Case Study #4: Technology & Product Review for an SIEM Solution

Case Scenario:

Security Operations Control Centers (SOCC) are a necessity for large businesses and government agencies. But, for a small to medium sized business such as Sifers-Grayson, the expense of setting up and operating a SOCC may outweigh the benefits. Instead of a full SOCC, smaller companies may decide to invest in an enterprise monitoring technology such as a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool. Such tools can be used by to monitor the enterprise, collect information, and report upon security events (generate alerts and alarms).Your task for this case study is to identify, assess, and recommend an SIEM tool which is appropriate for Sifers-Grayson and which could be used to support the activities of a SOCC should Sifers-Grayson decide to establish this organization as a separate operating unit.

Research:

• Review the weekly readings.
• Choose one of the SIEM products from the Gartner Magic Quadrant analyses.
• Research your chosen product using the vendor’s website and product information brochures. (Vendors for highly rated products will provide a copy of Gartner’s most recent Magic Quadrant report on their websites but, registration is required.)
• Find three or more additional sources which provide reviews for (a) your chosen product or (b) general information about SIEM technologies and solutions.

Write:

Write a 3 page summary of your research. At a minimum, your summary must include the following:

1.An introduction or overview for the security technology category (SIEM).

2.A review of the features, capabilities, and deficiencies for your selected vendor and product

3.Discussion of how the selected product could be used by your client to support its cybersecurity objectives by reducing risk, increasing resistance to threats/attacks, decreasing vulnerabilities, etc.

4.A closing section in which you restate your recommendation for a product (include the three most important benefits).

As you write your review, make sure that you address security issues using standard cybersecurity terminology (e.g. protection, detection, prevention, “governance,” confidentiality, integrity, availability, nonrepudiation, assurance, etc.).See the ISACA glossary https://www.isaca.org/pages/glossary.aspxif you need a refresher on acceptable terms and definitions.

As you write your review, make sure that you address security issues using standard cybersecurity terminology (e.g. 5 Pillars IA, 5 Pillars Information Security). See the resources listed under Course Resources > Cybersecurity Concepts Review for definitions and terminology.

Formatting Instructions

Use standard APA formatting for the MS Word document that you submit to your assignment folder. Formatting requirements and examples are found under Course Resources > APA Resources.

Submit For Grading

Submit your paper in MS Word format (.docx or .doc file) using the Case Study #4:SIEM Technology & Product Review assignment in your assignment folder. (Attach the file.)

Additional Information

1.There is no penalty for writing more than 3 pages but, clarity and conciseness are valued. If your essay is shorter than 3 pages, you may not have sufficient content to meet the assignment requirements (see the rubric).

2.You are expected to write grammatically correct English in every assignment that you submit for grading. Do not turn in any work without (a) using spell check, (b) using grammar check, (c) verifying that your punctuation is correct and (d) reviewing your work for correct word usage and correctly structured sentences and paragraphs.

3.You are expected to credit your sources using in-text citations and reference list entries. Both your citations and your reference list entries must comply with APA 6th edition Style requirements. Failure to credit your sources will result in penalties as provided for under the university’s Academic Integrity policy.

The Doctoral Study

The previous modules described in detail how the SLP for this course will produce a document that will begin a working draft of a proposal for your Doctoral Study. It is now time to attempt this ourselves and take the next step by developing a mini-proposal for your doctoral study.

Module 5: The Problem/Puzzle

Write up a 4-page mini-proposal for the Doctoral Study you are thinking about doing at this point in time.

• The tentative title of your study.
• Explain what is driving your interest in your research topic.
• Define the problem have you identified that your research might address or help resolve.
• What puzzle about your area of interest do you want to solve?
• Propose a set of RQ’s (5-10) which you will eventually reduce to 1 or 2.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Although the SLP is a less formal document than a case study, it is expected that you follow APA convention at the doctoral level. Also, although you are asked for your opinion, remember that it is good practice to avoid writing in the first person. Instead, focus on stating the facts as you perceive them to be while writing in the third person—and cite supporting sources.

Qualitative research results

The following readings are required. Optional readings can be found at the end of each section and while not required, may help you understand the material better and be useful to you if you choose to conduct a case study research method for your doctoral study. All readings can be accessed in the Trident Online library, unless linked to another source.

The importance of records

We have presented in previous modules methods of qualitative data collection including interviews, focus groups, surveys, documentary analysis, and observations. Each of these methods produce results in the form of records. Such records include transcripts of recorded interviews or focus groups, open-ended survey data, and field notes of observations. In the case of documentary analysis—the records previously exist—but they are organized and cataloged for analysis by the researcher. Qualitative researchers typically file all records in electronic folders or databases. Analysis is then conducted using either common productivity software such as Microsoft Office (or similar open-source package such as Open Office or Google Docs), or software designed specifically for qualitative data analysis such as nVivo or Atlas Ti.

