Introduction
Security professionals must design and defend systems that protect data in transit and at rest using strong cryptographic methods. They must also implement technical countermeasures to protect complex system environments, including cloud and endpoint components.
Scenario
FinSecure Corp. is preparing for a major expansion of its digital operations. The company is migrating several services to a new platform and increasing remote access for staff. As a security analyst, you have been asked to assess the organization’s current data protection strategies and system architecture, including cryptographic protections, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures, to ensure they are resilient, compliant, and well defended.
Refer to the attached “Data Security and System Defense Artifacts” in the Supporting Documents section.
Requirements
A. Using the attached “Data Security and Systems Defense Artifacts,” evaluate and recommend encryption strategies for the provided data protection scenario by doing the following:
1. Identify two data protection risks related to either data in transit or data at rest, based on the provided scenario.
2. Recommend a cryptographic method to mitigate each identified risk from part A1.
a. Justify how each recommendation from part A2 supports data confidentiality or integrity.
B. Analyze the system architecture diagram in the attached “Data Security and Systems Defense Artifacts” for security weaknesses by doing the following:
1. Identify three technical vulnerabilities or design flaws present in the system architecture diagram (i.e., endpoints, virtual machines, or network components).
2. Recommend a countermeasure for each vulnerability identified in part B1 based on applicable best practices (e.g., hardening, segmentation, endpoint detection).
a. Explain how each countermeasure from part B2 mitigates the associated vulnerabilities from part B1 and improves the system’s overall security.
C. Using the information in the operational environment summary in the attached “Data Security and Systems Defense Artifacts,” evaluate the system’s overall security posture by doing the following:
1. Propose two tools or configurations to improve the system’s resilience, that is, its ability to detect, respond to, and recover from threats.
2. Explain how each proposed tool or configuration from part C1 improves the organization’s ability to detect, respond to, or recover from threats. Include a justification for each proposal.
D. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
E. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
