Security Policy
Intertel’s physical infrastructure is hosted and managed in three locations, at Hetzner’s Data Center in South Africa, Amazon’s Data Center in the USA and Cable & Wireless’ Data Center in the UK. All providers continually manage security and related risks and undergo recurring assessments to ensure compliance with industry standards.
Accreditation
Data Centers have been accredited under:
- ISO 27001
- SOC 1/SSAE 16/ISAE 3402 (Previously SAS 70 Type II)
- PCI Level 1
- FISMA Moderate
- Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
- PCI
- Is PCI-DSS Level 1 Compliant
- Uses Extended Validation SSL with 256-bit encryption
- Runs weekly penetration testing
- Uses 3D Secure for all credit card transactions
- Provides Two-factor authentication
- Uses GEO IP tracking for fraud detection
- Tracks transaction velocity for fraud detection
- Uses BIN/IIN validation
- Fully redundant, physically separated A+B feeds provide power to the facility
- A single utility power feed can be disconnected without interruption to service
- Equipment with a single power supply also benefits from this redundancy through our sophisticated static transfer switch design
- UPS backup and a standby generator on each feed provides further resilience
- The facility has fire detection through Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA).
- Automatic fire detection and suppression equipment is installed to reduce risk. The fire detection system utilizes smoke detection sensors in all data center environments, mechanical and electrical infrastructure spaces, chiller rooms and generator equipment rooms. These areas are protected by either wet-pipe, double-interlocked pre-action, or gaseous sprinkler systems.
- EOH Carrier Services and Metrofibre Networx are our primary bandwidth providers
- Using two network providers significantly increases Hetzner’s network resilience
- Connectivity is provided through diverse, redundant fibre routes connecting the facility to a 10Gbps fibre ring.
- N+2 redundancy on our air conditioning units
- When ambient temperature allows for it, we make use of direct free cooling
- This significantly reduces our power consumption and carbon footprint.
- Juniper offers a high-performance network infrastructure
- A highly responsive environment for accelerating the deployment of services.
- Our virtual chassis technology increases the redundancy and resilience of our network, allowing for high levels of automation in the provisioning process
- Data center staff monitor electrical, mechanical and life support systems and equipment so issues are immediately identified. Preventative maintenance is performed to maintain the continued operability of equipment.
Transactional Security
We do not collect, access, process or store and information related to financial transactions. All transactions take place off site using our payment processor Payfast to facilitate credit card and instant EFT payments. Payfast takes security seriously, and:
Network Security
Intertel utilizes ISO 27001 and FISMA certified data centers managed by Amazon, Cable & Wireless and Hetzner. Data centers are housed in nondescript facilities, and critical facilities have extensive setback and military grade perimeter control berms as well as other natural boundary protection. Physical access is strictly controlled both at the perimeter and at building ingress points by professional security staff utilizing video surveillance, state of the art intrusion detection systems, and other electronic means. Authorized staff must pass two-factor authentication no fewer than three times to access data center floors. All visitors and contractors are required to present identification and are signed in and continually escorted by authorized staff. All physical and electronic access to data centers is logged and audited routinely.
Firewalls
Firewalls are utilized to restrict access to systems from external networks and between systems internally. By default all access is denied and only explicitly allowed ports and protocols are allowed based on business need. Each system is assigned to a firewall security group based on the system’s function. Security groups restrict access to only the ports and protocols required for a system’s specific function to mitigate risk.
DDoS Mitigation
DDoS mitigation techniques including TCP Syn cookies and connection rate limiting in addition to maintaining multiple backbone connections and internal bandwidth capacity that exceeds the Internet carrier supplied bandwidth. We work closely with our providers to quickly respond to events and enable advanced DDoS mitigation controls when needed.
Spoofing and Sniffing Protections
Managed firewalls prevent IP, MAC, and ARP spoofing on the network. Packet sniffing is prevented by infrastructure including the hypervisor which will not deliver traffic to an interface which it is not addressed to. We utilize application isolation, operating system restrictions, and encrypted connections to further ensure risk is mitigated at all levels.
Port Scanning
Port scanning is prohibited and every reported instance is investigated by our infrastructure provider. When port scans are detected, they are stopped and access is blocked.
Data Security
System Configuration
System configuration and consistency is maintained through standard, up-to-date images, configuration management software, and by replacing systems with updated deployments. Systems are deployed using up-to-date images that are updated with configuration changes and security updates before deployment. Once deployed, existing systems are decommissioned and replaced with up-to-date systems. Operating system access is limited and requires username and key authentication. Operating systems do not allow password authentication to prevent password brute force attacks, theft, and sharing.
Vulnerability Management
Our vulnerability management process is designed to remediate risks. We are notified of vulnerabilities through internal and external assessments, system patch monitoring, and third party mailing lists and services. Each vulnerability is reviewed to determine if it is applicable to the environment, ranked based on risk, and assigned to the appropriate team for resolution.
Disaster Recovery
The Intertel platforms are designed for stability, scaling, and inherently mitigates common issues that lead to outages while maintaining recovery capabilities. Our platform maintains redundancy to prevent single points of failure, is able to replace failed components, and utilizes multiple data centers designed for resiliency. In the case of an outage, the platform is deployed across multiple data centers using current system images and data is restored from backups. Intertel reviews platform issues to understand the root cause, impact to customers, and improve the platform and processes.
Access to Customer Data
Customer data is stored in access-controlled databases. Sensitive and personal information is encrypted. Intertel staff do not access or interact with customer data or personal information as part of normal operations. There may be cases where Intertel is requested to interact with customer data or applications at the request of the customer for support purposes or where required by law. Intertel may also inspect customer data to debug and troubleshoot platform issues. All data is snapshotted every thirty minutes, and can be restored from the last snapshot if data loss occurs.