ING Life and
Connection and Security Business Solution
Brandon Osborne
Strayer University
Dr. Richard Brown
February 15, 2016
ING Life ING Life is the leading provider of life insurance in Canada. The company is based in Ontario and operates out of three regional offices. In 1997, brokers at ING relied on phone, fax, and postal service to process policy information. Response times would take from hours to days to process. The company did have 56-kbps frame wide area network, but it only connected to the Ontario headquarters and the 70 managing general agent offices within the organization. It would send information through TCP/IP to a System Network Architecture (SNA) and route the data to the corporate mainframe in Connecticut. In July of 1999, ING begin to connect its brokers the extranet. All the brokers would have to do now was connect to the Internet and log into the Web server using their browser. The could access the corporate mainframe as if they were using TN3270 terminal with response times being under one minute. Before ING could launch their new public infrastructure, they had a security consultants probe for vulnerabilities in the system. But even as the years go by, new threats and weaknesses endanger the security of ING and the private information that it holds in its systems. Charl Van der Walt (2002) quoted in an article by saying; “The Internet, like the Wild West of old, is an uncharted new world, full of fresh and exciting opportunities.” But Walt also mentioned that like the Wild West, the Internet is full of new threats and obstacles as well. This case study will prove and critique the difficulties and risks associated using public infrastructure as part of a business solution. Also, coming up with a solution to provide that would be better suited for brokers to use as a secure source for information.

Problems with Public Infrastructure

Van der Walt (2002) outlines in an article that assesses Internet security risk and ways to identify the type difficulties and risks associated with using a public infrastructure for business solutions. A risk analysis is a business-oriented process that views risk and threats and helps determine the best security strategy. Internet security consist of two areas, internal and external assessments. Internal assessment consists within the perimeter of the private network and displays threats from internal staff, consultants, disgruntled employees, or, in the event unauthorized access or a compromise of the security perimeter. External assessments determine the outside threats that can breach firewalls and other forms of security, like hackers. From these assessments, companies can view threats from within the organization or threats from external connection of 3rd parties and competition.

ING’s Security Solution

Within the case study, ING used two NT servers, and new SNA, and a Cisco Pix firewall connected to the Internet via a leased T-1 line. Firewalls are the main line of defense for security for ING’s system, causing it to inadequate. The best measure to use is not only a firewall, but also, IPS/UTM, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, and Anti-Malware (John Pirc, 2005). Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and Unified Threat Management (UTM) are used to inspect technologies to stop attacks. Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, and Anti-Malware add an extra layer of security for company and personal computers that may already compromise the system.

Better Connectivity

Internet speed is important when it comes to connectivity. Internet connection option speeds are as followed for today’s use (Cii Technology Solutions, 2014): • DSL-common speeds are 3 x .384, 3 x 3, and up to 45Mbps Downloads. • Cable-common business class speeds and 5 x 1, 10 x 1, 30 x 5, or 50 x 10. • T1-1.54 x 1.54. • T3-44.736 x 1.54. • Fiber Optic Cable-any speed, but typically 10 x 10 and up.
With T1 lines are too slow for businesses and very expensive. Other high-speed option can be used for modern businesses and help to keep cost down, but the best option for is fiber optic connection for speed and performance. Plus, companies can pay for any combination of speed they need.

Conclusion

Much improvements have been made to Internet connections in the past few years. ING first switched to its T1 line connection, now companies like Google Fiber help companies with solutions that provide speed at different levels tailored to the needs of the business. New threats and risks cause security measures to be updated with software in order to combat any danger to the company’s systems. With ever changing security issues, will companies be able protect their data with the ever growing danger before it’s too late. References
Cii Technology Solutions. (2014, January 23). What Internet Speed do I Need for my Business? Retrieved from http://www.ciinc.com/business-internet-speed/
Pirc, John. (2015). Common Network Security Misconceptions: Firewall Exposed. Retrieved from http://www.sans.edu/research/security-laboratory/article/pirc-john-firewalls
Van der Walt, Charl. (2002, June 11). Assessing Internet Security Risk, Part 1: What is Risk Assessment? Retrieved from http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/assessing-internet-security-risk-part-1-what-risk-assessment