Softcat Limited

Palo Alto Cortex Xpanse

Cortex Xpanse is an Active Attack Surface Management (ASM) solution that helps your organization actively discover, analyse and respond to unknown risks in all connected systems and exposed services.
Cortex Xpanse provides complete, current, and accurate visibility into your public-facing infrastructure without any manual intervention from your security teams.

Features

• Monitor and enforce corporate policies and compliance
• Detect, Manage and Mitigate risk from unknown shadow IT operations
• Detect, Manage & Mitigate risk from supply chain vulnerabilities
• Continuous Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning driven security monitoring
• Provision of daily CFAA-compliant vulnerability scanning of known assets
• Full 'cradle-to-grave' Discovery - Analysis - Remediation via integrated automation
• Inclusive of ongoing security rule additions/updates via Palo Alto Networks
• No requirement for Hardware/Software/Agents or Firewall Rule Changes
• Highly extensible solution with deep integration capabilities
• Provision of detailed metrics inclusive of pre-built widget driven dashboards

Benefits

• Reduce the risk of Malware & Ransomware infection
• Eliminate unknown Shadow IT / Cloud operations
• Significantly improve on Zero-Day response times
• Expand due-diligence processes for Merger & Acquisition (M&A) assessments
• Detect & eliminate supply chain vulnerabilities
• Gain full visibility of all public facing Internet operations
• Reduce Cyber Insurance premiums
• Implementation and compliance with NCSC cyber security guidance

£60,000 a unit a year

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

850338939308945

Contact

Charles Harrison
01628 403403
psitq@softcat.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: Cortex Xpanse is an E-ASM platform that operates outside of the corporate network and sees only what an attacker sees. Cortex Xpanse is therefore only currently applicable to public facing attack surfaces and should not be considered as an internal vulnerability management tool.
• System requirements: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: 24x7x365 Support; Priority 1 (Critical) - < 1 Hour ; Priority 2 (High) - 2 Hours; Priority 3 (Medium) - 4 Hours; Priority 4 (Low) - 8 Business Hours; Support Service Level Agreements (SLA) are identical for Monday to Friday and Weekends/Public Holidays.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: All Cortex products from Palo Alto Networks come with a standard support offering included which entitles the customer to 24x7x365 email and telephone support.; Other 'enhanced support' options exist inclusive of premium customer success support and provision of dedicated engineers for short or long term engagements - all such options can be negotiated and applied as required.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Online training and user documentation is provided as standard. In addition, through remote or face to face sessions hands on workshops can be arranged to further familiarise each individual customer as required.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Customers have full access to data through the Expander API. All data may be retrieved and stored in another system prior to contract end date.
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, the customer data is not accessible to the customer.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: Users can granularly configure their Cortex Xpanse configuration in direct alignment to their internal technical architecture and their stated objectives. Examples of this include the selection and enablement of rules i.e. many rules are applicable to a particular product or vendor and therefore if such products or vendors do not provide services to that customer they can be de-selected. ; Further configuration enhancements can be configured through 3rd party integration for extending the products interaction with the wider security tooling apparatus. This can be done bi-directionally using the the singular web console via various methods depending on the exact nature of the integration requirement i.e. if the requirement is to interact with a 3rd party for the purposes of orchestration and or automation then a pre-developed marketplace content pack can be downloaded and an instance added for connectivity. Other options also exist for example for the purposes of sending alerts to another platform or for the ingestion of data from another platform.
• Web interface accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web interface is accessible: Expander is accessible through the web UI and through its extensive API.
• Web interface accessibility testing: N/A
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: "All documentation for the Cortex® Xpanse™ Expander API is available in Swagger. See the Expander API Documentation; ; The Expander User Guide is available at Cortex® Xpanse™ User Guide"
• API automation tools:
  • OpenStack
  • Other
• Other API automation tools: Swagger
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: Open API (also known as Swagger)
• Command line interface: No

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type: Automatic
• Independence of resources: Each tier of the network, web, app, and data layer are able to independently scale.
• Usage notifications: No

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller (no extras)
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Pale Alto

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: All data stores are encrypted at rest, and enforced through Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up: Data
• Backup controls: Backups are controlled by XPanse
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Supplier controls the whole backup schedule
• Backup recovery: Users contact the support team

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Cortex Xpanse Services shall be; available 99.9% of the time, measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance. Further, any downtime resulting from outages of third-party connections or utilities or other reasons beyond the control of Palo Alto Networks will be excluded.; ; Customers are credited 2% of monthly service fees (downtime credit) for each breach. A breach is defined as a period of 60 consecutive minutes of downtime.
• Approach to resilience: Each tier of the network, web, app, and data layer are able to independently scale, and highly available across multiple availability zones.
• Outage reporting: Please see https://expanse.statuspage.io/

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Username and password are required, and an email or authenticator app MFA challenge is issued as well.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through: Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: No audit information available
• Access to supplier activity audit information: No audit information available
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: PECB MS
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 2020/07/06
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: ISO/IEC 27701:2019

