Attack Tree Model Analysis of Security Breaches

Attack Tree Model Analysis of Security Breaches THE SUCCESS MISUSES of computer systems security breaches increased slightly in 2005, according to the FBI and the Computer Security Institute (CSI). Many security issues that apply to large enterprises definitely apply to SMBs, especially as SMBs become more technologically sophisticated, according to Andrew Kellett, senior research analyst with U.K.-based Butler Group. You dont have to be a particular large organization to have some pretty complex supporting systems in place, he says. (Fred Sandsmark, p11) The above-mentioned stated that there was slightly increase in computers attack in 2005. As technology evolving, companies willingly to spend more money on computer systems to do business activities with their associate and partners. This will increase more and more security breaches on the computer systems. The purpose of this analysis report is to examine the various possible attack methods to compromise the availability of the computers, information and associated resources of a small firm. Research for this report includes an attack tree diagram, showing how the hacker can compromise the availability of the systems services, associated resources and to access sensitive information through different attack techniques. Each technique is the subset of the different type of attack methods, with possible assumptions attach to each methods, the attack tree will be discussed in greater details. INTRODUCTION The manager of the Raylee Pte Ltd has recently heard through the media and newspaper publications that there are numerous threats which could compromise the availability of the computers, information and associated resources. Management of Raylee Pte Ltd has decided to hire the security consultant firm Red Alert Security Pte Ltd to undertake a details analysis of its current computer and network state in order to prevent the hackers to compromise the availability of the computers services, information and resources. The under-mentions are the network and desktop environments of the Raylee Pte Ltd. There are six computers and one internal server (for processing orders) within the firm. Each computer encompasses Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft 2007 Each workstation has been patched with all updates as of March 25th, 2010. The company shares an ADSL 2+ connection amongst all computers. Server backups are done fortnightly and stored on a DVD spindle name backup1 Workstation backups are done bi-monthly and stored on a DVD spindle name backup2 Employees have email addresses provided by the Internet Service Provider. Documents are shared amongst employees through a D-Link DNS-323 NAS The router is utilising a default settings and consists of a D-Link DSL G604t. Each workstation is utilising Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. SCOPE Security consultant of Red Alert Security Pte Ltd will analyse of the company current computer system, network state and desktop environment in order to prevent the hackers to compromise the availability of the computers services, information and resources. Then the consultant will submit a detail analysis report to the Management of Raylee Pte Ltd for recommendations METHODOGLY The security consultant uses a technique known as attack tree to identify the best possible options to compromise the availability of the system services, information and resource in the quickest time. Below is the attack tree he comes up with. Compromise The Availability Of Computers, Information And Associated Resources 1. Remote Access Router: D-Link DSL G604t 2. Access NAS: D-Link DNS-323 3. 3. Gain Access Internal Server (Processing Orders) Orders) 4. Steal Password: Workstations METHODOLOGY From the attack tree in the previous page, each of the sub attack tree will be discussed in more detail. Figure 1 1. Remote Access Router : D-Link DSL G604t 1.1 Determine the password 1.1.1 Learn password 1.1.2 Use widely know password 1.1.3 Dictionary attacks 1.1. Determine password Hacker and cyber criminal will try to determine the password of the router in order to access the network environment and do whatever they want. We will briefly explain the methods as follows 1.1.1 Learn password If the user has not set new password and is using the default which is normally blank. Hackers can easily search online for the manual of the particular wireless router and know the password. Hackers login the wireless router configuration page to change the setting and sabotage the network. For instance, hacker can surf this link http://www.routerpasswords.com/index.asp to get the default password for all the routers. 1.1.2 Use widely know password The common used passwords are admin, password, [emailprotected], 123456, 666666, qwerty, 00000000 and etc. These widely used passwords allow hackers to easily access the router. 1.1.3 Dictionary attacks As the word dictionary it implies that it is one of the attack techniques use by the hackers to determine its decryption key, password or passphrase by searching the all the words which are usually seven characters or lesser chosen by the user in the dictionary. METHODOLOGY Figure 2 2. Access NAS : D-Link DNS-323 2.1 FTP server 2.2 Folder File Permission 2.3 P2P distribution 2.1.1 Bounce Attack 2.1.2 Misconfigure 2.3.1 File poisoning 2.3.2 Sybil attack 2.1 FTP server Most of the Network Attach Storage device comes with the feature of the FTP server which allows user to download or upload file remotely anywhere. However, this service creates a loophole for attacker to retrieve sensitive information and data. The various attack methods on FTP server are discussed as follows 2.1.1 Bounce Attack FTP bounce attack is another attacking technique use by the hacker to exploit the ftp protocol so that he can use the PORT command to send request access to the ftp port indirectly to another victim machine which acts as third party for such request to access the ftp. 2.1.2 Misconfigure One of the common problems is to misconfigure the ftp server which allows users to download and upload the files in the same directory (global/tmp directory) for people to share data with each other. It will create an opportunity for attacker or theft to steal the data or upload virus program to the directory. Hence employee will accidentally install the virus program and infect to the computer systems and network. 2.2 Folder File Permission Proper folder and file permission must be set according to the employee roles and responsibilities. If there is no permission setting on the files and folder and gives everyone permission to read, write and execute it. Then it will be easily for attacker to retrieve information upon hacking into the company network. 2.3 P2P Distribution It is a peer-to-peer file transfer protocol to allow users each download different pieces of the broken file from the original uploader (seed). Users exchange the pieces with their peers to obtain the broken ones which are missing. IT savvy employees can make use of the P2P to download their favourite movies, videos, music and software. Hacker will make use of the P2P attacks to gain access into the network. There are two types of attacks which are file poisoning and Sybil attack. 