Problem Set #3

1. Software project decision point. 
   1. You need to determine an interest rate to use—select an interest rate and explain why you think this number should be used. Use it in your calculations in item 1.2.
   2. Given the information below on options 1 and 2, carry out three forms of analysis: breakeven, ROI, and NPV.
   3. Make a recommendation on which way to proceed, based on the TCO for each option.

• Option 1: Purchase the FunSoft package: Cost $200,000 for software and $85,000 for hardware in year one; with $50,000 to customize it and a $40,000 annual licensing fee for the life of the contract. There will be an annual saving of $61,000 due to the layoff of a clerk.
• Option 2: Purchase the SoftComm package, which will operate on the vendor’s hardware: Cost $250,000 for a five-year license, payable half up front and half during the first year of implementation. The maintenance contract, at $75,000 a year, includes all currently identified modifications to the software for the first three years. The clerk’s hours will be cut by half, for a saving of $25,000 a year.

In both cases, sales are expected to increase from the current $1 million a year, by 10% per year each year (over each year’s previous year’s sales) after full implementation.Assume a five-year life for the software.

Text

Title: Project Management 

Subtitle: https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/ 

Authors: Adrienne Watt 

Publisher: BCcampus Open Education 

Publication Date: 2019 

Edition: 2nd Edition 

 Porwerpoint : The steps recommended for efficiently developing an effective and consistent PowerPoint presentation include: 1.planning, 2.entering content, 3.editing, 4.formatting, 5.previewing, and 6.delivering (e.g. print, email, publish). Identify a key consideration one should make when planning a PowerPoint presentation? Describe the differences between building slide shows from blank presentations, themes, and templates. Discuss how PowerPoint presentations can be used both professionally and personally. 

100 words minimum 

 Problem 1: Knapsack Variant  (Pseudocode)
                  Consider the following version of Knapsack. Given are two weight limits W1 and W2, where W1 ≤ W2. Given are also n items (w1, c1),(w2, c2), . . . ,(wn, cn), where wi is the weight and ci the cost of the i-th item. We want to find a subset of these items of the highest cost, where the subset weights at least W1 and at most W2. Give an O(nW2) algorithm for this problem. (Re Block Crusher (Kattis) call that the cost (respectively weight) of a subset is the sum of the costs (respectively weights) of the items in the subset.) 

 Problem 2: Minimum Spanning Tree with Repeated Costs (Proof)
                  Consider the Minimum Cost Spanning Tree problem on an undirected graph G = (V, E) with a cost ce ≥ 0 on each edge, where the costs may not all be different. If the costs are not all distinct, there can in general be many distinct minimum-cost solutions. Suppose we are given a spanning tree T ⊆ E with the guarantee that, for every e ∈ T, e belongs to some minimum-cost spanning tree in G. Can we conclude that T itself must be a minimum-cost spanning tree in G? Give a proof or counterexample with explanation. 

Problem 3: Block Crusher (Kattis)
                 Solve the “Block Crusher”, which you can find at this web address: https://open.kattis. com/problems/blockcrusher This is a coding problem; be sure to follow the relevant instructions for testing and submitting. 

Problem 4:  Continuous Median (Kattis)
                   Solve the “Continuous Median” problem, which you can find at this web address: https: //open.kattis.com/problems/continuousmedian This is a coding problem; be sure to follow the relevant instructions for testing and submitting. An O(n 2 ) algorithm will not be fast enough to pass all the tests, and will receive at most 3 points out of 10. You need to get the running time down to o(n 2 ), and ideally, O(n log n).
Hint 1: Suppose “median” in the problem statement were replaced by “min” (or “max”). How would you solve that problem? Suppose we added the additional condition that, after even-numbered inputs, you must return the min value, and thereafter treat it as having been deleted from the data set. How would you solve it now?
Hint 2: Notice that the median element is (ignoring rounding for now) the maximum element of the bottom half of the input, and the minimum element of the top half of the input. How can you make use of that fact?
Hint 3: Choosing the right data structure is essential. 

