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Memo ? Network Security

To: Dr. Alan Carswell (IS-365)

From: xxxxx

Date: 3/18/2017

Network Security is extremely important within a company ? it?s what keeps their data safe and

locked away in the right place, and accessible to only those who are authorized to handle it.

Additionally, it keeps the company?s technological services and functions safe within their own

hands, not manipulated my malicious outsiders attempting to wreak havoc on an organization.

This memo will outline several important statistics on Network Security (specifically the causes

and damage that network breaches can create) and stress the importance of training and

diligence from any company?s employees.

Network Breaches ? Statistics

There are a great number of manners in which companies can find their network breached,

ranging from elaborate Phishing scams designed to gain passwords and access to core functions

and data servers of companies, to hackers will ill-intent out to leak company information, or

simply partake in mischievous behavior. While many employees may believe hackers to be the

largest threat to companies – as they are mysterious and are perceived to have the power to

break into any system ? statistics from several sources show an alarming truth: employee error

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accounts for a massive percentage of data breach causes. Will Daugherty, a writer for Cyber

Security Trend, writes that his

study found Human error

accounted for 37% of network

breach incidents in 2015.

(Daugherty, 2016) However, it is

worth noting that while he lists

these four as separate entities,

Phishing and Malware also is

traced back to employee

negligence. Phishing scams

require employees to give out information they are not meant to, and Malware is commonly ?

though not always ? downloaded by employees who are ignorant to proper protocols or scams.

As such, simple Employee errors should instead account for a massive 62% of all breaches,

using Mr. Daugherty?s statistics.

Company Response

With employees making simple mistakes from ignorant downloading behaviors to other very

minor errors, it seems appropriate that a company should respond to this information by

2015 Breach Statistics

Human Error Phishing/Malware External Device Employee Theft

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proposing an employee training program to familiarize employees with the risks of Phishing

Scams and deceiving

links. Rutrell Yasin, a

writer for

DarkReading.com,

shows that only a

surprisingly low

percentage of

Executives believe that Employee knowledge is a priority ? and that 60% of executives

interviewed would say their employees have little to no knowledge of security risks. (Yasin,

2016) Negligence to implement Employee Training programs from both Executives and

Employees themselves cost businesses greatly, especially considering the earlier statistics of

employee error being the top cause of security breaches. Rutrell Yasin continues in his article to

state that only 45% of organizations have mandatory training, but 29% of those courses from

organizations are not mandatory. (Yasin, 2016) Additionally, many of these courses are not

comprehensive, neglecting concepts such as cloud services, mobile device security, and even

phishing attacks. (Yasin, 2016)

Conclusion

With Network Security being core to companies? infrastructure and operations in the modern

age, it should be alarming that employees are often the cause of breaches, and more

importantly, that companies often fail to respond to these statistics. To maintain security,

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Executives in Favor of Priority Other Executives

Executives Who Believe Employee
Knowledge is a Priority vs Those Who Do

Not

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Executives must not rely solely on the software and policies of the IT department, but ensure

that all employees, regardless of department, be trained in good practices and how to avoid

breaches. The information presented in this memo is only a small portion of the available

statistics regarding network breaches, but it should serve its purpose in presenting the core

dangers of employee ignorance in regards to network security. Executives must be diligent in

training their employees, for the benefit of the entire company.

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Bibliography
Daugherty, W. (2016, Jan 6). Human Error Is to Blame for Most Breaches. Retrieved from Cyber Security

Trend: http://www.cybersecuritytrend.com/topics/cyber-security/articles/421821-human-error-
to-blame-most-breaches.htm

Yasin, R. (2016, May 24). Employee Negligence The Cause Of Many Data Breaches. Retrieved from
DarkReading: http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities—threats/employee-negligence-the-
cause-of-many-data-breaches-/d/d-id/1325656

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xxxxxxxxxxx

Professor Carswell

IS 365

3/13/2017

Module 8 Writing Assignment
Table 1 (Arnold, 2017)

The Table 1

contains console sales

data in Japan for the

week of 2/27/17 to

3/05/17 (Arnold, 2017).

Hard data in this format

is mostly easily obtained

for Japan, and while its data for game sales is culturally skewed, console data is generally very

similar worldwide and can be used to illustrate possible trends in the industry as a whole?not

just in Japan. This particular week contains a very strong outlier in the form of the Nintendo

Switch?a newly released console as of March 3rd?and thusly is very skewed to show the

drastic first-week performance of the newly unveiled console. This initial showing of the

Nintendo Switch suggests that it will be a force to be reckoned with; within its first week, the

Nintendo Switch?s sales have already surpassed that of its poorly performing predecessor, the

Wii U, by a figure of 5,100 units in opening week (Kamen, 2017). This is a very impressive

showing for opening week and suggests great overall success in Nintendo?s launching of the

