Reference no: EM131873644

Problem - The headquarters of Hall Corporation, a private company with $3.5 million in annual sales, is located in Oakland, California. Hall provides over 150 clients with online data and software backup services. Hall has grown rapidly since its inception about three years ago. Hall Corporation recently relocated to a larger building to accommodate this growth. Hall's president and sales employees spend a majority of time out of the office soliciting new clients. Therefore, the IT employees designed and organized the office and IT facilities.

The company relocated to a remodeled warehouse in a redevelopment zone in downtown Oakland. The architects retained much of the original structure, including the wooden-shingled exterior and exposed wooden beams throughout the interior. The IT employees designed a large 'fish bowl' office in the center of the building with high ceilings and several skylights. The employees feel that the 'open' design makes the IT department easily accessible, and encourages a team approach to problem-solving.

Before Hall officially moved into the building, the city building inspector and Fire Marshall toured the facility, checked electrical wiring, fire extinguishers, emergency exits, and other safety features. The Fire Marshall noted that overhead sprinklers are not required because the warehouse is designated as a 'historic' structure.

Hall's system automatically creates a differential backup every Sunday night, so business operations aren't disrupted. Backup drives are manually labeled each Monday morning and shelved in a bookcase in the IT department, so they are readily available if needed. The system operating manuals are also stored in the bookcase, so even a novice IT employee could restore from backup drives if necessary. A directory of employee names and cell numbers is taped to the side of the bookcase in case of emergency.

Access to the building is restricted by a keypad, for which every employee must memorize the passcode number. A video surveillance system monitors the reception area and parking lot. Each IT employee has a unique user ID and password for access to the network. Hall increased its liability and business insurance coverage to $100,000 when they relocated.

Saturday at 8:30pm Hall's president received a call from the Fire Chief informing him of a fire at the building. The president rushed to the office and discovered the building was completely gutted by the fire and firefighters were not able to salvage any personal property.

Required:

1. Identify and explain at least three weaknesses in IT security.

2. Identify and explain at least three weaknesses not directly related to IT security.

3. Identify at least six features of an adequate disaster recovery plan.