Getting started with analysis

The basic goal of qualitative data analysis is to be able to see patterns in the data that may not be immediately obvious from surface inspection. Getting to this level of insight requires the application of a systematic approach. Such an approach ensures that the data is analyzed at the appropriate level of depth and that the process may be repeated by other researchers. Suggested steps include the following:

1. Read: Thoroughly and carefully read each line of the transcript, the document, or field notes. It is important at this stage to “take in” and reflect on what is being read and avoid jumping to conclusions.
2. Code: After an initial in-depth reading of the transcript or document, you will now seek to find ideas, passages, or expressions that stand out in some way. For example, were they emphasized by the research subject in some way? Is there any passage that appears to repeat similar ideas in multiple ways throughout the document? Is there any passage that is somehow striking in its relevance to the topic or subject under study? Passages associated with these (or other relevant questions) are highlighted and identified by a code word or number for tracking purposes. This activity is referred to as “coding” the data (Gibbs & Taylor, 2010).
3. Themes: After a number of codes have been identified, it is now time to consider to what degree, if any, each of the codes are related to each other. For example, is some of the coded data similar? Is there a common idea or principle being articulated? Alternatively, some codes may deal with similar topics but in different ways. The important activity in this next step is to attempt to discover themes by grouping together the codes assigned to highlighted passages. What results from the grouping of codes is the next level of analysis—the underlying themes being expressed in the data (Ryan & Bernard, 2003b).
4. Conceptual framework: The highest level of analysis is the conceptual framework. It is at this point that we begin to see the big picture emerge from the underlying data. This step of the analysis is also rather “tricky”. For example, if the researcher asserts that one theme is related to another in some way, then some level of explanation or rationale for the observed relationships must be suggested. One technique for identifying related themes is to do a simple frequency analysis identifying how often a particular theme appears—and in how many sources. It is not uncommon for themes with the highest totals to relate to each other in some way.

Steps 1-4 bring to mind the analogy of the building of a brick wall. At the most fundamental analysis, a brick wall consists of bricks. Likewise, in qualitative data analysis, we have “codes”. When we put bricks together in a certain way—we may see a pattern in the brick. Likewise, we see patterns emerge from qualitative data in the form of themes. Finally, once all bricks are put together, we end up with a wall. In qualitative research, we arrive at a unique combination of themes, built from codes, with “mortar” (in the form of our rationale for expressing the relationships between themes) cementing the themes together in a resulting conceptual framework. In the same way that a brick wall—and the patterns made by the brick—are tangible and visible—researchers typically create a graphical depiction of the conceptual framework. This may be as simple as presenting several text boxes with themes and descriptions linked together using lines or arrows to indicate observed relationships between the themes.

Dedoose

Dedoose (http://www.dedoose.com) is an inexpensive subscription-based software package that provides support for qualitative and mixed-method research. You will use Dedoose in your DBA program. Visit the Dedoose site and sign up for a trial subscription in order to use it for the data analysis conducted in the Case Assignment for this module.

What is going on? The conceptual framework

At the end of our qualitative data analysis, we can expect to examine how the themes come together, how they are related, and what the big picture looks like. In short, the resulting conceptual framework is our view, grounded in the data, of “What is going on here.” This is an essential step in theory building as conceptual frameworks may be refined into theory and then tested. For example, in quantitative research, we take a theory and test it. This is similar to stating, “This is what I think is going on here—and now I am going to test it.” Qualitative research—including case studies and action research—may benefit from a “pre” and “post” data analysis conceptual framework. For example, the researcher may state explicitly how the researcher views the problem or context under consideration prior to the data collection and analysis. The conceptual framework that results from the analysis may then be compared to the initial conceptual framework to clearly identify changes in understanding that have emerged from the qualitative data collection and analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014).

How do you know? A word on validity…

It could be argued—and often is argued—that deciding what to code, what to call a theme, and the building of a conceptual framework is a series of activities that are subjective in nature. What then should the researcher do in order to minimize subjectivity and to build validity? One answer is to use multiple sources of data. If multiple sources tend to align in a similar direction, this argues for validity. Also, one suggestion is to begin first with the most tangible data such as pre-existing written records or documents to ground the analysis in realism. Finally, it is always a good idea to use a focus group of stakeholders as a validation step to review the work that you have done in the thematic analysis and provide feedback and revision suggestions.

What does the end product look like?

