LV Manufacturing Company, one of India's leading automotive component manufacturers, had embarked on an ambitious digital transformation program by late 2024. They moved from legacy systems to SAP ERP tightly integrated

CS Professional · Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Cyber Security - Laws and Practice · PYQS · June 2026
LV Manufacturing Company, one of India's leading automotive component manufacturers, had embarked on an ambitious digital transformation program by late 2024. They moved from legacy systems to SAP ERP tightly integrated with Oracle Database 19c, deployed AWS S3 for backups, and adopted a Hyperledger-based blockchain to track raw material sourcing and shipment verification. LV Manufacturing Company also rolled out IoT-based factory sensors connected through a 5G private network to feed real-time production data into their Decision Support System (DSS). One of LV's largest trading partners was Mr. RK, a high-profile Mumbai-based stockbroker and commodities trader. Mr. RK was specialized in predictive investment strategies for manufacturing and logistics sectors, relying heavily on real-time operational data feeds from suppliers like LV. LV Manufacturing Company granted Mr. RK, API-based access to certain DSS metrics, secured through their corporate firewall and an API gateway. In early 2025, LV Manufacturing Company entered a large export contract with European automotive clients that required blockchain-verified shipping updates. Mr. RK's analytics platform consumed this blockchain data along with ERP metrics to predict LV's share performance. Mr. RK's analytics models flagged abrupt drops in LV's production output and delayed shipment logs. Blockchain ledger entries mismatched ERP shipment records. Firewall logs showed traffic spikes from unrecognized IP ranges—many geolocated outside India. Within days, Mr. RK's AWS-based data lake suffered corruption of historical performance datasets, causing predictive models to produce flawed investment signals. Forensics hinted at API credential compromise, likely through phishing of a LV admin user, coupled with firewall misconfiguration allowing API traffic from unvetted IP addresses. On Mr. RK's side, object versioning was disabled in S3, allowing corrupted data to overwrite originals without rollback. Investigators determined: Compromised API tokens were used to pull legitimate LV's data and inject falsified metrics. Attackers modified Oracle DB query responses in-transit before they hit the blockchain validation layer. Mr. RK's network security appliance was only in monitoring mode, so malicious packets were not blocked in real time. The attack impacted not only LV's credibility but also Mr. RK's financial standing, as some investments were made on the basis of tampered analytics. International clients demanded an independent blockchain audit, while both LV Manufacturing Company and Mr. RK had to halt operations temporarily for data restoration. Based on the above case answer the following: While designing a joint security architecture for LV Manufacturing Company and Mr. RK to secure the API data exchange, covering both network and application layers, how TCP/IP Protocol suite will work? Explain the functions of each layer.

Answer & Explanation:

The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model is a set of protocols that make up the network layer of the internet. TCP/IP model is an inter-networking solution which was initially developed for communication within a limited network but later on turned out to be the standard protocol for unsecured communication over the internet. Application Layer: This is the top most layer that acts as an interface through which applications and programs communicate with the user. Commonly used protocols in this layer have been discussed below: HTTP: The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the foundation of data exchange over the World Wide Web as it makes easily accessible to the user through hyperlinks. HTTP further specifies how data requests by the user will be processed by sending it to the appropriate server, which in turn will send respond to such request. SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is entrusted with the task of sending and receiving electronic mails. FTP: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is concerned with transfer of files over a network. Transport Layer: This layer is concerned with packaging of data into smaller packets and segments so that they can be transmitted over the network. This layer also creates a communication channel between the sender and receiver device for an error-free transmission of data without any hindrance. Some of the protocols used in transport layer are: TCP: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the protocol which establishes a connection between the source and destination system and further ensures proper movement of segments over communication channel. UDP: User Diagram Protocol (UDP) is mainly responsible for detection of errors during transmission of data over the network. UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a connectionless protocol that provides fast transmission with low overhead and is commonly used in streaming, online gaming and real-time communication applications. Internet Layer: This layer is responsible for routing the data during transmission by pointing out the path which the data packets will use for transmission. This layer also helps in identification of data over the network by providing IP addresses to the system. The protocols used in this layer are discussed below: IP: Internet Protocol (IP) is the most important protocol in internet layer, as it is responsible for sending data packets across a network from the source to destination. ARP: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) uses the IP address to locate the physical address of the host. IGMP: Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is used for data transmission to a group of networks. Network Access/Interface Layer: This layer is concerned with physical aspect of data transmission in raw form, i.e., binary format, through physical communication modes over a network. This layer makes use of protocols like ethernet cables, fiber links and token rings.

Topics: Cyber Security / Networking

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