Evaluation of the Steps that Dave Ballard and Nick Francesco Took in Response to the Theft of the Deans Laptop (Essay Sample)

Evaluation of the Steps that Dave Ballard and Nick Francesco Took in Response to the Theft of the Dean’s Laptop.
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Evaluation of the Steps that Dave Ballard and Nick Francesco Took in Response to the Theft of the Dean’s Laptop.
1. Evaluate the steps that Dave Ballard and Nick Francesco took in response to the Dean’s email informing them that his laptop had been stolen. Which steps were effective, and which steps needed improvement? Be prepared to justify your reasoning by articulating your own criteria for effective or ineffective incident response.
In evaluation of the steps that Dave and Nick took to respond to laptop theft of the aforementioned caseCITATION Mar \l 1033 (J, McLaughlin, Hansen, Cram, & Gogan, 2015), it is important to identify the criteria and key effective aspects to be considered in case of the referred incident. The first step would be to take an initiative to contact the authorities and the necessary involved personnel. Filing a police and workplace report ensures that the relevant people are on the lookout for any miscellaneous activities involving the device. In addition, it is a necessity in the recovery of any insurance in case any losses occur due to the theft. It also provides proof of independence of any illegal activities carried out using the device.
The second step is to ensure that identity theft does not occur. Thus, the owner should ensure that all private accounts in the aforementioned device should be made unavailable to the thief. It is therefore important to change account passwords and ensure all accounts related to the device are constantly monitored. It is also important to ensure that the accounts contained in the device are flagged so that the device can be traced the moment it is turned on.
Finally, it is important to try to get back the computer or recover any information that may have been lost due to the loss of the device. If possible, the serial number should enable the owner to identify the device the moment it is turned on and possibly lead to its recovery. If recovery is not possible, then it is important to try and recover as much of the lost data as possible.
In the above case, the authorities had already been identified by the time the information had arrived to Ballard. Thus, the first step Dave made was to ensure that a new laptop was made available to the dean as soon as was possible. This was a very effective step. This is because it ensured that inconvenience due to the loss of the laptop was minimized. In addition, the university had standard issue laptops with a backup system for every member. Thus, this ensured that the dean had limited inconveniences caused by obtaining a new laptop. In addition, he informed the relevant departments at work specifically, the public safety department which in return notified the ISO and the IRS.
The second step that Francesco and Ballard take is to determine the kind of information that was on the laptop and try to secure it. Thus they first ask the dean on the nature of information on his laptop. According to a predetermined system, Ballard and Francesco would be able to find out the nature and sensitivity of the information and consequently be able to determine the step and precautions to take in respect to this information. Thus, if any sensitive information was to be found to have been on the computer affecting any of the people involved, they would have to notify the ISO and the relevant authorities to protect against identity theft. In the final step, they also run check on the dean’s files to confirm if any identifying information was stored in the laptop computer. Thus, they would have been able to narrow down on who was most prone to risk and be able to put up measures to protect them. This was therefore very effective in that it ensures that credibility of one’s identity is maintained.
Finally, Ballard and Francesco take measures to ensure recovery. This recovery is both in terms of data and in terms of the laptop. Thus, they ensured that they were able to recover as much as possible. In this aspect, they first ensured that the dean was able to recover his information from the university cloud where data was backed up. Thus, data from the last backup the dean had made was recovered. In the recovery of the laptop itself, the two ensure that the laptop is flagged and thus the tech department will know when the laptop connects to the internet. Thus, the laptop will be readily available in the case that it is used in its current state. In addition to flagging the laptop on their system, Dave and Ballard ensure that they recover the serial number of the laptop so that it can be tracked. Thus, they run the serial number against the ones in pawnshops and advertisements to ensure that the laptop may be recovered if anyone tries to sell it in the nearby town. They even go as far as trying to ensure that the thief would be caught if he or she would try to buy any accessories for the specified laptop. Thus, it is evident that this was a very effective step in ensuring recovery of whatever could be salvaged.
However, some actions carried out by Ballard and Francesco prove to be ineffective. In the first case, the acquisition of the serial number is carried out late. In this case, Dave and Francesco, though doing the right thing by looking for the laptop, do it a tad bit too late. It is important to note that a recovery operation is most effective when response is immediate. Thus, by trying to trace the laptop one day after the theft, the two give the robber ample time to get rid of the laptop. Thus, this tardiness in response could be the reason as to why the laptop was never recovered.
The system used by Ballard and Francesco also do not ensure that the dean is secure against future identity theft. Considering the fact that the system of monitoring potential victims to identity theft is very expensive, it can be said to be ineffective. This is because that system only identifies when identity theft has occurred and has no way to prevent identity theft in itself. Thus, it proves ineffective.
2. Consider the role of Dean of the Saunders College of Business, including his roles as a leader, spokesperson, fundraiser, and manager. In supporting the many activities the Dean performs every day, how do digital assets on his laptop help him? What specific categories of information does he keep on that machine, according to the case? What other information might he store on his laptop, given the work that he does?
One of the most important aspects that digital assets that facilitated the dean was in terms of storage. In this case, the dean used his laptop to store digital information. As mentioned in the text, the dean lost a lot of files in when he lost the laptop. This therefore leads to the conclusion that he used his digital devices for storage of information pertaining to his day to day tasks. It is also mentioned that most of his presentations were put in his flash drive, other evidence to show that storage of files was important in his use of the digital assets. It is also important to note that the flash drive especially gave him a more convenient way to store and transport information as compared to the more bulky computer. Having information thus helped in his managerial role since crucial information was always within his grasp.
Communication was also another use of the technology he had at hand. When he loses his assets, the first thing the dean does is send an email to the concerned individual on the incident. The dean can also be seen taking out important information from previous email messages. Thus, it is evident that one of the key communication means in the university is digital. Thus, communication must have been an important application of the digital assets available to the dean and must have facilitated in leadership and management.
In addition to communication and storage, digital devices also helped the dean in the fundraising and spokesperson roles. In this case, they helped him in conveying presentation. As stated in the article, the dean stored presentation for fundraising meetings and presentation during speeches he conducted. Thus, digital assets must have really enhanced the way the dean presented various aspects. In this case, the dean was able to present information during these meeting in a more understandable manner, facilitating his spokesman ship and fund raising activities.
According to the specified case, the dean had specific kinds of information kept on his machine. First, the dean kept the universities and personal financial information on the lost laptop. As mentioned in the journal article, the dean was in an effort to recover budget reports containing salary details of Saunders employees. The search also reveals that the dean’s financial information from his bank account in India was in the laptop. This shows that financial information was among the kind of information contained in the mentioned laptop.
Documents, spreadsheets and student information were also part of the information stored in the computer. The term document here refers to typed office documents. Among the documents kept was an article which the dean was writing. In another example, it is stated that the dean lost his documents among other information when the laptop was lost. In the earlier meeting with Ballard and Francesco, the dean also mentions that he stores his students information on the laptop in case he has a class in that semester.
The dean also kept presentations in the laptop. As stated, the loss of the laptop meant that the dean lost a lot of information which was crucial in his presentation to the several meetings he had to attend. Similarly, it is stated that most of the presentation on the dean’s laptop was backed up in the driv...