2.3.1 File Poisoning File poisoning attacks operate on the data plane and have become extremely commonplace in P2P networks. The purpose of this attack is to replace a file in the network by a fake one and this file will be corrupted and no longer in use. 2.3.2 Sybil Attack The idea behind this attack is that a single malicious identity can present multiple identities, and thus gain control over part of the network. Once the attacker gains the control, he can abuse the protocol in any way he likes. METHODOLOGY Figure 3 3. Gain Access Internal Server (Processing Orders) 3.1 Steal sensitive information from the database 3.1.1 Gain access by internet 3.1.2 Physical access to the server 3.1.3 Access server from workstation OR OR 3.1.1.1 Monitor network traffic 3.1.1.2 Use remote exploit 3.1 Steal sensitive information from the database Sometimes hackers are hired by the competitor to create chaos in the company network and to steal confidential information such as customer data, vendor data, pricing information, new product launch information from the computer systems. There are various methods to steal information from the database and there are as follows: 3.1.1 Gain Access By Internet Attack corporate network by using internet is becoming more sophisticated as technologies evolving. There is an increase of internet attacks orchestrate by the hackers to strike highly protected targets, to coordinate waves of scripted exploits and/or to conceal the true origin of an attack. 3.1.1 .1 Monitor Network Traffic Cyber criminal use network monitor tools to monitor the local area networks or wide area networks. Some of the network monitoring tools such as Microsoft Network Monitor, Ettercap, TCP Dump and DSniff can be download freely from the internet. This program can intercept and log the traffic passing over the network or part of the network. Once the information is captured by the program, hacker will decodes and analyse its content according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications. 3.1.1 .2 Use Remote Exploit The server is connected to the internet and the operating system is not updated the latest patches, then the cyber attacker will use remote exploit the vulnerability of the system to infiltrated the system to steal the information and sabotage the server by destroy the database and hard disk. Since the server backups are done fortnightly, management will be facing difficulties in recover the data. 3.1.2 Physical Access To The Server Due to the space constraint, sometime the server share space with someones cubicle or office. This creates an opportunity for an attacker who able to access files and other data by removes the hard disk, and then attaches it to another computer. He can also use third-party operating system CD to start the computer and steal corporate data or insert USB drive to inject virus into the system. 3.1.3 Access Server From Workstation Cyber attacker is not limited to hack into the server. Workstation is the often the first target the hacker will try to access because from there, he can learn about the network environment and security loopholes to attack the server. He will use the workstation as the stepping-stone to server-level break-in by stealing administrator passwords. METHODOLOGY Figure 4 4. Steal Password: Workstations 4.1 Users Login password 4.1.2 Obtain password illegally 4.1.1 Social Engineering 4.1.1.1 Share password 4.1.1.2 Phishing 4.1.2.2 Find written password 4.1.2.1 Steal password 4.1.2.1.2 Install keyboard sniffer 4.1.2.1.1 Obtain sniffer output file AND 4.1 Users Login Password Companies must know that hackers not only interested in the corporate data, they are also interested in the employees personal data such as bank account, credit card, email address and others. To break into the workstation, hackers will need to know the users login password. 4.1.1 Social Engineering Social engineering is the method of non technical hacking into the system by manipulating people through social interaction via email or phone to reveal their password. 4.1.1.1 Shared Password It is very common for employees to share computer password with their colleagues. Sometimes in their absence in the office, they will usually call one another to help them login to the computer to retrieve some information. 4.1.1.2 Phishing Hacker can create an email or instant messaging with attach fake website link which looks almost the same as the real one to lure the user enters their personal details such as username, password, credit card details and banking credential. All these information will be sending to the hacker. 4.1.2 Obtain Password Illegally Weak password makes hacker to obtain password illegally and faster. Cyber attackers will steal the password by infect the workstation with trojan. Basically there are three types of trojan attackers can use to steal the password namely: keyboard sniffer, login spoofing and password stealer. When attacker install the keyboard sniffer program which will monitor each keystroke the user has entered and this program generate the sniffer output file which send to the attacker. Sometimes hacker can pose as companys guest to access the premises. Upon entering the office, he will look for password which the employee written on a piece of paper and paste it around the working cubicle. CONCLUSION Companies are constantly at risk of losing sensitive corporate data. In this report,  we have use the attack tree model to analyse various attacks method the attackers use to steal sensitive information on the server, network attach storage device, router and workstations. The most common and easier method is to obtain the users password by learn the password, use widely common password, dictionary attack, shared password, phishing, find written password and steal passwords. Cyber attackers and novice hackers are usual like to steal the passwords by downloading keyboard loggers, passwords cracking software, keyboard sniffers and others which are available on the website to test on their skill. Management should implement counter measures to prevent hackers to attack their system and security breaches. We recommend antivirus program to be installed on  the workstation and server as they are utilising Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool which is not enough for the prevention of the cyber attacks. Local group policy of the password needs to enforce on the networking devices, workstation and server so that the password is not being easily crack by the hackers. Lastly, passwords should be set minimum 8 characters and contain alphanumeric and symbols for complexity. In conclusion, steal password is the easiest method for hackers to attack the computer system because local authorities might face difficulties in tracking them down if they are distant hackers. GLOSSARY Attack tree Attack trees provide a formal, methodical way of describing the security of systems, based on varying attacks. Basically, you represent attacks against a system in a tree structure, with the goal as the root node and different ways of achieving that goal as leaf nodes. (Source : http://www.schneier.com/paper-attacktrees-ddj-ft.html ) Social Engineering In computer security, social engineering is a term that describes a non-technical kind of intrusion that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking other people to break normal security procedures. (Source : http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci531120,00.html ) 3. Phishing Phishing is a technique of fraudulently obtaining private information. (Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)#Pretexting ) 4. Keyboard Sniffer A program which reads the keystrokes made by a user and transmits them to someone else. Such programs are usually used by intruders into computer systems in order to capture important information such as passwords. (Source : http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-keyboardsniffer.html ) 5. RFC Short for Request for Comments, a series of notes about the Internet, started in 1969 (when the Internet was the ARPANET). An Internet Document can be submitted to the IETF by anyone, but the IETF decides if the document becomes an RFC. Eventually, if it gains enough interest, it may evolve into an Internet standard. Each RFC is designated by an RFC number. Once published, an RFC never changes. Modifications to an original RFC are assigned a new RFC number. (Source : http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RFC.html )