Part A (1000 words): Annotated Bibliography – Create an annotated bibliography that focuses on ONE particular aspect of current Software Engineering that face a world with different cultural standards. At least seven (7) peer-reviewed articles must be used for this exercise.

Part B (3000 words):

Research Report – Write a report of the analysis and synthesis using the (Part A) foundational Annotated Bibliography. 

Part C (500 words): Why is it important to try to minimize complexity in a software system.

Part D (500 words): What are the advantages and disadvantages to companies that are developing software products that use cloud servers to support their development process?

Part E (500 words): Explain why each microservice should maintain its own data. Explain how data in service replicas can be kept consistent?

 In 250 words or more, answer the following.

This week was all about programming. We looked at several types of programming. Why Programing is Important | Mark | Jack | Bill Gates Tips About Programing, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1eRTERyMfI)  where major influencers of the digital world talk about learning to program. They also share their experiences of the importance of learning to program. Choose one of the people interviewed in the video that inspired you. Do some Internet research to learn some more about them and share it with the class.

Answer this question: Why is it important for you as a business professional in your chosen field to know how to program?

Assignment:

Please use the Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com) to search for a scholarly article concerning some malware incident or application, and the digital forensics solutions.

You must summarize the article and state your opinion of what occurred and what steps could had been done differently if any. Remember to cite your references using APA style. 

Please, summarize the article and answer the following questions: 

1. Do you agree with the article’s position, approaches, and authors? Why, or why not? 

2. What could had been done if anything that could improve on the incident? 

3. What should had been done?

4. Was proper procedure used in your opinion?

5. Could you include anything else concerning the article?

Paper requirement:

1. The paper must be in APA format.

2. Number of references should be at least 3. 

3. The length of the paper can be minimum of 3 and maximum of 4 pages (excluding reference page) to support your claims or views.

4. No need of cover page.

Q.  What needs to be included as part of an organizations Phishing Policy? 

Note: 300 words with intext citations and 2 references needed.

Due immediately 

Project Part 2: Gap Analysis Plan and Risk Assessment Methodology

Scenario

After the productive team meeting, Fullsoft’s chief technology officer (CTO) wants further analysis performed and a high-level plan created to mitigate future risks, threats, and vulnerabilities. As part of this request, you and your team members will create a plan for performing a gap analysis, and then research and select an appropriate risk assessment methodology to be used for future reviews of the Fullsoft IT environment.An IT gap analysis may be a formal investigation or an informal survey of an organization’s overall IT security. The first step of a gap analysis is to compose clear objectives and goals concerning an organization’s IT security. For each objective or goal, the person performing the analysis must gather information about the environment, determine the present status, and identify what must be changed to achieve goals. The analysis most often reveals gaps in security between “where you are” and “where you want to be.”Two popular risk assessment methodologies are NIST SP 800-30 revision 1, Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments, and Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation (OCTAVE). Your focus will be on the OCTAVE Allegro version, which is a more concise version of OCTAVE. When reviewing the methodologies, consider the following:

• Which features or factors of each methodology are most important and relevant to Fullsoft?
• Which methodology is easier to follow?
• Which methodology appears to require fewer resources, such as time and staff, but still provides for a thorough assessment?

Tasks

• Create a high-level plan to perform a gap analysis.
• Review the following two risk assessment methodologies:
  • NIST SP 800-30 rev. 1, Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments (formerly titled ” Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems”)
  • Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation (OCTAVE), Allegro version
• Create a report that includes the gap analysis plan, a brief description of each risk assessment methodology, a recommendation for which methodology Fullsoft should follow, and justification for your choice.

Required Resources

• Textbook for this course
• Internet access
• Additional websites for research

Submission Requirements

• Format: Microsoft Word or compatible
• Font: APA Format
• Citation Style: APA Format
• Submit in the Group Project Part 2Assignment
• Name the document Group-project-part-2
• Length: 5-6 pages plus citation page

You are encouraged to respond creatively, but you should cite credible sources to support your work.

Self-Assessment Checklist

• I created a plan for performing a gap analysis of the IT environment.
• I evaluated and selected a risk assessment methodology.
• I summarized each methodology, recommended which methodology Fullsoft should follow, and provided justification for my choice.
• I conducted adequate independent research for this part of the project.
• I followed the submission guidelines.