329152

31065 18433 9889 6742 4147 1268 615 565 1470

50000

100000

150000

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250000

300000

350000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Console

Top Console Sales (2/20/17-2/26/17)

Series1

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Switch and its assorted launch titles, including the ubiquitously critically-acclaimed Legend of

Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

To get a better

understanding of the statistical

significance of the Switch?s

launch debut, we can arrange

the data into a pie chart so as to

illustrate the percentage of

console sales directed towards

the Switch. We can see that the

Switch accounts for nearly 82% of all console sales last week. Again, because this is the

console?s first week, extremely high sales numbers are to be expected; most first-week sales do

tend to reach these numbers (Kamen, 2017). Table 2 provides us with the ability to see the

overwhelming outlier that is the Switch in a more visual way, as well as the piddling sales

numbers of consoles like the Wii U and the Xbox One. With the Switch aiming to replace its

already aged predecessor, the Wii U, one can expect to see that particular console drop out of the

top ten in sales.

The other consoles listed have been out for years; for them, this data can be used to show

quality of life and sale longevity. If we take out the statistical outlier, the Switch, from the graph

81.90%

7.70%

4.46%

2.50%

1.70%

1.00% 0.30%
0.20% 0.10%

0.06%
Console Sales

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Table 2

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(shown to the left), we can

see a more accurate

illustration of the sales

numbers for the rest of the

consoles. In much the

same way that the Nintendo

Switch?s data indicates a

strong first-week

performance, if it lacks

longevity, as we can see in the lesser Xbox One and Wii U sales data, it matters little how well it

sold in that first week. The Xbox One from Microsoft, which is meant to be seen as an equal

competitor to Sony?s Playstation 4, is severely lacking in sales when compared to its main

competitor despite how early it still is in this console generation.

Could this be a cultural trend in Japan, or is the Xbox One?s poor performance indicative

of something else? Based on this data alone, it can be difficult to say; however, the amount of

Playstation-exclusive titles that have been released within the first three months of 2017 may

have something to do with this overwhelming statistic. Sony has released about 10 games

exclusive to the Playstation 4 or Playstation 4 and PC in an impressive Q1 2017 showing,

whereas the Xbox One has had only one notable exclusive release in that time frame (Siegal,

2017).

31065

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9889 6742 4147 1268 615 565 1470

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10000

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Console

Top Console Sales (Without Switch)

Series1

Table 3

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Additionally, we can compare sales data from last week to this week in order to get a

general idea of the trends we are seeing in console sales, once again excluding the Switch from

this data as it

was released

March 3rd and

thusly lacks

sales data for

the previous

week. We can

see a general

trend of drops

in sales like the Playstation 4 and its assorted peripherals (the Vita and the Pro). Nintendo

consoles appear to be on the rise, possibly due to cross-console compatibility. Lesser sales this

week compared to last week across all consoles could easily be attributed to the appearance of

the Switch; definite conclusions about the affect of the Switch on other consoles? sales will

depend more so on the weeks and months to come rather than just this snapshot of its opening

week, impressive as it may be.

0
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Console

Console Sales Comparison

Series1 Series2

Table 4

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Bibliography

Arnold, C. (2017, March 8). Nintendo Switch and Zelda storm Japan. Retrieved from

Destructoid.com: https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-switch-and-zelda-storm-japan-

423617.phtml

Kamen, M. (2017, March 7). Nintendo Switch is better than the Wii U (based on launch sales at

least). Retrieved from Wired: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/nintendo-switch-launch-

figures-outsells-wii-u

Siegal, J. (2017, February 13). Sony turned gaming?s slow season into one of the best seasons

ever for the PS4. Retrieved from BGR: http://bgr.com/2017/02/13/ps4-vs-xbox-one-

games-2017/

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? Novice Competent Pro?cient Excellent

Persuasiveness 2.5
(5.00%)

5 (10.00%)

Feedback:

Gaps in logic —
there were
missed
opportunities
to understand
why you are
writing this
document.

7.5 (15.00%) 10
(20.00%)

Evidence and
support

2.5
(5.00%)

5 (10.00%) 7.5 (15.00%) 10
(20.00%)

Name:?Writing Rubric
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? Novice Competent Pro?cient Excellent
Feedback:

Su?cient
sources –
please review
the APA style
for citing
sources (single-
space…)

Writing 2.5
(5.00%)

5 (10.00%)

Feedback:

Writing is
unclear and the
“why and what”
of this
document is
missing.

7.5 (15.00%) 10
(20.00%)

Language 2.5
(5.00%)

5 (10.00%) 7.5 (15.00%)

Feedback:

Minor errors in
sentence
structure.

10
(20.00%)

Formatting
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styles, fonts,
margins, white
space, tables
and graphics)

2.5
(5.00%)

5 (10.00%) 7.5 (15.00%)

Feedback:

Generally
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10
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Raw Total: 30.00 (of 50)

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