Supply and Demand of Labor in the US

Supply and Demand of Labor in the US Melanie Canady I choose to do my research paper on the supply and demand of labor in the United States. I will attempt to illustrate the change in supply and demand in the labor market over the last 10 years. I will also explore the different effects and share many views on how this has played a significate role on the economy in the United States. Supply and Demand is categorized as the forces that make the economy work. The supply of labor is defined as the number of workers who are willing and able to work. The labor demand is the number of employers who are willing and able to hire those workers. Supply and demand of labor differs based on the jobs or occupations that are available. Over the last 10 years the supply and demand of labor in the United States has dropped significantly, while other countries has increased, this is because US based companies are moving jobs or operation overseas, because of different types of incentives that they are taking advantage of in order to make their busine ss more profitable. Since 2000 the labor market has been declining, therefore causing increasing poverty in the United States. This is because of our weak and unequal labor market which began before the great recession. This rising inequality is because of the declining average earnings and the number of workers with the below average wages have grown over the years. There have been many groups affected by this inequality, but one group that has the greatest impact is less educated men. We have seen that this group has experienced a decline in their earnings in the past decade. Because of this it has reduced the income in their families and therefore caused much higher poverty numbers. Why has this happened? First of all today’s labor market puts a greater premium on workers education levels and skills than it did a generation ago (Holzer). With the growing technology advancements in our economy it has reduced the demand for the less skilled workers especially in production workers in the factori es. The supply of well educated workers has not kept up with the growing demand. There has been a gap in the percentage of young people earning some kind of college education. Many years back when factory work in the United States was in high demand, there was jobs available and they paid a decent salary. Obtaining a college education was the last thing that was thought of. As companies moved away to other countries, we all experienced a decline in earnings because we had to accept jobs that was available, and without some kind of college education the jobs were a few to none. We can see that the well-paying production and clerical jobs are going away, therefore making the way for jobs requiring some technical training or work experience. In order to improve the labor market we need to improve our education and work-force system and to develop a skilled workforce. This will help to eliminate the high levels of poverty and inequality in the United States. The United States must continuously improve the workforce to be able to compete with other nations. We need to develop a strong workforce and employers need to be able to offer a good pay scale. The demand of labor had decreased in the United States because business value short term profits over making the workforce more efficient. The federal government must address the unemployment and underemployment that we have facing in the United States and to realize that the United States is stuck in the worse economic and social crisis since the Great Depression. It is clear that the labor market had failed to generate enough jobs to support the growth. The demand of labor is just like any like any other goods or service, it can be classified as both supply and demand. Labor is considered to be elastic if the wage increase causes a decline in the rate of employment and it is inelastic if the employers do not decrease employment to respond to the wage increase. If the supply of labor becomes more limited, especially with highly skilled workers, the cost of employing these workers rises. The labor in these skilled jobs may become less elastic, because these jobs cannot be easily filled. The demand of labor is declining in the United States because employers are becoming more focused on profits than investing in the workers. The labor market failure is a result of our government not asking the United States corporations or their leader to help build the productivity in American instead they are providing benefits for them move to other countries or off shore. For a business in the United States it make economic sense for them to close a plant or a business and send jobs offshore where they will perform more efficiently and at a lower cost. They will not invest in the workers in the United States to make them more efficient in supplying the up to date equipment or providing training that will lead to accomplish the goal of the business. America has a two dimensional job crisis: a persistent deficit in the number of jobs that are being created and an insufficient percentage of high quality job. (Kochan) One of the job crisis that the United States economy faced was that they needed 7 million jobs to get back to the levels that was reported before the great depression and another 5 million to account for the growth in the same time period. The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness estimates that there will be a need for 20 million jobs by the year 2020. With these number the United States economy has never created jobs at this rate, therefore setting America up for a serious job deficit for the rest of this decade. The second job crisis that was evidential was that employment benefits represented a key to job quality. Going back to at least World War II, the United States workforce relied on the business to providing health care and retirement benefits. Since the 1980’s this benefit had been shrinking. Employer-provided benefits has been proven to be a play big factor in the workforce in the United States for decades. This benefits gives an employee job satisfaction. In lieu of the employer provided benefits such as health care, pension plans and 401k plans declining, the workers are reporting that they are not satisfied with their jobs anymore. Being provided these benefits has proven to be a piece that has given workers the motivation to perform their jobs at the highest level. That is being proficient and efficient that exceed the level that the business is asking for to be able to achieve the goals of the company. To be able to create 20 million high quality jobs in the United States by year 2020 we must pull together business, labor and government representatives to develop a plan of action. This group needs to determine which issues should be tackled first and what resources will be required. First they should determine what to do to jump start job growth, with this determination it will prevent the jobs and economic crisis from worsening. Another discussion that would be of interest would be to find a way to recapture the lost manufacturing. Some manufacturing jobs could be recaptured if businesses would take into account the total cost of producing goods offshore and shipping back to the United States. The HBS summit should make a proposal on what should be done to bring home millions of jobs over the next several years. Many business that moved jobs offshore came under attack by many because it seem to be a slap in the face for many that lost their jobs to other countries. This caused the government to establish programs that helped the American people to overcome some of the obstacles that they faced with losing their jobs. