaces in the current network design.
   2. A diagram and associated descriptions of the cyber incident response plan.
   3. A diagram and associated descriptions of your restructuring plan for the CISO and CIO teams.
   4. An analysis of potential threats and vulnerabilities
   5. A summary of everything covered by your plan.
   • Please ensure your paper complies APA 6th edition style guidelines. There is an essay template located under the Information link.
   • APA basics:
     • Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″)
     • Use 1″ margins on all sides, first line of all paragraphs is indented ½” from the margin
     • Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font
   • Follow the outline provided above. Use section headers to improve the readability of your paper. If I cannot read and understand it, you will not earn credit for the content.

   See “How to Build Your Cyber Incident Response Plan” from SANS.orgThis assignment is worth 190 points.ITS834_Cyber_Incident_Response_Plan_Guidelines_and_Rubric.pdf
   How_to_Build_Your_Cyber_Incident_Response_Plan.pdf

2. By submitting this paper, you agree: (1) that you are submitting your paper to be used and stored as part of the SafeAssign™ services in accordance with the Blackboard Privacy Policy; (2) that your institution may use your paper in accordance with your institution’s policies; and (3) that your use of SafeAssign will be without recourse against Blackboard Inc. and its affiliates.

In your own words, answer this unit’s discussion questions in a main post (recommended minimum 300 words), and respond to at least 2 peers’ postings (recommended minimum 75 words).

There are many network devices and software programs that an organization can use to protect its network. Select a device or software that is currently used successfully. Describe the device or software, and explain how the typical organization uses the device to mitigate threats to the network. Explain why this would be your first choice if you could only afford one. Choose the posting of another student and respond by asking questions and agreeing or disagreeing with the other student’s choice. State your reasons for any disagreement.

Respond:

During much of my research I have run across the term Intrusion Prevention and Detection systems which covers a broad spectrum of both hardware and software components. One of these types of components is the Juniper IDP 10, 100, 500, and 1000 which is hardware based. The great thing about this hardware is it is compatible with different operating systems where some are only compatible with Windows and it has clear upgrade paths but currently it costs around $20,000 US (Tett, 2044). When first deploying the Juniper the perimeter of the network needs to be defined and the points where the IDP machine, or “sensors”, needs to be decided (Tett, 2044). Once that has been done each sensor will report back to a management server which will collect all logs, and maintains and stores all the policies and access information which the security team can remotely access the server to check the logs, run reports, and manage the configurations of the sensors (Tett, 2044).The Juniper provides a great scalable solution for organizations with a large distributed network that may need different speeds or classes in different locations, and it reduces administrative overhead by having a centralized management and administration console (Tett, 2044).

Coordinated Threat Control is an important feature available on the Juniper IDP that can effectively identify, stop, and remediate users who pose network or application-layer threats while detecting security events and blocking threats all done in real time (“Coordinated Threat Control”, 2010). The three benefits to using the available Coordinated Threat Control feature is it provides comprehensive threat prevention and detection utilizing leading technology that can detect and block most network worms based on software vulnerabilities, it provides correlated threat information that can identify the source of the attack and provide administrators with complete visibility into the security event, and finally it provides a coordinated threat response that blocks the threat before reaching the intended target which is the main purpose of any security device being used (“Coordinated Threat Control”, 2010). This is a great tool that can be used in any mid to large organization but might be too costly and robust for smaller organizations so it all depends on the needs and even scale of the network to determine what network security devices should be used.

Reference:

Tett, M. (2004, Aug 20). Detection and Prevention: 6 Intrusion Detection Systems Tested. ZDNet. Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/detection-and-prevention-6-intrusion-detection-systems-tested/

“Coordinated Threat Control”. (2010). Juniper Networks. Retrieved from https://www.ndm.net/ips/pdf/junipernetworks/Juniper%20Application%20Notes%20Coordinated%20Threat%20Control.pdf

Respond:

Think about alert software. In the Air Force, we used Fluke network devices to assist us with processes and finding network packets or potential threats. There was also SolarWinds and Wireshark. Think about a few of these and make some comments. i’m looking forward to it.

https://www.flukenetworks.com/

https://www.wireshark.org/

https://www.solarwinds.com/

What would you do?

Read the story below. In a paragraph or two, 200-250 words, describe what you would do if you were Fred now faced with this challenge. What would be someways to move this project forward? Flippant responses such as quitting, finding a new job, or nothing at all, while real life options and probably what Fred’s predecessor did, are not acceptable responses for the purposes of this discussion. If you borrow ideas from other sources, properly cite them.

It Really Happens!

