VatPay Application Security, Policies and Procedures.
We take our responsibilities to securing your data seriously.
The purpose of this policy is to define VatPay application, physical and network security assessments within VatPay.
VatPay application assessments are performed to identify potential or realized weaknesses as a result of inadvertent mis-configuration,
weak authentication, insufficient error handling, sensitive information leakage, etc.
Discovery and subsequent mitigation of these issues will limit the attack surface of VatPay services available both internally and externally
as well as satisfy compliance with any relevant policies in place.
Scope
This policy covers all VatPay application security assessments requested by any individual, group or department for the purposes of maintaining the security posture,
compliance, risk management, and change control of technologies in use at VatPay.
All VatPay application security assessments will be performed by delegated security personnel either employed or contracted by VatPay.
All findings are considered confidential and are to be distributed to persons on a “need to know” basis. Distribution of any findings
outside of VatPay is strictly prohibited unless approved by the Chief Executive Officer.
Any relationships within multi-tiered applications found during the scoping phase will be included in the assessment unless explicitly limited.
Limitations and subsequent justification will be documented prior to the start of the assessment.
Policy
VatPay applications are subject to security assessments based on the following criteria:
a) New or Major Application Release – will be subject to a full assessment prior to approval of the change control documentation and/or release into the live environment.
b) Third Party or Acquired Application – will be subject to full assessment after which it will be bound to policy requirements.
c) Point Releases – will be subject to an appropriate assessment level based on the risk of the changes in the application functionality and/or architecture.
d) Patch Releases – will be subject to an appropriate assessment level based on the risk of the changes to the application functionality and/or architecture.
e) Emergency Releases – An emergency release will be allowed to forgo security assessments and carry the assumed risk until such time that a proper assessment
can be carried out. Emergency releases will be designated as such by the Chief Information Officer or an appropriate manager who has been delegated this authority.
Security issues that are discovered during assessments must be mitigated based upon the following risk levels. The Risk Levels are based on the OWASP Risk Rating Methodology.
Remediation validation testing will be required to validate fix and/or mitigation strategies for any discovered issues of Medium risk level or greater.
a) High – Any high risk issue must be fixed immediately or other mitigation strategies must be put in place to limit exposure before deployment. Applications with high risk issues are subject to being taken off-line or denied release into the live environment.
b) Medium – Medium risk issues should be reviewed to determine what is required to mitigate and scheduled accordingly. Applications with medium risk issues may be taken off-line or denied release into the live environment based on the number of issues and if multiple issues increase the risk to an unacceptable level. Issues should be fixed in a patch/point release unless other mitigation strategies will limit exposure.
c) Low – Issue should be reviewed to determine what is required to correct the issue and scheduled accordingly.
The following security assessment levels shall be established by VatPay or other designated organization that will be performing the assessments.
a) Full – A full assessment is comprised of tests for all known VatPay application vulnerabilities using both automated and manual tools based on the OWASP Testing Guide. A full assessment will use manual penetration testing techniques to validate discovered vulnerabilities to determine the overall risk of any and all discovered.
b) Quick – A quick assessment will consist of a (typically) automated scan of an application for the OWASP Top Ten web application security risks at a minimum.
c) Targeted – A targeted assessment is performed to verify vulnerability remediation changes or new application functionality.
Policy Compliance
Compliance Measurement
VatPay Information Security team will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, periodic walk-thrus, video monitoring of our facilities including data centers, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.
Exceptions
Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Chief Executive Officer in advance.
Non-Compliance
An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and
including termination of employment.
VatPay application assessments are a requirement of the change control process and are required to adhere to this policy unless found to be exempt.
All VatPay application releases must pass through the change control process. Any release that do not adhere to this policy may be taken offline until
such time that a formal assessment can be performed at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer.
256-bit SSL Encryption
All information transmission from your browser and VatPay are all secured from hackers with 256-bit SSL encryption. When you visit any VatPay site, look at the browser to make sure
there is log icon. The lock icon signifies that you are not talking to a phishing site impersonating VatPay and that your data is secure in transit.
Firewall
VatPay application including your data rests securely behind SONICWALL Network Security Appliance firewalls
Physical security
Our datacenters are hosted in some of the most secured facilities that are protected from physical and logical attacks as well as from natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.
Our datacenters is gated and screened by highly powerful and certified Intrusion Detection / Intrusion Prevention Systems with 24/7 video surveillance systems and security guards.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about Security Policies and Procedures or found any vulnerabilities in our security process, please contact our Information Security Department via email or phone.