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) is the primary Federal program that supports workforce development (Congressional Digest). This program provides education and training services for people that has lost their jobs because of layoffs or the closing of a business. This program also will help prepare a person for the next chapter in their lives by allowing them improve their skills and prepare them for skilled jobs by providing them with secondary and postsecondary education, on the job and employer-provided training. It also will provide funding for on the job training and employment services. This means that they will pay for the persons training to a company that will potentially hire them for a position. The Federal government provides workforce development activities through WIA’s programs and other programs designed to increase the employment and earning of workers (Congressional Digest). The programs that are offered are job search assistance, career counseling, occupational skill training, classroom training or on-the-job training (Congressional Digest). The WIA programs are funded through the state and federal and it administer by the U.S. Department of Labor and is available to unemployed or under employed individuals. In 2012 the programs funds was $4.9 billion dollars, this included $2.6 billion for state grants that was obtained for young, adult and dislocated worker training. WIA Title 1 programs provide employment and training services and also a One-Stop system. This system is required by each state and includes a core service and access to an intensive training service, provide programs and activities that are carried out by a One-Stop partner, and provide access to all labor market information, job search, placement, recruitment and labor exchange services that are authorized under the Wagner-Peyser Act. Each state is required to have a One-Stop center that is accessible either remotely or electronically. In order to fill the gap, businesses needs to find a way to attract and help develop a skilled workforce for today’s labor market. Although there are programs in place to assist and help to develop these skills, businesses should also help. If businesses would get involved it will show that they are committed to helping with the job shortage and skills development. Although community colleges offer vocational programs to fill specific jobs, if the businesses would work with the college to develop programs that is specific to their business it would help them obtain a better workforce. This year there will be about $450 million in grants available to help promote and develop a skilled workforce this year. We are in an economy that simply needs to create and get more jobs. The lack of job growth is killing the United States. We are encouraging the young people to go to college and to get their education, but they are graduating and not able to find work. This is because there is a no jobs to offer them after graduation. The United States government should stop and take a look at what is in the United States instead of looking abroad. There is a Work Cited Kochan, Thomas A. A Jobs Compact For Americas Future. Harvard Business Review 90.3 (2012): 64-72. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 Workforce Investment Act Overview. Congressional Digest 93.3 (2014): 2. MAS Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014. HOLZER, HARRY J. Upgrading Skills, Upgrading Opportunity. American Prospect 23.6 (2012): 26. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 HIGGS, ROBERT. Worrisome Changes In U.S. Labor Force And Employment Since 2007. Independent Review 18.3 (2014): 471. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 1 Nov. 2014 Bridging The Skills Gap. Smart Business Pittsburgh 21.4 (2014): 20. Business Source Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. Mankiw, Gregory. â€Å"Principals of Microeconomics† How Market Works Seventh Edition Chapter 4

Pre 1914 Poetry Comparison: Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge Of The :: English Literature

Pre 1914 Poetry Comparison: Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge Of The Light Brigade, and Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est 1) The Charge Of The Light Brigade Tennyson was prompted to write this poem after reading an article in the Times newspaper about the charge of the Light Brigade. Tennyson's main motive for writing this poem seems to be to celebrate the bravery of the troops. Tennyson appears to be a patriot. He concentrates on the brave way the soldiers went into near certain death and only makes one mention of the complete cock-up made by the generals. Rather than concentrate on the mistakes made he sticks with celebrating what the soldiers did 'When can their glory fade?' he asks. The use of the rhetorical is almost challenging you to disagree with his opinion of the soldiers' bravery. Tennyson uses a lot of things like onomatopoeia, repetition and alliteration. He uses repetition to try and show, in words, the confusion of the battle. An example of this is 'Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them'. He uses all of these things to try and create imagery of the battle, to help try and imagine what the battle was like. However what he doesn't do is he doesn't personalise he always generalises. He gives you a picture of the battle without actually giving accounts of the actions of the men. The pace of the poem is the same all the way through except for one point at the end of the fourth verse. For most of the poem the pace is quite fast, with a rhythm comparable to the clatter of horses hooves (on purpose or by accident?). But near the end of the fourth verse, after speaking of the battle and the slaughter of many men, the pace slows for about one line. 'Then they rode back, but not, Not the six hundred.' The pause between 'back' and 'but' is cleverly used to emphasise the loss of life. An image that recurs a lot in the poem is personification of the valley into which the Light Brigade rode into some kind of monster, a devourer of human life. The phrases 'the jaws of Death' and 'mouth of Hell' are used more than once, an important piece of imagery. Alfred Lord Tennyson did not have first hand experience of the battle and it shows in the poem. The Charge Of The Light Brigade is very generalised, with the word 'them' constantly being used. No actions or fate of any specific soldier is mentioned; it's always soldiers rather than soldier. My personal reaction to his poem is that it would have been better for

Feudalism and Capitalism Essay -- Economics Economy Norma Rae Essays

Feudalism and Capitalism Economic processes are those involving the production and distribution of goods and services. However, they do not alone determine this production and distribution. There is an interrelationship of economic, cultural, environmental, and political processes that all help to shape each other. Nothing that we do can be defined as a single process, for it is the interaction itself that helps to produce the final results that we observe. To understand this more fully the following basic definitions may be of use: "Cultural Processes" are those that involve the creation and transfer of knowledge-the production of meaning. "Political processes" are those by which we establish and enforce rules, and they have to be reproduced and communicated by way of cultural processes. And finally, "Environmental Processes" are processes and transformations of matter into other matter or matter into energy through various activities. From this one can see that the "state" of the environment is affected by culture, politics, and economics. To reiterate, we can't talk about economics and the questions that it attempts to resolve, without talking about or at least including these other aspects because they all interact and must be considered as well. There are a number of fundamental questions that economic systems attempt to solve: How does one gain access to the resources needed to produce new and useful goods and services? How does one get humans to perform the labor? How do you organize the production process? How do you get the produced output into the hands of consumers? And finally, who gets the surplus and what do they do with it? Using these questions as a basic framework, one can attempt to dete... ...")] References "Feudalism." http://www.maricopa.edu/academic/cult_sci/anthro/lost_tribes/Feudalism.html Korten, David C. "Life After Capitalism." November 1998. http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/capitalism.html "Middle Ages: Age of Feudalism." http://www.intelliseek.com/cgi- bin/nphProFusion.pl?queryterm=feudalism&option=all&display=10&totalverify=0&auto=all&engine1=AltaVista&engine2= "Organized Labor." Wysiwyg://16http://www.britannica.com/b†¦article/9/0,5716,115719+1+108786,00.html Professor Gabriel course web page http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/filmcourse.html Shadab, Houman. "Capitalism: Frequently Asked Questions." 