Like many people, Fred Jones thought he had a difficult job. As the Information Systems Manager in a small school district, he was responsible for operating a district-wide computer network–everything from installation and maintenance to user support and training. While it was clearly not a one-man job, he was his own one-man staff. Fred had tried to explain to his superintendent that the district’s network was vulnerable to a range of threats because his small budget and non-existent staff prevented him from handling system security effectively, but his warnings had always been ignored.

One morning at a staff meeting, and much to Fred’s surprise, the superintendent announced that he had read a newspaper article about a student breaking into a neighboring school district’s computer system and changing report card records. The boss proceeded to declare that Fred was now being charged with developing and instituting a computer security policy for the school district.

As soon as the meeting was over, Fred approached the superintendent to request an appointment for them to discuss a shared vision for development of the security policy. “Effective security policy requires input and commitment from the whole organization, so I think we should sit down and map out a plan for developing our security policy,” Fred asserted.

But the superintendent declined the invitation to participate in the policy-development process. “Fred, I’m just too busy to get involved in this project. I trust you to do a job that will make us all proud.” When Fred asked about expanding his staff and budget to meet the increased workload, the superintendent again dismissed the issue. “Fred, times are tough and the budget is lean. Maybe next year we’ll be able to work something out. In the meantime, you get cracking on securing our system as if your job depends on it… in fact, I guess your job does depend on it.”

Fred watched his unrealistic, if well-intentioned, boss walk away, realizing that his job was no longer difficult, but truly impossible. He was now expected to develop, institute, manage, and monitor an organization-wide security policy without assistance, consent, or buy-in from a single employee, much less empowered high-level administrators. He knew that the organizational support he failed to receive meant that there was little chance of his being able to effectively secure the system–and that it was just a matter of time before a significant breach in system security would take place. Fred found himself in the terrible position of being responsible for stopping the inevitable, yet powerless to do so.

Security policy: Development and implementation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/safetech/chapter3.asp

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

• Design and document a secure wireless local area network (WLAN) authentication process.

Assignment Requirements

Other than the Internet, probably no aspect of technology will have more impact on the classroom than the wireless local area network (WLAN), which may soon become as indispensable to the educational mission as chalkboards and textbooks. In the 21st century, technological literacy will be a primary determinant of whether a student succeeds or fails later in life. The ability to access and work with a wide range of information technology (IT) applications will be critical to ensuring this literacy. The benefits of a pervasive wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) deployment in primary and secondary education include:

• Infrastructure Flexibility: School districts’ learning technology needs can be as unpredictable as class sizes. A WLAN can be quickly rolled out virtually anywhere, without the need for extensive retrofitting of existing infrastructure.
• Speed: Classroom productivity is measured in terms of how much can be taught in a short period of time. Students can access a WLAN-enabled learning environment in a matter of seconds, without special connections, transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) changes, or a tangle of cables. Teachers can focus on teaching and students can focus on learning.
• Resource Mobility: A WLAN allows technology-learning tools such as laptops to be moved to wherever students are, rather than vice-versa. This makes the concentration of mobile computing resources possible in a single classroom while maximizing hardware utilization and a return on the investment.

Deploying WLAN in the classroom can bring enormous benefits, but there are some unique challenges to this environment. For a start, school IT staff is often stretched thin by the support demands of a large number of users, so the WLAN solution cannot require time-intensive configuration and administration. Schools also pose wireless coverage challenges because of the conflict between their sprawling layouts and the need to provide connectivity to multiple users in the confined area of a classroom. In addition, given the uncertainties of the school budget process, WLAN deployment costs must be kept low, leveraging existing infrastructure where possible, and offering advantages in terms of scale and price.

After reading the given information on the requirements of a school’s WLAN, your task for this assignment is to prepare a professional report. The report should focus on the following:

• Identify the potential user groups and users of WLAN in a school environment.
• Assess the WLAN for probable risks in a school environment.
• Specify security requirements by user class or type.
• Mock-up a simplified data classification plan.
• List and justify particular applications and protocols that should be allowed on the WLAN.
• Determine whether personal digital assistants (PDAs) should be allowed to access the WLAN.

Required Resources

None

Submission Requirements

• Format: Microsoft Word
• Font: Arial, 12-Point, Double-Space
• Citation Style: APA
• Length: 1–2 pages

Self-Assessment Checklist

Use the following checklist to support your work on the assignment:

• I understood and have employed the WLAN requirements in a school environment in the authentication process.
• I have identified the WLAN users by class or type and their access requirements.
• I have specified the minimum protocols allowed on the network.
• I have provided adequate rationale for allowing or disallowing PDAs on the network.
• I have followed the submission requirements.