WGU D482 Network Merger and Implementation Plan (DHN1)2026 update 100 % correct & verified

Network Merger and Implementation Plan Business Requirements In anticipation of integrating Company A’s network assets with Company B’s network assets, Company A has provided the results of an internal risk analysis, and Company B has provided a Vulnerability Assessment Report to help identify risks associated with the system integration. Additionally, each company has submitted a Network Topology Diagram to identify network infrastructure issues that could present potential risks. Company A Network Security User Account Management Policy The risk analysis results have found user accounts for employees who are no longer employed or contracted with Company A. User accounts that are no longer needed present several risks to an organization, such as allowing access to former employees who may try to access confidential information or resources when they are no longer authorized. Additionally, the risk analysis reveals that all users have local administrative privileges. Local administrative privileges may allow a user to accidentally install malicious software or purposefully modify local system configurations to circumvent system hardening practices. The User Account Management Policy and related procedures should be updated to reflect the best practices for managing accounts. This includes immediately disabling accounts for employees or contractors no longer employed with the company and flagging them for removal. Accounts should also be disabled after a period of inactivity. Additionally, all administrative privileges should be reserved for administrator accounts and removed from standard user accounts following least privilege best practices. (Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative Interagency Working Group, 2013) Password Policy The risk analysis results have identified that all users are utilizing eight-character passwords. While this is considered a standard practice minimum length requirement, increasing the minimum length of a password makes the password much more challenging to brute force. According to research in 2022 performed by Hive Systems, an eight-character password that uses numbers, uppercase, and lowercase letters can be cracked by advanced graphic processing technology in 7 minutes. A 10 character password that utilizes numbers, uppercase, lowercase, and symbols will take 5 months, and a 12 character password with the same requirements will take 3000 years (Anderson, 2022). It is recommended to review and update the Password Policy for user accounts and modify the password minimum length requirements, as well as enforce other password management best practices. This includes enforcing password history, banning common passwords, and enabling multi-factor authentication. (Hicock, 2016) Company A Network Infrastructure In addition to the risk analysis conducted for Company A, the provided Network Topology Diagram provides some insight into potential security issues for the network infrastructure. Remote Desktop Protocol Company policy allows some employees to work remotely by accessing 20 workstations via remote desktop protocol (RDP). This is achieved by exposing RDP port 3389 to the outside network via the Internet, which presents an open invitation to any malicious actor trying to access an internal workstation. Allowing open connections via RDP would allow unauthorized access to workstations, data, and applications, as well as present opportunities for lateral movement within the network and an escalation of privileges. (Lee, 2022) End-of-Life Devices and Operating Systems The risk analysis identified two Windows 2012 servers, 14 Windows 7 laptops, 4 Cisco 3750X switches, and one Cisco 7600 router considered end-of-life (EOL). EOL operating systems and network devices are no longer supported by vendors, which means that security patches and updates are no longer published and available. Without up-to-date security patching, devices on the network will become open to vulnerabilities that may not be fixed or mitigated without considerable workarounds. Managing EOL devices can be a difficult administrative task and a cybersecurity headache. EOL devices should be phased out when possible. Company B Network Security Encryption Company B has provided a Vulnerability Report that identifies several encryption-related issues, including cleartext login capabilities, deprecated SSL protocol detection, and weak host key SSH algorithms. Cleartext login may allow a threat actor who has captured network activity to see username and password credentials in clear text, compromising those credentials. Deprecated SSL protocols have severe cryptographic weaknesses and have been replaced by TLS. Lastly, weak host key SSH algorithms can be easily decrypted, potentially exposing sensitive data transmitted over an SSH connection. (McKay & Cooper, 2019) Documentation, Policy, and Procedures The Vulnerability Report provided by Company B reveals that general cybersecurity policies, procedures, and environment documentation are either minimal or currently in process. Cybersecurity policies such as a System Security Policy, Configuration Management Plan, Information Security Continuous Monitoring Plan, and supporting documentation such as hardware and software inventory lists are crucial for the purposes of risk management, regulatory compliance (including third-party audits), incident response, and employee training and awareness. Various cybersecurity policy documents will address organizational requirements as well as establish issue-specific requirements and often address local, federal, and global regulations. (Maymí & Harris, 2022) Company B Network Infrastructure DMZ Network Configuration Company B hosts public-facing web applications that exist on a virtualized server stack. These public-facing servers do not sit behind a DMZ-configured firewall but are attached to the internal switch stack. This presents a vulnerable attack surface for a threat actor to traverse laterally throughout the network, should a web or application server be compromised. A DMZ exists on a network to allow a user outside the internal network to access resources hosted by the organization without gaining access to internal network resources. (Hiter, 2023) EOL Operating Systems Company B is utilizing EOL Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems, which are considered EOL. It may also be assumed that the devices running these operating systems are also EOL devices. As mentioned, EOL devices are no longer vendor-supported and do not receive security patches or updates, leaving them with multiple vulnerabilities. EOL devices should be replaced or isolated from the network. Vulnerability Analysis Company A Vulnerabilities Open Port Vulnerabilities The Risk Analysis conducted by Company A revealed open port vulnerabilities for ports 21-90 and 3389. The following table describes the common open ports, protocol, and usage: TCP/UDP Port Number Description TCP 21 File Transfer Protocol TCP 22 Secure Shell (SSH) TCP 23 Telnet TCP 25 SMTP (email) TCP 43 WHOIS protocol TCP 49 TACACS (remote authentication) TCP 53 DNS TCP 67 DHCP TCP 68 DHCP TCP 80 HTTP TCP/UDP 88 Kerberos (authentication) TCP/UDP 3389 Remote Desktop Protocol Ports that are not listed in the table within the 21-90 range are uncommon. The ports listed in the table are common ports that, when identified by a vulnerability scan, can provide enough information to identify specific types of network devices, servers, or applications and allow a threat actor to attempt a vector of attack to gain unauthorized access to the network.