The big question

I’ve helped build this company cable by cable, system by system. We’ve worked hard for every contract and we’ve finally established ourselves as a reliable IT solutions company. We’re now proud to have an enviable list of highly respected clients including the local government. Steve Workman started at NetDM Limited when it was just a fledgling owned by Nick White. They started with a small office barely large enough for their desks. But over the years the company grew from strength to strength. Last year they won their first major government contract. But, unbeknownst to the company, there has been a small chink in their security. As the company has grown rapidly their network defence management has struggled to keep up with this expansion.

A single successful cyber attack on a business can result in an estimated average loss of over a million dollars. Beyond this the damage impacts customer experience and leads to a loss of trust. One in ten consumers will walk away from a company if they know they have suffered a data breach. Join us as we follow the journey of NetDM Limited and their endeavour to keep networks secure. To see off future competition the company acquired Blue Sky Limited, their biggest rival in the IT solutions business, thus placing them in a stronger position to compete for larger government contracts. We will now have to merge and restructure our systems and upgrade our networks.

We have to ensure appropriate controls of information and we must ensure compatibility and fluidity of data movement between the two merged businesses. Steve and his colleague Bob are responsible for auditing the network infrastructure at both sites to ensure there is alignment on the digital security policy, process and controls and that the risks have been captured and assessed. But he is now getting concerned about the potential vulnerabilities of merging the two systems. He had already escalated these risks to senior management including Nick White So when he was invited to a special meeting by Nick with former staff of Blue Sky he was expecting to have a discussion on how their vulnerabilities could be quickly contained.

But after introducing John Watts, his counterpart at Blue Sky, and Lana Skripal, the Blue Sky database manager, Nick came quickly to the point. Due to the merger a few jobs will be lost and some will be re-advertised. Steve and John, you’ll both need to apply for the role of director of ICT. It took a few moments for both Steve and John to recover from the bombshell. Steve in particular was outraged. We were going to discuss the network security of the company but we were told to apply for our own jobs. How ironic! When is Nick going to face the real issue?

What can NetDM do to ensure their network defence management system is robust enough to protect their network, their data, and ultimately their livelihood? What are the vulnerabilities that a threat could exploit to bring down an organisation?