Research based on qualitative data analysis not only presents findings in the form of a conceptual framework, but also walks the reader through the data itself. For example, the researcher should identify the most common themes, and discuss the thematic findings. Further, it is a good validation step to use one or more direct quotes from transcript analysis to give the reader a “taste” of the type of data found in the analysis. It is also a good idea, in addition to presenting the themes, to describe to the reader how relationships between themes were determined. For example, if a frequency analysis of themes and their appearance was performed, then present it in the final results. Finally, remember that qualitative data is characterized by rich description, graphical depiction, and in-depth discussion. The strength of the paper is not only in the data collection process, but how well the emergent themes and ideas are described and presented.

Gibbs, G. R., & Taylor, C. (2010, February 19). NEW. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/how_what_to_c…

Yin, R.K. (2009). Analyzing case study evidence. In Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Fourth Ed. (pp. 126-163). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Inc.

Gagnon, Y. (2010). Stage 6: Analyzing data . In The Case Study As Research Method : A Practical Handbook (pp. 69-82). Québec [Que.]: Les Presses de l’Université du Québec (EBSCO ebook Collection)

Gagnon, Y. (2010). Stage 7: Interpreting data. In The Case Study As Research Method : A Practical

Handbook (pp.83-92). Québec [Que.]: Les Presses de l’Université du Québec (EBSCO ebook Collection)

Farquhar, J. D. (2012). Managing and analysing data. In Case study research for business (pp. 84-99). London : SAGE Publications Ltd (SAGE Research Methods Database)

Optional Reading

Beverland, M. & Lindgreen, A. (2010). What makes a good case study? A positivist review of qualitative case research published in Industrial Marketing Management, 1971-2006. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(1), 59-63.

Easton, G. (2005). Critical realism in case study research. Industrial marketing Management, 39(1), 118-128. (Science Direct DataBase)

Gillham, B. (2000). Case Study Research Methods. London: Continuum (EBSCO eBook Collection)

Johnson, P., Buehring, A., Cassell, C. & Symon, G. (2006). Evaluating qualitative management research: Toward a contingent criteriology. International Journal of Management Review, 8(3), 131-156. (EBSCO: Business Source Complete Database)

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, Califorinia: SAGE Publications.

Ryan, G.W. and Bernard, H.R. (2003b) ‘Techniques to Identify Themes’, Field Methods, 15(1): 85-109.

Strauss, Anselm and Corbin, Juliet (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research. Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (2nd Ed. 1998)

Privacy in a Technological Age

Privacy protection is a hot topic in today’s data-hungry technological world. In a well-written paper, begin with an examination of an individual’s right to privacy. Then consider how advanced surveillance and monitoring technologies might intrude upon this right to privacy. How might the roles and obligations of an organization conflict with its workers right to privacy? Provide specific examples to support your analysis.

Your well-written paper should be 3-4 pages in length (not including introduction and references) and formatted according to APA Guidelines. The paper has to be simple essay format (with introduction and conclusion)

Plagiarism is strict, so ensure uniqueness and citations for every statement refereed.

You should reference 2-3 scholarly sources.

Provide appropriate citations in-line where ever applicable.

Final Paper – Connecting your learning

https://prsa.capella.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/CJ…

Connecting Your Learning

Competencies Addressed in This Assignment

• Competency 1: Articulate how the rules of criminal procedure apply to a criminal justice practitioner.
• Competency 2: Illustrate ethical compliance with criminal procedure from a criminal justice practitioner perspective.
• Competency 3: Apply the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments in a criminal justice context.
• Competency 4: Specify how the procedural rules apply to the admission of evidence in criminal cases.
• Competency 5: Communicate effectively in writing.

In this assignment, the criteria in your Connect Your Learning Scoring Guide are directly aligned to Competencies 1–5 for the course.

Overview

Throughout the class, you have examined the court system, sources of rights such as the rules and procedures of the criminal justice system pertinent to the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and fundamental principles in criminal law. You have examined, probable cause and reasonable suspicion in action, various stops, use of force, important exceptions to the rules of search and seizure, confessions and admissions, constitutional rights at trial, and the legal liability that can be placed on law enforcement officers.

Instructions

Prepare a 4–6-page paper (1–1.5 pages per competency for Competencies 1 through 4), focused on the course competencies and address two key areas of learning for each competency. Competency 5 will be showcased through your coverage of Competencies 1–4. This paper should showcase your learning proficiency and describe the importance of your learning relative to application in a career context. This assignment should be placed in your ePortfolio for future reference, and to demonstrate your learning connections for future employment purposes.

Be sure to review the Connecting Your Learning Scoring Guide to ensure you understand the criteria for this assignment.

Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Must be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• References: One reference per competency.
• APA format: Format resources and citations as per current APA style and formatting guidelines.
• Length of paper: 4–6 pages, not including the title page and the references page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.