Mis 5
Mis 5
Enterprise management
Enterprise Management (EM), in broad terms, is the field of organizational development that
supports organizations in managing integrally and adapting themselves to the changes of a
transformation. An enterprise is an undertaking that needs to be managed for
desired results. A business organisation is an enterprise.
The definition of what constitutes Enterprise Management depends largely on the business
environment, but could include the following:
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configuration of SNMP traps, loading & configuring MIB files, and then configuring the alerting
conditions with HP OpenView or any other . An effective Enterprise Management system must
include network management & fault reporting, otherwise the whole "enterprise" monitoring
concept is undermined.
SNMP (Simple network protocol) traps are alerts generated by agents on a managed device.
These traps generate 5 types of data: Coldstart or Warmstart: The agent reinitialised its
configuration tables. Linkup or Linkdown: A network interface card (NIC) on the agent either
fails or reinitializes.
A management information base (MIB) is a formal description of a set of network objects that
can be managed using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The format of the
MIB is defined as part of the SNMP.
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4. Application management and monitoring
After considering network devices, servers and databases, the next thing to consider is
application monitoring. This is not complicated, it could mean the monitoring of simple
application processes, logfiles, or the running of scripts. The manager has to identify the critical
applications in use within the organisation and engage with those teams to ascertain what level of
monitoring would be useful. If they can identify current issues, or where they have
had problems/outages in the past, this can help drive the requirements for providing some basic,
but ultimately proactive monitoring in the application space. Once you have engaged with a
teamin this manner it might become apparent that more detailed monitoring is required.
5. Application integrations
To further enhance the monitoring capability the manager might also consider integrating
applications within the environment into the Enterprise Monitoring system. With any single-
point integration the manager should always consider the risks associated with such
configurations and try and mitigate these where possible - single-point integration can sometimes
mean single-point-of-failure. An alternative integration method can be to utilise a local
monitoring agent, so that an application agent sends alerts locally to the resident agent, which in
turn alerts to the central monitoring console using standard mechanisms. The benefit of this
approach is that the manager can eliminate the single-point-of-failure scenario, and also reduce
network traffic.
6. Incident Management
Incident management, in the context of Enterprise Monitoring, relates to how alerts & faults
highlighted In the monitoring environment are escalated and recorded in the incident
management system (for example HP Service Centre, BMC Remedy, ServiceNow). Once an
alert from the monitoring environment is produced it should be escalated to the incident
management system so that a record is created for the failure and the relevant team can update
the trouble-ticket with information on cause, effect, impact and resolution/remediation details
(where possible). This should be a gradual, phased approach to ensure the entire process works
as the business requires.
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7. Notification management & strategy
Once the Enterprise Monitoring solution has matured the business may naturally consider the use
of a notification system. Support teams within the organisation might also be requesting this,
especially if the business has improved the monitoring capabilities for their particular domain.
The organisation might have some form of notification tool already in use within the business, so
this should be investigated and reviewed accordingly.
9. Service management
Senior management requires a Service Management view of their environment. They are keen to
be able to show the critical services within the organisation, and show alerts & status to indicate
service health/degradation. Once there is a mature Enterprise Management and monitoring
solution deployed, or at the very least the structure and plans to deliver such a solution, then
consideration can be given to providing a service management capability. There are various
tools that can help with providing a view of the health of your core business services, but a very
simple method is to utilise the data held within the incident management system, and represent
this data graphically. The benefit of using the incident management system itself is that this will
record alarms originating from the Enterprise Monitoring solution but will also record incidents
created from other sources, including those raised by clients and users.
10. Reporting
Effective reporting on metrics can help identify trends, show project benefits & ultimately justify
projects & resourcing. Examples of some useful types of reporting include incident reports
(tickets per team, for example), notification reports (frequency of out-of-hours callouts),
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performance & capacity reports (CPU utilisation, free disk space etc.) and ultimately
service reports (indicating service levels, SLAs etc.). Reporting is not something that may need
to be considered at the onset of an Enterprise Management programme, but it should be
considered carefully and investigated completely when the requirement presents itself.
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and plan/address accordingly
Phase 3
Define patching strategy, product roadmaps, long-term plans etc.
Review support - review agreements, consolidate as required, assess support
effectiveness & suitability
Review licensing - bulk purchases, license management, true-up exercises etc.