Your final project will be to design a training presentation to the client’s IT staff. 

If you haven’t already done it last week,:

• Download the Client Presentation Template to get started.
• Review the Presentation Resources which may help you get started. 

The presentation must meet the following requirements:

• 11 to 15 slides of easy-to-understand content (text and visuals). Remember, your audience is the IT team within an accounting firm.
• voice annotation for every slide (excluding the reference slide)
• at least two references

The presentation can incorporate screenshots from Project 2 along with additional screenshots as needed. Content should include work that needs to go into making the upgrade successful, how to improve security using two or three of the Windows 10 built-in features, and how-to backup and restore Windows 10 data using some of the tools available in Windows 10.

The presentation should address your recommendations for the following items:

• Version Summary
  • Recommended version of Windows 10 (e.g., Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, Pro Workstation) and specific reasons for your choice (e.g., security features, technical and business requirements).
• Installation Methods
  • Explain Windows 10 deployment methods. Which method or methods you think will be appropriate for the upgrade? Consider the hardware specifications outlined in the project scenario.
• Security Features
  • Windows Security, BitLocker, Defender, Local Security Policy
• Backup and Recovery Overview
  • Discuss the importance of backing up and recovery of Windows 10. This can include explaining what types of files and data that can backed up and restored. This should address:
    • the problems encountered when Tetra Shillings Accounting fell victim to a ransomware attack that resulted in the loss of critical data.
    • the concerns that Tetra Shillings Accounting has concerning recovering data that is lost due to deletion, corruption, or media failure.
    • the ability to restore system files and settings without affecting the user’s personal files and data.
    • the concerns that the client has about recovering systems that are negatively impacted by an operating system update.
• Backup and Recovery Tools
  • You will need to explain how to use Windows 10 backup and recovery tools to meet these objectives. Provide a brief overview of each tool and how it can be used to address the company’s concerns. Use screenshots to demo how to configure backups that address the firm’s need to recover from a ransomware attack and restore the system to a state before a Windows update, driver, or application was installed.
• Backup to Recover from Ransomware Attack
  • Describe how to back up and restore individual files using the utilities available in Windows 10. This should provide the client the ability to restore files lost due to ransomware attacks or other potential risks.
• Backup and Recover a Restore Point
  • Research how to protect backup data that is stored on the network. Based on your research, you need to present a strategy to protect backup data that is compromised during a ransomware attack. This will most likely require a strategy to store, copy, or move backups to an offsite location. In this slide, you will need to explain the risks of only having only having a single copy of a backup stored on the network. Think about if the client suffers another ransomware attack and the corrupted data cannot be restored because the backups were also compromised during the attack.

How Will My Work Be Evaluated?

As you progress in your information technology and cybersecurity career, you may find yourself making presentations to customers, client audiences, and management. In this assignment you are being called upon to present a high-level technical presentation to your client’s IT Team.

But the challenge you face is in expressing a technical solution without getting bogged down in too much detail. You simply want to introduce or refresh the audience on the key points of Windows 10 benefits, including security and backup methods.

Find a way to relay your solution (and challenges) in language that your audience will find easily relatable.

Communicating in this manner will not always be easy. You may struggle to find the right analogy or metaphor. But if you can master the skill of summarizing your results and recommendations in an effective presentation, you will demonstrate how you use your technical knowledge to convey your ideas to others in a professional setting. You will also earn the respect and trust of your peers, your supervisor, and upper management as an effective communicator. You will be viewed as an employee ready for advancement.

The following evaluation criteria aligned to the competencies will be used to grade your assignment:

• 1.1.2: Support the main idea and purpose of a communication.
• 1.3.3: Integrate appropriate credible sources to illustrate and validate ideas.
• 2.3.5: Articulate the implications, consequences, and potential limitations of proposed conclusions and solutions.
• 10.1.1: Identify the problem to be solved.
• 11.1.1: Explain appropriate preparation procedures.
• 1.2.1: Configure technology according to stakeholder specifications and requirements.
• 12.6.1: Identify the controls needed for confidentiality.