1996. http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~shadab/ "The Rise of Feudalism." http://www.ukans.edu/kansas/medieval/108/lectures/feudalism.html "What's Wrong With Capitalism." http://www.geocites.com/Paris/2159/capindx.html

Two Former Tyco Executives Found Guilty

The past three years have witnessed stunning financial collapses in many companies that were ranked among the most admired companies in America. Sunbeam, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and HealthSouth were lauded, imitated, and studied for their stunning performances. Now they are studied for their failures. What went wrong? How could so much go so wrong? And, the inevitable question, where were the auditors and the accountants as these financial statements of well-being were released? Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski, former CFO Mark Swartz, and former general counsel Mark Belnick were all indicted on charges that Kozlowski and Swartz, among others, stole $170 million from the company and pocketing $430 million from the fraudulent sale of Tyco stock. Belnick was charged with hiding $14 million in loans to himself. Tyco's management fired back as well. It filed a lawsuit against Kozlowski looking to recoup $244 million in pay and benefits. Tyco, over the period between 1964 and 2001, went from a small research firm based in New Hampshire to a conglomerate with a presence in over 100 countries and over 250,000 employees. Between 1991 and 2001, then-CEO Dennis Kozlowski took Tyco from $3 billion in annual sales to $36 billion in 2001 with over 200 acquisitions at a cost of $60 billion. It was through its expansive acquisition program that Tyco's accounting pushed the envelope. Tyco made its acquisitions look as anemic as possible. Called â€Å"spring-loading,† the goal was to have the acquired company seem to be a nonperformer in terms of earnings, much below its actual performance. However, if the acquired company then simply performs normally the following year, Tyco enjoys a boost to both its growth as well as respect for its management ability. Spring-loading is easily accomplished by, for example, having the acquired company pay all bills for the acquisition, even if that bill is not due, and also pay all other bills, whether they are due and owing. Raychem's treasurer sent out the following email when Tyco was acquiring Raychem: At Tyco's request, all major Raychem sites will pay all pending payables, whether they are due or not †¦ I understand from Ray [Raychem's CFO] that we have agreed to do this, even though we will be spending the money for no tangible benefit either to Raychem or Tyco. A report completed by David Boies, at the direction of Tyco's board, included an interview with an employee of another Tyco acquisition in which the employee indicates that a Tyco executive asked: â€Å"How high can we get these things? How can we justify getting this higher?† (Ackroyd & Thompson, 1999). The Boies report indicates that Tyco executives used both incentives and pressure on executives in order to get them to push the envelope on accounting rules in the acquisition process. The SEC has begun an investigation into Tyco's accounting in its acquisition of U.S. Surgical in 1998. Documents in the case include memoranda between Tyco financial executives proposing ways to slow U.S. Surgical's growth between the Tyco acquisition announcement and actual transfers of the assets. The memos refer to their ideas as â€Å"financial engineering†. Just prior to final closure, U.S. Surgical took a one-time hit of $322 million in miscellaneous charges. Beginning in the last quarter of 2001, Tyco's shares began to drop in price as shareholders realized the extent of the accounting creativity. By the summer of 2002, when Kozlowski was indicted for sales tax evasion on transactions involving his personal art collection, shareholder trust was dissipated and Tyco's shares had fallen 80 percent, from over $50 per share to just above $10. For purposes of examining ethics instruction for accountants, auditors, and managers, there are two common factors in these case studies. First, the financial pictures painted of the companies were grossly distorted. Only the level of sophistication in terms of masking the true financial condition varies among the companies. Enron used the slightly more nuanced SPEs while WorldCom used the less glitzy sleight of hand in turning ordinary expenses into capital expenses. Sunbeam relied on quantitative materiality standards to evade detection of its management of numbers, and HealthSouth seemed to start with the numbers it wanted for results and work backward. Second, these were also companies trying to maintain exponential growth. There were continuing pledges from their CEOs to keep the double-digit growth going. That pressure to maintain numbers increased with each passing quarter as the economy took a downturn and as their once unique strategies for growth fell victim to competition or the realities of economic cycles. The distortions were a function of their goals of maintaining an unrealistic pace of earnings growth. In short, individuals in the companies felt pressure and succumbed to deceit to satisfy increasing demands. These companies and those responsible for their financial reports were not dabbling in gray areas. The issues in these cases are clear and the conduct plainly wrong. With all the training in ethics and professional responsibility, the question that arises is as follows: How could so much go so wrong for so long in such large companies with no one raising an effective objection to halt the juggernauts of creative financial reporting and accounting? That this question must be posed in the wake of such staggering failures actually provides the answer. The answer is that those who were engaged in the creative and, often, not-so-creative but fraudulent accounting were trained in schools of business in which the curriculum (including ethics courses) is misguided in terms of training ethical leaders. The senior officer group of Enron included M.B.A.s who were trained during the financial wizardry era of M.B.A. programs in the 1980s. Mark Schwartz, the CFO of Tyco, held an M.B.A. Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, held an M.B.A. from Harvard. Andrew Fastow, then CFO, graduated from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Clifford Baxter, another member of Enron's senior executive team, graduated from NYU's M.B.A. program. Tragically, Mr. Baxter took his own life following the collapse of Enron and during the period of daily revelations about its activities and the pending Congressional hearings. Mr. Baxter clearly saw the accounting issues within the company because Sherron Watkins, considered the whistleblower in the case, references him in her internal memo as someone who understood the accounting improprieties. Mr. Baxter left the company in the final months prior to its collapse. The M.B.A. curriculum has, since the time of the Milken and Boesky era, trained students in the importance of smoothing out earnings so as to maximize shareholder value, the often-stated role of business. While the role of business in society and the issues surrounding maximizing shareholder wealth are typical topics of coverage in ethics courses and modules in business schools, very little in textbooks and mandates from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) focuses on moral absolutes or â€Å"bright line† virtue ethics such as honesty, fairness, or even false impressions in financial disclosures. The AACSB guidelines contain no mandates or references to these issues of honesty or training students in resolution of dilemmas involving honesty, disclosure, and false impression. The typical topics for business ethics textbooks, indeed for the literature in the field, center around social responsibility, and include a plethora of materials and cases on environmental issues, health and safety issues, sweatshops, diversity, and corporate philanthropy. The officers of all of the companies examined here and the companies themselves were all heavily involved in community and philanthropic work. Because of the focus of business schools on social responsibility as ethics, many of these officers and, to a large extent, the cultures of these companies, felt comfortable with deceptions in the name of shareholder value because they were accomplishing what they were trained to do in business school and they had ethics derived from their dedication to philanthropy, diversity, and environmentalism. These were all â€Å"soft† companies in the sense that they were not involved in those types of activities that are the targets of environmental protesters or labor activists. These were not companies running sweatshops or producing chemicals. Their perception of being â€Å"good† derived from the definition of good touted and taught by business ethicists in schools of business. The split, in their minds, between right and wrong did not lie along the lines of virtue ethics, but, rather, along the lines of social responsibility. Enron's CFO, Andrew Fastow, was beloved in Houston's Jewish community for his fund-raising for the city's proposed Holocaust museum. He was also involved in the city's art museum and virtually every other philanthropic cause related to the arts in the Houston area. Even those who worked with these officers in community projects and fund-raising had equated social responsibility with ethics, and were consistently shocked when Enron's financial conduct and reports were revealed. All of the companies noted here, as well as Charles Keating's American Continental and Finova Capital (the 7th-largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States), were widely known for their dedication to philanthropic activity, social responsibility, environmental activism, and dedication to community generosity. The curricula at business schools had permitted them the luxury of rationalization when it came to accounting and financial reporting because, in their minds, they had reached the conclusion Jeffrey Skilling touted in nearly every interview he gave, which was, â€Å"We are on the side of angels†. The behavior of executives in these companies reflects their grounding in any one of the three currently used models of business school ethics training: (1) the social responsibility model; (2) the code model; and (3) the stakeholder/normative model. Under the social responsibility model, students are educated in the importance of environmentalism, diversity, human rights, and philanthropy. Included in this approach may also be extensive discussions of product liability issues. Deficiencies in this approach are characterized in the previous section. The most descriptive list of this approach to ethics is found in the screens used by social responsibility investment funds, listed as follows: 1. The hiring of women and minorities; 3. Equity interest and ownership of South African operations (this screen is now dated because of the elimination of apartheid); 5. No layoffs and the hiring and promotion of those with disabilities; 6. No generation of revenue from weapons production; 7. Donations and the use of economically disadvantaged contractors and suppliers; and So long as stock prices are cranking up, it seems the CEO can be â€Å"cellophane man† for all anyone cares. But CEO divas are still quite an item in the business press. One thing is clear: Credibility and character count. Post-Enron, integrity and fair play matter more than the old gung-ho. Press reports about the lack of executive integrity are everywhere. One notable media story exposed the rise of companies conducting extensive background checks, complete with credit reports and neighbor interviews, for prospective CEOs. Ronald Zarrella, Bausch and Lomb's chief executive, was found to have shaded the truth about his credentials, saying he had an M.B.A. from New York University. Actually, he left prior to graduating. The board responded by cutting him out of a $1.1 million year-end bonus. Today CEOs are getting slammed for hoarding huge bonuses as they terminate legions of mid-level managers and production workers in the face of recession fears. Dennis Koslowski, CEO of Tyco, siphoned off millions from the firm by granting and forgiving employee relocation loans. He used the wealth for such essentials as a $15,000 umbrella. A guilty plea by one auditor and the criminal conviction of his audit firm have resulted in statutory reform, new policies on financial reporting, and stricter regulatory requirements for audit firms. When all the reform dust settles, however, and the new statutes, regulations, and rules are implemented, auditors and those who educate them will still be left with the same question: why were auditors willing to allow the types of financial reports and reporting decisions that produced fundamentally unfair and inaccurate portraits of the companies they were auditing? The answer to this question requires exploration of ethics education in both business schools and schools of accountancy. While there are voids in that training, there are also seminal works that could be used to help future accountants and auditors understand the dilemmas they will face and how to resolve such dilemmas. The Israeli bank-shares fiasco, the Enron affair, and, in its wake now, the WorldCom and Tyco scandals clearly demonstrate that unethical managers are a liability not only to their own organizations, but to the general public. The problem is that the formulation and publication of codes of ethics alone do not guarantee that managers and employees will behave ethically. Moreover, it is evident that managerial ethical behavior has a great deal of influence on the ethical climate and culture of the organization. Walking the talk is the name of the game, managers must not only be familiar with the ethical culture and accept it, but must serve as examples to the rest of the corporation. Any disparity between the declared ideology of the organization and managers' behavior has a deleterious effect. To establish a reputation of ethical leadership, managers must adhere to a high moral ground and ensure that their actions are perceived to be ethical. When ethical dilemmas are not confronted and when ethical aspects of daily managerial life are ignored, employees quickly perceive that ethical considerations do not constitute an integral component of the organization. They may rightly observe that bottom line and profits, not integrity and accountability, are core values. Consequently, when employees are faced with an ethical dilemma, the almighty dollar is most likely to rule the day.