Define performance management requirements & strategy and deliver
appropriate solution
Define service management requirements & strategy and deliver
appropriate solution
Define reporting requirements & strategy and deliver appropriate solution
Information Resources Management (IRM) is an emerging discipline that helps managers assess
and exploit their information assets for business development. It is about the techniques of
managing information as a shared organizational resource. IRM includes the following:
1. Identification of information resources
2. Type and value of information they provide
3. Ways of classification, valuation, processing, storage and recovery of those information.
Without information resource management a company may find it difficult to recover useful
information with the stored data many of which will be unwanted. It is called drowning in data
without getting the information that is needed.
Technology Management
In technology management emphasis is given to business knowledge on information
technologies and information systems and their management. This includes:
analysis of work flow
design information systems or Web sites
design and manage networks and intranets
conceptualize and implement complex databases
set up security measures
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build business-to-business networks.
developing and identifying new technologies
Technology Management is a multi-disciplinary activity that focuses on the integration of
engineering, computer science, information technology, and business management for two
purposes:
1. the technology of management, which includes the design of information technology to
solve business problems, and
2. the management of technology.
The task of technology management can be under a different manager (chief technology
officer/manager) being a specialised subject.
Rapid changes in technology
Increasing applications and data
Growth in business management understanding of technology
The CTO plays an important role in technology management and developing competitive
strategy
The CTO either may assess the old technology or develop new.
The CTO must have excellent combination of business and technical skills.
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Often it leads to strategic information system planning (SISP).
The plan shows the structure and development of the information system.
The organisations strategic plan provide the basics for SISP.
The overall responsibility will be with the Chief information officer (CIO)
Master plan is reviewed by the steering committee.
Master plan is integrated in the business strategic plan.
Information policies and procedures are defined.
Master plan will be short range and long range.
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Business system planning (BSP)
Business system planning is a method of analysing, defining and designing the information
architecture of organisations. It was introduced by IBM for internal use only in 1981, although
initial work on BSP began during the early 1970s.
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Security and ethical challenges
Hacking
Information theft
Software piracy
Unauthorised use
Intellectual property violations
Computer viruses and worms
Online illegal transactions
Security management
Antivirus
Encryption
Firewalls
Denial of service attacks
Monitoring mails
Security codes
Protection from illegal transaction
Backup
Security monitors
Biometric security
Failure control
Fault tolerant systems
Disaster recovery
System controls and audit
Antivirus : Software designed and written to find out and destroy computer viruses.
Computer virus is software designed and written to enter, destroy and damage the system for
which it is designed
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Encryption : Encryption is considered today the most effective way to achieve data security. To
read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to
decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.
Firewall : In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the
incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
Monitoring mails : Monitoring e-mail using mail monitoring software to know how it is being
used. This will keep a check on how the employees or other’s use your company’s, official or
personal e-mails
Security codes : Authorized business users create a Security Code when they are granted access
to a client's account and complete enrollment. This code is confidential and should not be shared
as it is used to identify and authenticate the user when they contact their bank for assistance via
phone, branch or online.
Protection from illegal transaction : Any cyber security method adopted to protect one’s
information including accounts etc., being transacted illegally.
Backup : In IT, a backup, or the process of backing up, refers to the copying and archiving of
computer data so it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is to
back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup.
Security monitors : These are electronic cameras and associated devices used to monitor and
survey critical areas including the cyber compartments and rooms.
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Biometric security : Biometric software security systems enhance security by linking a unique
physical attribute of a user to the data that they are allowed to access. The user provides their
fingerprint (or other biometric) to the system, which is then authenticated against a stored
template.
Failure control : Failure of information technology systems and breaches in the security of data
upon which the Company relies could adversely affect the Company's future operating results.
Methods adopted to prevent the failure involves failure control systems. This can involve
computer systems failure monitors and audit.
Fault tolerant systems:Fault-tolerant computer systems are systems designed around the
concepts of fault tolerance. In essence, they must be able to continue working to a level of
satisfaction in the presence of faults.
Disaster recovery : Disaster recovery (DR) involves a set of policies and procedures to enable
the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or
human-induced disaster.
Ethical challenges
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What is ethics?
Principles of right and wrong that individuals acting as moral agents, use to make choices o
guide their behaviours.
Information systems raise ethical questions because they facilitate opportunities for:
intense social changes
threatening existing distribution of political and other balances (money,rights and
obligations)
New kinds of criminal activities
threats to security
General controls
Establish framework for controlling design, security and use of computer systems for
information.
