Network Firewall and Access Management System

Abstract

Abstract This document outlines the development and implementation of the web-based Network Firewall and access management system, designed to automate the firewall port open request process, vulnerability assessment request process, Internet access request process and Active Directory password create/reset request process within the IT department of Bank of Ceylon. When number of requests arises, it leads to misplace of request forms and extra effort should be made to maintain old records.The major issue is when request come up with expiry date, network team becomes responsible for removing the access after expiration date. If document is miss placed it becomes a huge risk. Also, when hard copies of requests forms are maintained, the staff needs to put an extra effort when retrieving the needed information. In vulnerability assessment process each unit and security department has to keep files separately that has same details. Due to the manual system, there are frequent data entry errors, data duplication and misprocessing of data. The staff need to put in extra work to retain team-specific information and them accordingly to obtain a comprehensive picture of the status of all requests. Not only that, but also the higher management is unable to view the status of the vulnerability fixing since referring to excel sheets of each and every division is time consuming. Web-based Network Firewall and access management system was developed as a solution to convert current paper based manual process to digital platform based process. The designed system's main aim is to monitor all the Firewall, VA, Internet and password create/reset requests and identify the unnecessary bottle necks. The system was developed as a fully web-based application with MySQL as the database and PHP scripting language for application. Users can access the application via the bank's internal network with any browser of their choice. It is projected to improve employee productivity in the IT sector as well as information accuracy and efficiency. Testing and the evaluation done by the selected users from each unit in IT department including higher management. The developed system demonstrated to users and feedback. Positive user feedback indicates that the system satisfies the specified need and is an improvement over the existing manual procedure