Case Study : Attacking More Than Just the Enterprise

Suppose you are a security director for a consulting firm that implements, secures, investigates, and supports point-of-sale (POS) for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the retail industry. Read the article titled, "Verizon DBIR 2012: Automated large-scale attacks taking down SMBs" located at the following SearchSecurity link: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com.au/news/2240147412/Verizon-DBIR-2012-Automated-large-scale-attacks-taking-down-SMBs.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate the recent trend toward attacking small and medium businesses and identify the benefits that these types of businesses have which attract attackers.

2. Compare and contrast the digital forensic operations of small-sized companies to large companies in terms of costs, personnel, inexperience, naivety, etc.

3. Explain the common purpose of attacks on point-of-sale (POS) systems and identify why you as a security professional would have cause for concern for your customers' POS systems.

4. Assess why and how these POS systems have become a prime target for hacking groups.

5. Examine the forensics challenges that exist for investigations on POS systems.

6. Use at least two (2) quality resources in this assignment other than the article linked above. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Outline system forensics issues, laws, and skills.

· Describe and analyze practices in obtaining digital evidence.

· Use technology and information resources to research advanced issues in computer forensics.

· Write clearly and concisely about topics related to computer forensics planning using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.