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Include software, hardware, computer operations, data security, implementation and
administrative controls.
Application controls
[An application programme is a programme designed to perform a specific function directly for
the user or, in some cases, for another application programme Examples of applications include
word processors, database programmes, Web browsers, development tools, drawing, paint,
image editing programmes and communication programmes.]
Unique to each application of computer.
Includes input, processing and output controls.
Load balancing
Distributes load for access among multiple servers
Mirroring
Duplicating all processes and transactions of server on backup server to prevent any
interruption
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Clustering
Linking two computers together so that a second computer can act as a backup for the
primary computer or speed processing.
Firewalls
Prevent unauthorised users from accessing networks
Facility controls
A facility information model is an information model of an individual facility that is integrated
with data and documents about the facility. The facility can be any large facility that is designed,
fabricated, constructed and installed, operated, maintained and modified; for example, a
complete infrastructural network, a process plant, a building, a highway, a ship or an airplane.
The difference with a product model is that a product model is typically a model about a kind of
product expressed as a data structure, whereas a facility information model typically is an
integration of 1000–10,000 components and their properties and relations and 10,000–50,000
documents. A facility information model is intended for users that search for data and documents
about the components of the facility and their operation.
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A facility information model can be implemented in various ways. The essence is that the user of
a system by which the data and documents are accessed should experience it as one integrated
system. Nevertheless, the system may be constructed such that the documents are stored in a
simple directory or such that they are be stored in a separate document management system and
the data are stored in one or more databases. Important kinds of systems in which Facility
Information Models will most likely be implemented are document-oriented systems, such as
Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMSs), Content Management Systems (CMS
systems) or Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECM systems). Another kind of systems
in which facility information models may be implemented are more data-oriented systems, such
as Product Data Management Systems (PDM systems) and Product Lifecycle Management
Systems (PLM systems).
Facility Controls are methods that protect physical facilities and their contents from loss or
destruction.
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Industrial
Government offices
Military
Recreational
The control systems include:
Physical control
IT based control
Procedural controls
Procedural security controls are security controls that mitigate identified risks by way of policies,
procedures or guidelines. As opposed to other controls, procedural controls rely on users to
follow rules or performs certain steps that are not necessarily enforced by technical or physical
means.
e.g. incident response processes, management oversight, security awareness and training, etc
Summary
Three control systems are required:
1. Information system controls
2. Procedural controls
3. Facility controls
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Computer Crimes
Crimes that use computer networks or devices to advance other ends include: Fraud and identity
theft (although this increasingly uses malware, hacking and/or phishing, making it an example of
both "computer as target" and "computer as tool" crime) Information warfare. Phishing scams.
Also called cyber crime, e-crime, electronic crime, or hi-tech crime.Cyber crimes may threaten a
nation’s security and financial health
Child pornography - Making or distributing child pornography.
Cyber terrorism - Hacking, threats, and blackmailing towards a business or person.
Cyber bully or Cyber stalking - Harassing others online.
Creating Malware - Writing, creating, or distributing malware (e.g. viruses and spyware.)
Denial of Service attack - Overloading a system with so many requests it cannot serve normal
requests.
Espionage - Spying on a person or business.
Fraud - Manipulating data, e.g. changing banking records to transfer money to an account.
Harvesting - Collect account or other account related information on other people.
Identity theft - Pretending to be someone you are not.
Intellectual property theft - Stealing another persons or companies intellectual property.
Phishing - Deceiving individuals to gain private or personal information about that person.
Salami slicing - Stealing tiny amounts of money from each transaction.
Spamming - Distributed unsolicited e-mail to dozens or hundreds of different addresses.
Spoofing - Deceiving a system into thinking you are someone you really are not.
Unauthorized access - Gaining access to systems you have no permission to access.
Wiretapping - Connecting a device to a phone line to listen to conversations.
Privacy Issues
Security, privacy and ethical issues go together in IT and MIS as they have many overlapping
aspects.
Information privacy, or data privacy (or data protection), is the relationship between collection
and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy and the legal and
political issues surrounding them.
