The purpose of this course is to allow the student to develop additional knowledge and skills on perimeter network defenses, including firewalls and intrusion detection systems, that provide protection to our corporate data assets. Here is an overview of all of the different types of assignments in the course. You can find the detailed directions for the assignments and the grading rubrics in the module where they are assigned.
The discussion activities provide you with an opportunity to deeply reflect on the readings assigned to each module and apply them to a problem. They can prepare you for the projects and the proctored assessments. Online discussion allows time to weave your thoughts and reflect on the readings and your experiences. All of the posts on the discussion board are required to be thoughtful, reflective, and concise.
The labs and fill-in-the-blanks in each module can help you practice what you learned and apply it to solve a problem. They can prepare you for the proctored assessments.
The proctored assessments and quizzes provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your mastery of the course knowledge. You can find the information on how to take proctored assessments in the Taking Proctored Assessments section of the Syllabus.
Network defenses rely first on understanding the current configuration of hosts, services, and protocols in use within the organization. Before it is possible to plan to change anything, you must first understand what is present and where it is located within the network. The initial phase of any network security realignment process involves identifying existing resources.
You have been working as a technology associate in the information systems department at Corporation Techs. The Corporation Techs’ management is concerned that they are losing business to a competitor whose bids are too accurately just under the bids offered by Corporation Techs––by an exact amount. A security firm was contracted to conduct a review of Corporation Techs' systems, identifying unauthorized access to the Web server as a potential source of compromise due to the shared reporting and public Web site functions. The packet trace and vulnerability scans gathered during this review are available for your use.
The Web server provides public access to the organization's static Web site for contact information, while sales team members in the field transfer contract and bid documents using a site secured with a logon and password. Corporation Techs has budgeted for new networking hardware but does not want to add additional servers due to cooling issues. Your manager has asked you to create a security plan that will prevent unauthorized access, while making sure that both public and secured Web access remain available.
The data and information you need to complete this part of the project are provided to you. (See the Required Source Information and Tools section at the beginning of this document.) In this part of the project, you need to conduct a survey of the existing hosts, services, and protocols within Corporation Techs' network. Specifically, you need to:
Part 1: Network Survey - Project Scoring Criteria |
Percentage |
---|---|
Did the student demonstrate an understanding of the competencies covered to date? |
25% |
Did the student include all hosts identified within the provided packet trace? |
30% |
Did the student include all services and protocols identified within the provided packet trace and align them with the proper host? |
35% |
Did the student create a professional, well-developed draft with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation? |
10% |
TOTAL |
100% |
As discussed so far in this course, the configuration of a network affects the options available for security and network defense. Using the network survey produced during the first part of this project, together with host vulnerability assessments and access requirements, you need to design an updated network structure.
You have been working as a technology associate in the information systems department at Corporation Techs for a while now. You have discovered so far that all of Corporation Techs’ computer systems share the same Class C public IP address range, including workstations along with servers providing authentication, e-mail, and both secure and public Web sites.
Your next task in this project is to construct a basic network design. An important requirement for the network design is to reduce the number of public addresses needed as the subnet lease results in very high ISP costs.
Construct a basic network design, separating private and public services within the Corporation Techs’ network. To do so, you must:
Part 2 Network Design: Project Scoring Criteria |
Percentage |
---|---|
Did the student demonstrate an understanding of the competencies covered to date? |
20% |
Did the student identify all vulnerabilities identified in the packet trace and host vulnerability scans? |
35% |
Did the student produce a network design that will fulfill the stated requirements, separating private network resources and protected DMZ bastion hosts? |
45% |
TOTAL |
100% |
You have been working as a technology associate in the information systems department at Corporation Techs for three months now. You have conducted a network survey and developed a basic network design intended to provide security for private network resources and publicly exposed Web services.
Your manager specified that all information transferred between the sales team in the field and the organizational servers must be protected against snooping. The manager also wants the secured reporting site to be available only through the organization's private network so that an outsourced network-based intrusion detection system (NIDS) service can log all connections.
You need to recommend a network design and identify hardening strategies intended to meet the requirements. To do so, you must:
Final Project: Project Scoring Criteria |
Percentage |
---|---|
Did the student demonstrate an understanding of the competencies covered in this course? |
30% |
Did the student produce a network design that will fulfill the stated requirements, including VPN and SSL/TLS access? |
25% |
Did the student identify effective network hardening strategies for identified vulnerabilities? |
20% |
Did the student provide a persuasive justification and measurable expectations for the recommended changes? |
15% |
Did the student create a professional, well-developed report with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation? |
10% |
TOTAL |
100% |