Descriptive general marketing plan outline for eegee company

I.  Ã‚   Executive Summary – This marketing plan is designed and conceptualized to respond to a particular challenge that the Eegee Company is looking to take head-on: make solid, calculated steps upward the market and consumer share ladder and eventually lead the industry based on commanding hold of the target market and market share. This marketing plan provides an insight on the key pillars of a workable, achievable and realistic marketing strategy through the careful analysis and consideration of the company structure, capability and current market position as well as the position of the competitors and the direction where most of the target customers are looking. This marketing plan is designed to design a strategy so to ensure that the target customers of Eegee Company is looking Eegee’s way, and no other way, through effective marketing with the use of traditional and below the line (BLT) advertising vis-à  -vis enhanced and improved product designed to suit the taste of its target market. In order to measure the success level of the marketing plan, several long term and short term objectives are identified in this marketing plan to enable the company to see whether they are consistent with the course of action and course plotted by the marketing plan, and if the marketing plan is effective after all. II. The Egee Company Marketing Challenge – The Eegee Company has been operating since 1971, and for nearly four decades, many internal and external aspects have changed. Internally, there have been several changes in operational direction that included shift in logistics, use of technology and expansion while externally, competitors of the Eegee Company products themselves collectively experienced changes; some became stronger brands, some disappeared and in their place some new names surfaced to challenge the market and threaten the market share enjoyed by Eegee Company. The main marketing plan of the this marketing plan is to put Eegee Company in a position of stable and consistent growth, and over a period of calculated time, hit the top spot in market share in the frozen fruit juice, baked goods and sandwich industry, and provide long term and short term strategies on how to maintain pole position at least before a new and more suitable and up-to-date marketing plan has been created and enforced. This market plan will take into consideration the analysis of the current business situation Eegee is in, as well as the analysis of the company, the target market and customers and the competition to be able to ascertain the real grounds Eegee is standing on at the moment and from that point define the path it should take to get to where it wants to go. Analysis of the Situation – Eegee Company has successfully managed to branch out, but the branching out of the company is not yielding the desired stranglehold effect of the target market. Simply put, Egee is everywhere, but a lot of its target consumers are still going somewhere else. The question is, ‘why is that’? Product-wise, Eegee Company’s line of food product provides both character to the company and diversity that consumers require for a food chain to constantly invite patrons and attract new customers. In the absence of any official action against Eegee Company by anyone of its former and current customers with regards to the products having undesirable qualities, it is by default that this marketing plan would consider that most customers would agree that generally, Eegee Company’s food is fresh, delicious, satisfying and reasonably priced. Eegee Company, throughout its 36 years of existence and operation, was able to follow trends in local and trans-state food and beverage distribution and manufacturing, such trends not jeopardizing the quality of Eegee Company food. III. Alternative and Selected Marketing Strategies – This marketing plan will identify some alternative marketing strategy and select particular marketing strategies that the company is capable of launching and supporting inside a particular time frame. Selective and Sensitive Media Advertising – Traditional marketing wisdom still points to the use of advertising in mass media as an effective marketing strategy. But as was pointed out earlier in the marketing plan, current social changes affect the manner by which modern advertising and marketing strategy is being conducted, and Eegee should be aware of that and incorporate these changes in the strategy to come across as an issue-sensitive company whose main concern as a corporate entity is customer welfare. Eegee can shift its marketing and advertising styles with more health-conscious tones and responsibilities, meaning Eegee will focus on its healthy food line and stress on the characteristic of Eegee as a partner in maintaining healthy eating habits and at the same time re-align product advertising with regards to the audience that it actually hits, similar to the Kellogg case and the role of their advertisement of food that pressure groups deem as unhealthy for kids and contributing to the obesity of the children in America (Associated Press, 2007). Product and company assessment through public and target market survey – bringing the food closer to the target customers requires the company to know what type of food these people want on their hands and on their plates. This assessment is critical since this will provide the company a glimpse of where current Eegee products stand in the preference of the target market. Results of this study is integral in the marketing plan since this will help in the undertaking of alternative recommended strategies like the discontinuing of a product as well as product re-branding and change in company profile. The marketing team can begin with conducting the study on the impact of the company’s current identifiable logos and characters and whether or not it alienates a particular section of the target market owing to its leaning towards more youthful and child-like personality. Promotion through close contact with customers – Promotional activities like community-based events support and sponsorship is highly encouraged to be able to put Eegee closer to its target market. Other minor promotional gimmicks like holiday discounts and give-away items should also be analyzed carefully, particularly with the items to give out with focus on strengthening brand and product recall through non-food items. IV. Short Term and Long Term Projections – Long term and short term projections include immediate marketing strategy impact as well as the expected fall out of the marketing plan which will be reflected in a post mortem for the marketing plan which will be identified in the marketing strategy calendar. The long term and short term projections should also consider the impact of the marketing plan in other business areas like the forecast of revenues, expenses and break even analysis. The selected marketing strategies also promise several long term and short term impact