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Privacy concerns exist wherever personally identifiable information or other sensitive is
collected and stored – in digital form or otherwise. Improper or non-existent disclosure control
can be the root cause for privacy issues. Data privacy issues can arise in response to information
from a wide range of sources, such as:
Healthcare records
Criminal justice investigations and proceedings
Financial institutions and transactions
Biological traits, such as genetic material
Residence and geographic records
Ethnicity
Privacy breach
Location based service and geolocation
The challenge in data privacy is to share data while protecting personally identifiable
information. The fields of data security and information security design and utilize software,
hardware and human resources to address this issue. As the laws and regulations related to Data
Protection are constantly changing, it is important to keep abreast of any changes in the law and
continually reassess your compliance with data privacy and security regulations.
As heterogeneous information systems with differing privacy rules are interconnected and
information is shared, policy appliances will be required to reconcile, enforce and monitor an
increasing amount of privacy policy rules (and laws). There are two categories of technology to
address privacy protection in commercial IT systems:
communication and enforcement.
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a messaging protocol that allows programs that run on
disparate operating systems (such as Windows and Linux) to communicate using Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and its Extensible Markup Language (XML).
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Protecting Privacy on the Internet
Furthermore, the same applies to any kind of traffic generated on the Internet (web-browsing,
instant messages, among others) . In order not to give away too much personal information, e-
mails can be encrypted and browsing of web pages as well as other online
activities can be done traceless via anonymizers, or, in cases those are not trusted, by open
source distributed anonymizers, so called mix nets. Renowned open-source mix nets are 12P—
the anonymous network or Tor (free software enabling anonymous communication) (The Onion
Router)
Hacking
Hacking means gaining unauthorised access to data in a system or computer.
In the 1990s, the term "hacker" originally denoted a skilled programmer proficient in machine
code and computer operating systems. In particular, these individuals could always hack on an
unsatisfactory system to solve problems and engage in a little software company espionage by
interpreting a competitor's code.
Unfortunately, some of these hackers also became experts at accessing password-protected
computers, files, and networks and came to known as "crackers." Of course, an effective and
dangerous "cracker" must be a good hacker and the terms became intertwined. Hacker won out
in popular use and in the media and today refers to anyone who performs some form of computer
sabotage.
There now are more than 100,000 known viruses with more appearing virtually daily. The
myriad of hackers and their nefarious deeds can affect any computer owner whether an
occasional home user, e-mailer, student, blogger, or a network administrator on site or on the
internet. No matter your level of computer use, you must protect your computer, business, or
even your identity. The best way to know how to protect your computer is to understand the
hacker's tools and recognize their damage.
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computer. Depending on the hacker's intent, the design of a virus can merely be an
inconvenience or have very serious consequences up to a potential catastrophe.
Generally, a virus is a piece of software, a series of data, or a command sequence that exploits a
bug, glitch, or vulnerability. Each example is appropriately termed an "exploit." An exploit
causes unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur in a computer's operating system or
applications while propagating itself within the computer.
An exploit and operates through a network security vulnerability or "hole" without previous
access to the vulnerable system is a "remote" exploit. An exploit that needs prior access to a
system is termed a "local" exploit. These are usually intended to increase the hacker's access
privileges beyond those granted by a system administrator.
Worms are simply viruses that send copies over network connections. A bomb resides silently in
a computer's memory until set off by a date or action. A Trojan horse is a malicious program that
cannot reproduce itself, but is distributed by CD or e-mail.
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and it potential for damage. The anti-virus software then eliminates or isolates/quarantines the
infected files. For the individual, commercial software is relatively inexpensive; however, there
are free anti-virus programs available.
Since new viruses appear almost daily with new code it is imperative that you update you
antivirus program often to keep up with these threats; therefore, make sure to set your program to
update automatically. To avoid the annoyance of computer slowdown schedule full scale scans
late at night.
The same is true for your Windows Operating System. Very often, your OS is where hackers
discover the holes to exploit. Of course, in an ever-continuing battle, this software is
continuously updated with security patches.
Finally, secure your wireless network with a router that has a built in firewall. Almost all
wireless routers are set to no security when first installed. Log into the router and at least set it to
basic security with a strong password to replace the factory setting that any hacker knows. A
firewall or router that is not configured properly or non-existent allows hackers to scan
passwords, e-mails, or files that cross your network connection.
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would ask for money to bribe the prison guards so that he could escape and get to the treasure. In
return for such money, the "prisoner" would promise to share the treasure with the target of the
scam.
In reality, the "prisoner" was not in jail at all and was simply using the story as a way to get his
hands on the target's money.
Article 419 of Nigerian Criminal Code deals with obtaining property of others by frauds
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