Procedures for monitoring changes to configurations

The organization has defined a process for addressing identified technical vulnerabilities.

Some vulnerabilities can be fixed directly, but vulnerabilities that have a significant impact should also be documented as security incidents. Once a vulnerability with significant impacts has been identified:

• risks related to the vulnerability and the necessary actions are identified (e.g. patching the system or other management tasks)
• necessary actions are scheduled
• all actions taken are documented

The organization regularly conducts a vulnerability scan, which searches for vulnerabilities found on computers, workstations, mobile devices, networks or applications. It is important to scan even after significant changes.

It should be noted that vulnerable source code can be from operating system software, server applications, user applications, as well as from the firmware application as well as from drivers, BIOS and separate management interfaces (e.g. iLo , iDrac). In addition to software errors, vulnerabilities occur from configuration errors and old practices, such as the use of outdated encryption algorithms.

Static scans on code are the first step in detecting risky vulnerabilities. However, once a service has been deployed, it is vulnerable to new types of attacks (e.g., cross-site scripting or authentication issues). These can be identified by penetration testing.

Organization must be able to monitor that devices, data systems and networks are maintained in accordance with the defined configurations (including security features) both during the implementation phase and throughout their entire life cycle.

For this, the organization has defined standard templates for secure configurations of devices, data systems and networks. When specifying standard templates, the following are taken into account:

• publicly available guidelines (e.g. templates from suppliers and independent security organizations)
• the level of protection required for different assets
• fulfilling related information security requirements
• feasibility and applicability of the configurations to the organization's operations

Standard templates should be checked regularly and updated when significant new threats or vulnerabilities need to be responded to or new software or hardware versions are released.

The following points should be taken into account when defining standard templates:

• the number of root-level rights is minimized
• unnecessary access rights are disabled
• unnecessary functions and services are deactivated
• access to powerful utilities and important settings is strictly controlled
• the clocks are synchronized
• the supplier's default passwords are changed immediately and the security-related settings are checked
• timeout functions are used if necessary (e.g. automatic logout)
• license requirements are met

Current configurations of devices, data systems and networks are documented and a log is maintained of configuration changes.

Changes to configurations must be controlled and go through the change management procedure. Only authorized personnel are allowed to make changes to the configurations.

Configuration information may include e.g.:

• property owner and contact point information
• date of last configuration change
• configuration model version
• connections to other assets

Inspections and re-inspections regarding information security are important to be performed periodically during the normal operation of the data processing environment, in connection with maintenance procedures and when exceptional situations occur.

The organization has defined the time limits and events according to which information security inspections are performed.