WGU D482 - Secure Network Design Performance Task| DHN1 TASK 1:
Network Merger and Implementation Plan.
DHN1 TASK 1: Network Merger and Implementation Plan
Mike Turner
Western Governors University
D482 – Secure Network Design
July 8, 2024
, A: Business Requirements
As a cybersecurity professional, I am tasked to perform a risk analysis for Company A to
prepare for the merger and acquisition of Company B. Also, I am analyzing Company B's
provided network vulnerability scan, network topology, and their current cybersecurity
capabilities and tools. After completing the above tasks for both companies, vulnerabilities and
infrastructure issues can cause potential harm to the companies if they are unaddressed and
mitigated. The recommendations for both companies are listed below:
• Company A
o Network Security Problems
▪ Open ports 21-90, 3389. These ports should only be open when
needed; otherwise, they should remain closed. One common security
problem is using port 3389, RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), allowing
Windows users to connect to internal resources remotely. If RDP is
used, then a secure tunnel must be implemented only to allow
connections that are passed through it (Cloudflare, 2024).
▪ Password Policy. The current password policy only requires users to need
eight characters. Only having eight characters allows hackers to breach
the company, compromising its confidential data easily. One of the tools
hackers utilize is the brute force method, and it should not take long
to crack an eight-character password.
o Infrastructure Problems
▪ End of Life - Windows 7. These hardware components store, access,
and archive customer and company data at End of Life (EoL). EoL
hardware components can create security and compliance issues and
expose
applications to serious security risks because their vendor is no longer
supporting them (Microsoft, 2024). The Windows 7 laptops are one of the
hardware components, and using RDP on them makes it an even greater
risk of being exploited, especially considering there are 14.
▪ Cisco 7600 Border Router. The Cisco 7600 is also EoL; therefore,
the security updates and patches are no longer available. One of many
vulnerabilities is CVE-2021-1622 (NIST, 2024), if exploited, can
cause
Denial of Service (DoS), which will affect the company's availability by
preventing access to its customers and employers. As mentioned above,
EoL hardware components are vulnerable to attacks because they lack
software updates to stop them. This piece of EoL hardware component
needs to be replaced immediately.
• Company B
o Network Security Problems
▪ Distributed Ruby Multiple Remote Code Execution. According to the
Vulnerability Report from Company B, Distributed Ruby has a Severity
Network Merger and Implementation Plan.
DHN1 TASK 1: Network Merger and Implementation Plan
Mike Turner
Western Governors University
D482 – Secure Network Design
July 8, 2024
, A: Business Requirements
As a cybersecurity professional, I am tasked to perform a risk analysis for Company A to
prepare for the merger and acquisition of Company B. Also, I am analyzing Company B's
provided network vulnerability scan, network topology, and their current cybersecurity
capabilities and tools. After completing the above tasks for both companies, vulnerabilities and
infrastructure issues can cause potential harm to the companies if they are unaddressed and
mitigated. The recommendations for both companies are listed below:
• Company A
o Network Security Problems
▪ Open ports 21-90, 3389. These ports should only be open when
needed; otherwise, they should remain closed. One common security
problem is using port 3389, RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), allowing
Windows users to connect to internal resources remotely. If RDP is
used, then a secure tunnel must be implemented only to allow
connections that are passed through it (Cloudflare, 2024).
▪ Password Policy. The current password policy only requires users to need
eight characters. Only having eight characters allows hackers to breach
the company, compromising its confidential data easily. One of the tools
hackers utilize is the brute force method, and it should not take long
to crack an eight-character password.
o Infrastructure Problems
▪ End of Life - Windows 7. These hardware components store, access,
and archive customer and company data at End of Life (EoL). EoL
hardware components can create security and compliance issues and
expose
applications to serious security risks because their vendor is no longer
supporting them (Microsoft, 2024). The Windows 7 laptops are one of the
hardware components, and using RDP on them makes it an even greater
risk of being exploited, especially considering there are 14.
▪ Cisco 7600 Border Router. The Cisco 7600 is also EoL; therefore,
the security updates and patches are no longer available. One of many
vulnerabilities is CVE-2021-1622 (NIST, 2024), if exploited, can
cause
Denial of Service (DoS), which will affect the company's availability by
preventing access to its customers and employers. As mentioned above,
EoL hardware components are vulnerable to attacks because they lack
software updates to stop them. This piece of EoL hardware component
needs to be replaced immediately.
• Company B
o Network Security Problems
▪ Distributed Ruby Multiple Remote Code Execution. According to the
Vulnerability Report from Company B, Distributed Ruby has a Severity
