Technology Evaluation

Summary:

The use of a peer-to-peer file sharing application has been proven essential for the organization. It has brought a tremendous amount of increase in sales since it started to be used. However, it poses risks to the organization’s data and software security. In this summary, we will Identify and provide an assessment of the risks associated with unauthorized installation of file-sharing software on company computers, including servers, desktops, and laptops. Also we will evaluate three technology-based solutions that could provide effective protection measures, and finally, we will provide a matrix to categorize and assess the risks associated with the installation of unauthorized software on company electronic communication assets.

A download of an unauthorized file sharing software on a company computer could make the intranet resources available on that computer susceptible to many threats and vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities could in fact spread very quickly to the network overall through emails and internal files sharing given that emails are usually the formal medium of communication in an enterprise. For this reason, employees usually do not take precautions that they should normally take regarding suspicious files and emails. Because file sharing software can be written by anyone, the possibility of the company to download infected software is great and could leave the company vulnerable to worms, spyware activities, and malware. Microsoft added to these vulnerabilities the risks of an increased susceptibility to viruses, compromised security and/or security breaches, loss of data, loss or waste of network bandwidth from running unauthorized programs, reduced productivity, and increased risk of unlicensed or pirated software in your environment (Microsoft, 2009). Moreover, Couch of the Sans Institute, added that another risk or vulnerability to an organization about peer-to-peer or P2P file sharing software is one that results from the...