on the company sales and product performance. The ‘Selective and Sensitive Media Advertising’ marketing strategy’s short term results may include favorable public perception on the company and the product that may show direct positive impact in immediate improvement of sales. Another expected short term result is the gaining of newfound interest among new target market who will be hit by the particular new wave of Eegee’s media advertising. Long term results generated from this particular strategy include long term maintenance of favorable and positive company and product profile (which can only be maintained if the company can provide products that customers generally like and enjoy) as well as the establishment of the very critical brand recall that can help in minimizing advertising efforts for at least the next one or two years. The ‘Product and company assessment through public and target market survey’ strategy’s long term and short term effect is primarily the ability of the company to use the opinion of its target consumers to its advantage. Its short term effect includes being able to re-design and repackage the products, the company and the marketing style that fits the consumer taste. Its long term effect is primarily the providing of usable data which the company can use in the future during its redesigning of future marketing plans and strategies. The ‘Promotion through close contact with customers’ strategy provides a short term effect that translates to direct communication with target consumers on a more localize and direct level while its long term effect is expected in the increase and maintenance of brand recall and product identification. In order to achieve them, departments and individuals who are directly involved in the implementation of the marketing plan should perform expected tasks and maintain deliverables as per marketing plan schedule. Special action towards the marketing plan that affects the marketing strategies directly may come in the form of remedial actions should unexpected problems arise during the duration of the marketing plan and strategy implementation, as well as crisis management task undertaking in the event of crisis-level concerns occurring during the duration of the marketing plan/strategy implementation. Forecast of Revenue – members of the marketing team should be designate the starting point of marketing campaign pursuant to the marketing plan put into action. A comprehensive administration of the marketing plan (advertisement, promotion, product change, corporate re-design etc) would be sufficient enough to allow management to evaluate sales performance from the start of the marketing campaign up to the end of the first three or five months and break down these months into weeks and days to see if there are noticeable trends that can suggest improving revenue based on the imposed marketing strategy. Expenses – List of expected expenses should make room for auxiliary expenses for unexpected marketing costs and should be detailed in the marketing plan. The expenses incurred in the undertaking of a creating and using of a new marketing plan and marketing strategy is considered as internal investment of the company. The marketing team should work hand in hand with the accounting and the legal department to see how some of the expenses can be translated for tax refunds and tax exempts and other ways and means that can soften the impact of the expenses on overall operation and financial status of the company. Marketing, after all, ‘costs money’ (Gendusa, 2006). Break Even Analysis – The marketing plan, the forecast of revenue and the list of expenses should design a strategy allowing for break even income – costs as the worst case scenario in the event that the marketing plan did not yield expected results. Necessary plans should also be made to compensate for any negative result of the break even analysis. References: Associated Press. (June 14, 2007). Kellogg to change recipes, marketing. The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 25, 2007, from http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/06/14/kellogg_to_change_recipes_marketing/ Eegee's website. Retrieved December 25, 2007, from http://www.eegees.com/index.htm Gendusa, Joy. (May 22, 2006). The Importance of a Marketing Plan. Articlesbase. Retrieved December 25, 2007, from http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/the importance-of-a-marketing-plan-30026.html ;

Synthesis of Guernica

During the Spanish Civil War, a small Basque village was bombed by German troops. In April of 1937, Pablo Picasso paid tribute to the bombing by creating the painting, Guernica, which showed a horrible scene of corpses and disaster stricken community. In 1985, a replication of Guernica was donated to the United Nations headquarters in New York and was â€Å"hung outside in the Security Council chamber. † In February of 2003, councilmen gathered at the UN in order to hear US Secretary of State Colin Powell build the American case for war against Iraq.Before the procedure could begin, however, the replication was covered with â€Å"a blue curtain and flags of the council’s member countries,† under the notion that it â€Å"was simply a matter of creating a more effective backdrop for the television cameras. † Off the record, some UN officials believe that â€Å"the United States leaned on UN officials to cover the tapestry, rather than have it in the backgro und while Powell or other US diplomats argued for war on Iraq. † This situation relates directly to George Orwell’s 1984.The covering of Guernica is similar to the censorship Orwell condemns in 1984. (Source 4:Walsh) In 1984, everything was censored and citizens were not allowed to think for themselves. Their government, the Party, regulated every aspect of life, from working to sleeping. Everyone was under their control. Even children were taught to censor the things their parents did or said. The government also dictated what was seen in the media, which is how Guernica connects to 1984. The theme of the painting, Guernica, is war.To have this graphic tribute to the loss of innocent lives as the background for one’s speech justifying war is questionable. Just as the Party censored the media in 1984, UN officials were censoring what the public was seeing here. Why would they allow a painting that shows death, heartache, and loss to be the first thing the public saw? This would make the public question the motives of those speaking and make them wonder what there ulterior motives were for waging war against Iraq.If the Guernica would have remained the backdrop for the Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US would have been questioned by not only its citizens, but those of other countries also. When questioned, the US would have lost supporters and cooperation from its sister countries. This would have eventually led to bad relations between countries, which would have affected everyone greatly. In the end, politics is nothing more than a popularity contest.