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: The Information Protection Process & Procedures Policy establishes controls to ensure that the security policies (that address purpose, scope, roles, responsibilities, management commitment, and coordination among organizational entities), processes, and procedures are maintained and used to manage protection of information systems and assets, including a system development lifecycle to manage systems.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: All application and infrastructure changes require separation of duties, testing, peer review, and approval, before implementation.
• Vulnerability management type: Undisclosed
• Vulnerability management approach: Critical/Emergency patch must be applied and validated within 72 hrs. when a patch is available, otherwise compensating controls must be invoked.; A security patch that addresses a vulnerability which is rated as high risk must be applied and validated within 30 days.; Vulnerability scans are performed at least weekly.
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: Palo Alto Networks SOC team monitors all environments for potential compromises 24x7. Security event and incident management processes are in place including a formal Information Security Incident Response Plan. Security, availability, and confidentiality related security events are assigned to Information Security for evaluation and resolution.
• Incident management type: Undisclosed
• Incident management approach: Palo Alto Networks has a incident management program that has been approved by management and communicated to all relevant parties. The incident management program is owned and reviewed by our Information Security department. Reporting procedures are defined in the SLA.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: Other
• Other virtualisation technology used: AWS
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Each organisations compute instances are unique to that individual organisation with logical separation being achieved at the cloud provider level. This ensures that no virtualized infrastructure is shared organisation to organisation and each respective organisations data and network traffic is isolated from one another.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: Information available upon request

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Softcat are dedicated to reducing our environmental impact and actively promoting sustainability. Our commitment to sustainability is a core aspect of our business strategy, driving us to innovate and lead in the creation of a more sustainable future for our company and the communities we serve. This commitment is embedded in our policies, operating procedures, and training programs.; ; We are proud to be the first FTSE 250 company to be awarded 5-star status in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ; ; We aim to achieve a Carbon Net-Zero Value Circle by 2040 by prioritising renewable energy, reducing natural resource use, minimising waste, and safeguarding biodiversity in compliance with environmental legislation.; ; At Softcat, we have taken significant steps towards securing renewable energy across our organisation, reducing our scope 1 & 2 emissions. We had the target of using 100% Renewable Energy across all our locations by 2024. We successfully delivered against this target ~2 years early.; ; In May 2023 we took delivery of 15 electric vehicles, replacing all existing fossil-fuelled company cars used by employees for business means. The implementation of the EV pool fleet will see a saving of over 80 tons of CO2e per year. A huge impact on our Net Zero targets.

  Tackling economic inequality

  As a value-add reseller, Softcat outsources the products, services, and solutions through our extensive network of partners, to best suit the needs of our broad client base. We always consider and promote SMEs and local providers where appropriate, particularly for the products and services we offer via the G Cloud framework.; ; We remain dedicated to improving employability and educational awareness across schools, colleges, and universities to help break down the barriers to joining technology organisations.; ; We work collaboratively with many schools that are close in proximity to our offices, to ensure we are actively supporting the community as well as schools from lower socio-economic backgrounds. ; ; We visit the schools to talk about the IT sector and the roles in our organisation, as well as promoting work-experience opportunities during the summer. In particular, we actively encourage students from diverse backgrounds to engage in work experience to appreciate the roles available in our sector.; ; For ambitious school and college leavers, a Softcat Apprenticeship is a great first step into the world of work, with 94% of our apprentices offered a permanent position at Softcat post apprenticeships, which goes to show the amazing opportunity available with us.; ; We were ranked 1st in IT & Consultancy, and 10th overall in by RateMyApprenticeship.com - Best 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2023-2024 list.; ; Softcat now also offer 12 month paid internships to University students looking to complete a year in industry as part of their undergraduate studies.

  Equal opportunity

  Our approach to diversity and inclusion is introduced first during our induction training, as part of our Softcat values, outlining responsibility to uphold our principles. This message is reinforced by our process and policies, networks, Allyship Training and Inclusion Awareness campaigns.; ; Softcat supports diversity and inclusion through various networks including:; - Supporting Women in Business (SWIB); - The Ethnic and Cultural Network; - The Pride Network; - The Family Network; - The Empowering Disability and Neurodiversity Network (EDN); - The Faith at Work Network; - Armed Forces & Veterans Network; These networks aim to create a supportive and inclusive work environment for all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or family commitments.; ; Our allyship programme, Stronger Together, is a mixture of event and workshop-based training available to all staff. Programme topics include, bias, power, privilege, and being a greater ally. ; ; Inclusion Awareness campaigns include race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, faith, and caring responsibilities. These sessions highlight and celebrate minority groups, through panel sessions, Q&A sessions and training, providing an opportunity to discuss and understand ways to be more inclusive. ; ; Our efforts to improve diversity and inclusion have been incredibly successful. Since 2020, the number of female employees below management level has increased to 35%, and the number of ethnic minority employees rose to 17%.

  Wellbeing

  At Softcat, all employees are provided with access to our multidimensional wellbeing programme which includes flexible work arrangements, free nutritious breakfast, mental health support, employee benefits scheme, health and wellbeing week activities, and online workshops.; ; Giving back to the community is an innate part of who we are as a company. All Softcat employees are therefore given two volunteer days per year to support a charitable or community cause. ; ; Each of our 10 regional offices also support local charities through fundraising, donations and events. For example, our Manchester office has raised over £30,000 for the WeLoveMCR charity. This funding has supported young, disadvantaged Manchester citizens in gaining qualifications to broaden their work opportunities and supporting local groups in delivering indispensable services that enable community cohesion.

Pricing

• Price: £60,000 a unit a year
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.