Environment in which Intel operates

            Intel Company operates in an environment that has risks in terms of data security. Initially, all the employees used the company computers in the daily activities in which they shared information over the same network. However, the implementation of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy within the company created a number of security challenges (Richard Ivey, 2013). Information assurance requires that the data and information traversed over a network follows the requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality is an issue following the implementation of the BYOD policy. It is because employees can have access to the company’s information anywhere they are. If the devices they use get into malicious hands, it easy for a compromise on the confidentiality of the information to occur.

            Also, the company cannot fully ensure the security of the corporate information stored in the devices since the company does not have full access to it. Thus, it becomes a challenge in ensuring the security of the corporate information that raises questions on the integrity issues. The role of the corporate oversight of the IT professionals and information assurance officers is a challenge since there is no uniformity in the technologies used by the employees. Accountability is the main issue around which the BYOD policy operates. The information Technology team is accountable for the provision of a technology that can handle the looming danger of porous information security. There should be a technology designed in a way that can manage the devices. The employees are also at risk if they do not understand the risk of the devices brought to the company.             

Threat environment of Intel

            Intel Company operates in an environment having a lot of consumerisation of IT. There are difficulties in securing the buy-in for any consumerisation of IT initiative in the legal and accounting fields. Thus, any issue that may arise becomes challenging to follow. The Company faces the threat of hacking, viruses and identity thefts due to failed data security. Some malicious people may get access to the company’s privacy due to the use of unregulated devices in the work place. It is a problem that arose from the adoption of the Consumerisation of IT services. Hacking can occur on the employees’ devices where those interested gain illegal access of the information stored and passed through the devices. Viruses and malware software are also common threats in the environment in which Intel Company operates. The use of many and diverse devices in the workplace poses a threat to the information security in reference to the exposure from the internet.

            The other issue regards the e-Discovery feature in which Intel does not own any of the devices. Thus, the making any retrieval of the corporate data may be difficult because the data may be in the corporate network, a server, a cloud, or the device itself.        

Best Approaches for implementing information assurance principles

            Information assurance ensures that the Company’s data and information is safe and the users can also retrieve it with ease as a result of risk management. Thus, it is a requirement that companies implement assurance principles that can prevent the common threats to data security. One of the approaches is setting standards in the company that every user of a network should comply. There should also be the assessment and classification of the information assets over a network that requires protection. The other approach is conducting a risk assessment of the IT assets within a Company. A risk assessment procedure entails also the consideration of the impact of the threats to the Company. Another approach is developing a risk management plan that has mitigation, elimination, and transfer of risks, detection, and responding to threats (Schou & Hernandez, 2014).

            The current protocols and policies at Intel require improvement since they pose a threat to information security. The use of different devices over the same network within the Company is the main source of threat. There should be proper monitoring strategies for all the devices within the network which is a challenging issue to handle.

Threats and Vulnerabilities of Intel and the possible ways of mitigating the risks

The major threats and vulnerabilities are due to the BYOD policy that allows the use of personal devices in the workplace.

Risk and Vulnerability	Mitigation  strategy
Data and information compromise to confidentiality	Ensuring that the corporate information accessed through the devices and other assets information have appropriate firewall and encryption features to avoid getting into wrong hands.  The other mitigation plan can involve the implementation of the remote-wipe capability to all devices. In the event of theft or loss of the device, the unauthorized person cannot have access to any information (Daniels, 2014).
Vulnerability to viruses and malware	Though it is challenging to have a common method of centralized management of all the data; there can be a back up of all the data and information used. It helps to avoid challenges in retrieval in case of viruses and malware.
Device security	The company can enact a policy having the guidelines for the use of any devices and also have a list of the managed and the unmanaged devices. Thus, only the managed devices could be allowed to have access to the corporate data.

References

Corey Schou & Steven Hernandez (2014) Information Assurance Handbook: Effective Computer            Security and Risk Management Strategies, McGraw Hill Professional publishers, 2014,        ISBN 0071826319, 9780071826310

Daniels, D. B. (2014). Cybersecurity Implications in Mobile Device Augmented Reality    Applications. GSTF Journal on Computing, 4(1), 74-76. doi:10.5176/2251-3043_4.1.311

Richard Ivey (2013) Intel Corporation: Bring your Own Device, University of Western Ontario,   pp. 1-15.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in nursing essay writing service services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from best custom term papers.