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5. Guidelines









 data loss of the organisations or users.           (iv)    Access Control  (j)     Turn on node checking to verify applications and users.

 The government organisation will ensure and monitor that the host            (v)    Cryptographic Practices  (k)    Turn  off  all  unnecessary  database  functionality  (e.g.,  unnecessary  stored  procedures  or
          (vi)    Error Handling & Logging  services, utility packages, install only the minimum set of features and options required (surface
 service provider and the developer adhere to the industry best            (vii)    Data Protection  area reduction)

 security practices and guidelines such as ISO 27001, OWASP ASVS,            (viii)    Communication Security  (l)      Enforce  a  strict  access  control  policy  and  introduce  role-based  access  control  (RBAC)

 OWASP  Top  10  vulnerabilities  and  CIS  benchmarks  as  per  the            (ix)    System Configuration  privileges.
           (x)    Database Security  (m)   Enable audit trail logs on the database servers.
 prevailing security policy. Following guidelines are to secure web
           (xi)    File Management  (n)    Ensure appropriate logging and monitoring of database logs.
 resources & associated infrastructure:            (xii)    Memory Management   (o)    Consider fine grained record/row level auditing based on the sensitivity of data.

 (n)     Implement logging functionality and periodically auditing the web logs for suspicious activity.  (p)    Implement a backup solution to store data and system configurations from the website, web

 Statement: Website, web application, web portal or mobile app   (o)     Configure website, web application or web portal caching to optimize resource availability.  application or web portal that should be backed up periodically.
 (p)     Sanitise user input at both the client end and the server end with both syntactical as well as   Note: One of the best methods to keep a website/app safe is to have a good backup solution
 have been Security Audited and an Audit Clearance certificate has   a semantic approach.    and the user should have more than one data backup. Each of these two backups is crucial to
 been issued by NIC/ STQC/ STQC empanelled laboratory/CERT  (q)     The technology to be implemented should be chosen after careful consideration. Various   recovering  a  website  after  a  major  security  incident  occurs.  There  are  several  different

 -In empanelled laboratory before hosting in production   client-side  Active  Content  Technologies  are  available  e.g.,  Java  scripts  etc.  Each  has  its  own   solutions one can use to help recover damaged or lost files. Keep the website information

 environment.  strengths and weaknesses along with an associated risk.  off-site. Do not store the backups on the same server as of the website; they are as vulnerable
 (r)     Disable the root user access to run the code on Linux/Unix hosts.  to attacks too. Choose to keep the website backup on a home computer or hard drive. Find
 (s)        Use  explicit  path  names  when  invoking  external  programs  and  not  rely  on  the  PATH   an off-site place to store the data and to protect it from hardware failures, hacks and viruses.
 Benefits: The goal of securing a website, web application, web portal or mobile app is to maintain
 Protecting  web  resources  from unauthorised  use, access,   environment value.  Another option is to back up the website in the cloud. It makes storing data easy and allows
 the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and services. This goal is accomplished
 changes, destruction, or disruption is generally termed as   through the implementation of best security practices in design, development and deployment.   B.     Securing databases: Database being the core of any application and/or organisation and is   access to information from anywhere. Besides choosing where to back up the website, one
 used to store large amounts of highly sensitive and personal information. Therefore, appropriate
                   must consider automating them. Use a solution where one can schedule the website/app
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 “Website Security” or “Secured Website”.   Attacks could cause both personal embarrassment and financial risks.  technical controls should be in place to safeguard the databases and information stored in them.   backups. It has to be ensured that the solution has a reliable recovery system. Be redundant
 Government organisation action: It should be ensured that the website, web application, web
 The following are the guidelines for securing databases:  in the backup process — backup the backups. By doing this, one can recover files from any
 portal  or  mobile  app  don’t  have  any  security  risks  as  identified  by  the  latest  OWASP  Top  10
 Sometimes  web  resources  become  unavailable  due  to  vulnerability list. The design and development agency or the developers should follow industry   (a)     Implement strong encryption and key management mechanism for the information both at   point before the hack or virus occurs.

 denial-of-service  attacks  or  display  modified  information  on  the   best practices such as OWASP ASVS and OWASP MAVS.  rest and transit.  (q)    Keep the backup media file in safe custody and access to it should be restricted and logged.

 (b)     Implement strong hashing and salting algorithms to store passwords in the database.
             (r)    Conduct periodic auditing of Web Application - at least once in a year or as and when any
 webpages. Millions of passwords, email addresses and credit card   Developer action: Securing critical web resources is more important than ever as the focus of   (c)    Use  secure  credentials  for  database  access.  Remove  or  change  all  default  database   changes are done in the source code, whichever is earlier.
 attackers has steadily moved towards the application layer and they are exploiting the weaknesses
 details have been leaked into the public domain exposing web users   administrative passwords.  (s)        Report  any  web  application-related  security  incidents  observed  to  NIC-CERT  &  CERT-In
 in the code.
 to both personal embarrassment and financial risks. The purpose of   (d)     Utilise strong passwords//phrases or implement multi-factor authentication.  immediately at Incident Response Helpdesk:
 (e)    Disable unnecessary accounts such as orphaned accounts, unused accounts, generic and              NIC-CERT: incident@nic-cert.nic.in
 Website Security is to prevent such risks.  A. Securing Code  service accounts.             CERT-In: incident@cert-in.org.in

 Website Security requires vigilance in all aspects starting from   (a)     Ensure that all websites, web applications, web portals or mobile apps and their respective   (f)     Enable access to the database only from the Web Server on a whitelisted port and it should              Toll free phone: CERT-In - +91-1800-11-4949
 CMS, 3rd party plugins, codes, etc.  are updated to the latest vers ions.
 design,  coding  and  implementation  to  testing  and  deployment.    Note: Every day, there are countless websites/apps compromised due to outdated software.   not be assigned publicly accessible IP.  Evaluator action: The evaluator shall check that the website/ web application/ web portal/ mobile

 Organisations should implement appropriate security majors,   Potential hackers and bots are scanning websites/apps to attack. Updates are vital to the   (g)   TLS should be enabled in databases for secure communications between web servers and   app under evaluation has a valid security audit certificate issued by NIC/STQC/STQC empanelled
 databases.  laboratory/ Cert-IN empanelled laboratory fulfilling Cert-IN requirements.
 defences and countermeasures to protect web resources against    health  and  security  of  the  website/app.  If  the  website’s  software  or  applications  are  not   (h)     Create admin restrictions, such as by controlling privileged access on what users can do in a

 malfunctioning, phishing, cyber-crimes or cyberattacks to avoid   up-to-date, the website/app is not secure. Take all software and plugin update requests    database.
  seriously. Updates often contain security enhancements and vulnerability repairs. Check the
 (i)     The application should use the lowest possible level of privilege when accessing the database.
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