Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations: IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery. IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its joint ventures (JVs) or strategic alliances (SAs), if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits. IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers. The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage. Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle. There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of co
nfidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the risk profile. Your inventory and review of the data center indicated the following requirements: While earning frequent flyer miles and increasing your personal growth, your arrival in the Sao Paulo office is followed by many pleasant surprises. You discover that the Brazil office is a model of standardization. The Brazil office has the following setup: No problems were noted here, but it was good to get out of the office and see the world. Although, two technicians are available for this network, vendors are unwilling to sign service agreements or commit to defined standards for service response. Both technicians are qualified with one being a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) who has little experience in the WAN environment. The Sao Paulo office is connected to the corporate office through an on-demand virtual private network (VPN) connection with a common six-character password that is used by all office personnel and the shipping and receiving departments. While sitting in the cafeteria one afternoon, you hear one of the technicians discussing increasing the privileges of the shipping supervisor’s account. The shipping supervisor claimed that he would be more efficient if he could see inbound receipts based on sales and had privileges equivalent to the general manager. No anti-virus or malware is installed, as hackers have never attacked the location. Strategically staged to assist IDI for major growth in the Middle East and Asia, the office in Poland is the home portal for expansion and geographical client development. Although this is the largest office, based on employees, this office has minimally sufficient computing power to stay afloat on day-to-day activities. The hardware and other networking essentials of this office are as follows: Mareck, the son-in-law of the shipping director, has the technical responsibility for network operations, information technology (IT) security, and end user computing. Mareck earned his bachelor’s degree in horticulture and worked as a hothouse tender before marrying Loueasa, who is responsible for IDI’s accounts receivable department. Although the accounts always balance, noticeable period end adjustments seem necessary since Mareck and Loueasa bought their new multi-story home.