Security Analysis of a Software Defined Wide Area Network Solution

Enterprise wide area network (WAN) is a private network that connects the computers and other devices across an organisation's branch locations and the data centers. It forms the backbone of enterprise communication. Currently, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is commonly used to provide this service. As a recent alternative to MPLS, software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) solutions are being introduced as an IP based cloud-networking service for enterprises. SD-WAN virtualizes the networking service and eases the complexity of configuring and managing the enterprise network by moving these tasks to software and a central controller. The introduction of new technologies causes concerns about their security. Also, this new solution is introduced as a replacement for MPLS, which has been considered secure and has been in use for more than 16 years. Thus, there is a need to analyze the security of SD-WAN, which is the goal of this thesis. In this thesis, we perform a security analysis of a commercial SD-WAN solution, by finding its various attack surfaces, associated vulnerabilities and design weaknesses. We choose Nuage VNS, an SD-WAN product provided by Nuage Networks, as the analysis target. As a result, many attack surfaces and security weaknesses were found and reported, especially in the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). In particular, we found vulnerabilities in the CPE's secure bootstrapping method and demonstrated some attacks by exploiting them. Finally, we propose mitigation steps to avoid the attacks. The results of this thesis will help both the service provider and the SD-WAN solution vendor to know about the attack surfaces and weaknesses of SD-WAN before offering it to their customers. We also help in implementing the temporary countermeasures to mitigate the attacks. The results have been presented to the service provider and the vendor of the SD-WAN product

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen