Somerford Associates Limited

HashiCorp HCP Boundary - secure, automated, remote access for critical systems

HCP Boundary is a fully-managed, cloud-based, workflow that enables secure connections to remote hosts and critical systems across cloud and on-premise environments. As a managed service, HCP Boundary enables zero-trust networking without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure.

Features

• Safeguard remote access for critical systems
• Improve developer velocity with automated access workflows
• Protect credentials using Boundary's integration with HashiCorp Vault
• Reduce insider threats
• Available on AWS Marketplace

Benefits

• Identity-based security reduces your attack surface through just-in-time credentials, passwordless
• Standardise access to environments with automated target discovery
• user lifecycle management
• Restrict access to authorised resources based on fine grained RBAC

£39.60 a unit a month

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• 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 penny.harrison@somerfordassociates.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

977927904970415

Contact

Penny Harrison
07897075103
penny.harrison@somerfordassociates.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: None
• System requirements: N/A

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Silver Support Tier - 9-5, Monday - Friday, Local Business Hours; ; Gold Support Tier - 24/7 Sev 1 Urgent
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: We provide support from priority 1 to priority 4 cases on any existing configuration or part of the platform that is in total or partial failure as well as not working as expected. We also provide configuration guidance and recommendations for use cases. Each customer receives their own Account Manager who works closely with Support and ensures that cases can be followed up. Somerfords Support desk is available as a value added service in addition to the maintenance and support purchased alongside the license
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We provide documentation for HCP Vault Secrets at https://developer.hashicorp.com/hcp/docs/vault-secrets; We provide a learning portal https://developer.hashicorp.com/vault/tutorials/hcp-vault-secrets-get-started with videos and self-guided tutorials.; We also provide virtual paid training through the Hashicorp Enterprise Academy. Schedule and registration can be found here: https://events.hashicorp.com/hashicorp-enterprise-academy
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: If you decide to end the HCP Boundary contract, you could migrate to the self-managed Boundary Community Edition which allows you access to data and features not restricted by Enterprise entitlements.
• End-of-contract process: When the contract is coming to an end you have the option to renew the subscription. ; ; If you do not wish to renew, you will have to migrate your configurations to Boundary Community Edition. You will lose access to HashiCorp support and Enterprise specific features.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: Web interface for managing targets and connecting
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web interface accessibility testing: N/A
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Full Service capability is accessible through the API
• API automation tools: Terraform
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
• Using the command line interface: The CLI interfaces with the service for the majority of functionality.

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type: Automatic
• Independence of resources: HCP Boundary's infrastructure is multitenanted, but the HCP Boundary Controllers and Workers within a cluster are dedicated to a tenant and are not shared..; ; https://developer.hashicorp.com/hcp/docs/boundary/security-model
• Usage notifications: No

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: HashiCorp

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• 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: No
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Hardware containing data is completely destroyed
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: No

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: SLA for HCP platform: https://portal.cloud.hashicorp.com/sla
• Approach to resilience: HashiCorp Cloud Services are currently hosted in the public cloud. HashiCorp utilizes cutting-edge cloud management technologies, minimizing single points of failure and automatically replacing ineffectual components.
• Outage reporting: HCP Boundary issues are reported to https://status.hashicorp.com

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access is granted on a least privileged basis and all access is time bound. Users who need and subsequently request access are subject to an approval chain and their right to request access is automatically revoked after 90 days, after which they must re-apply. Once users have the right to request access, they are authenticated through an internal system. Admin access to production systems is limited to 15mins before re-authentication. Access for support teams to read hashed audit logs is granted for 30 days
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Other
• Description of management access authentication: The HCP Platform allows administrators to perform high-level project lifecycle operations. HCP users and their permissions can be managed through the HCP Portal.
• 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: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: Less than 1 month
• How long system logs are stored for: Less than 1 month

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• 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: ISO9001:2015

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: Other
• Other security governance standards: HashiCorp security has achieved SOC 2 report, ISO 27001, ISO 27017 (cloud security) & ISO 27018 (cloud) certifications
• Information security policies and processes: All individuals with access to HashiCorp Resources are required to report any misuse or violations of this standard to Security (security@hashicorp.com), including: Unauthorised access, disclosure, modification or deletion of HashiCorp data, Insufficient controls or weaknesses, and improper risk classifications. Please report to the IT and Security team immediately.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: HashiCorp uses the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) for all vulnerabilities within scope of this standard. Each vulnerability must be assessed by the Security Team to determine the CVSS rating by completing the NIST CVSS v3.1 Calculator. For a High severity vulnerability we aim to have a response timeline of 5 business days.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: At least annually or when significant changes have occurred, HashiCorp will conduct an independent review of the approach to managing information security and its implementation. Additional third party reviews may be performed at least annually as necessary. Information systems should be regularly reviewed for compliance with HashiCorp’s information security policies and standards. The security team will use approved tools to check systems and networks for technical compliance as part of regular vulnerability assessment and penetration testing activity.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: All HashiCorp employees and contractors must report any suspected incident or suspicious event within 24 hours of detection of an incident. Customers, community members, and vendors with access to HashiCorp Resources, or who act on behalf of HashiCorp must also report any suspected incident or suspicious event involving HashiCorp Resources within 24 hours of discovery. Information security weaknesses, incidents, and events must be reported as soon as possible. Employees must notify the security team through email or slack. External parties who experience an incident or event should report it to the security team via email.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: No

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  As an organisation that works closely with the public sector, Somerford is keen to demonstrate our commitment to supporting the achievement of the Net Zero target of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.; ; Management and staff at Somerford have been conscious of our impact upon the environment even before the Climate Change Act was introduced, and we’ve adopted environmentally friendly practices as the business has grown. Consequently, Somerford ‘s business already has a reasonably low carbon footprint, and will continue to strive for further reductions wherever possible because this is beneficial for our business, our stakeholders and the environment.; ; We will use our influence as a value added reseller of leading edge software products and supporting professional services to select supplier-partners whose own carbon reduction philosophy and plans are aligned with ours, and who can show commitment to the Net Zero target. In practical terms, this means we participate in a carbon-net-zero supply chain in the delivery of the solutions from our supplier-partners to our customers.; ; For further details, please see our Carbon Reduction Plan online at https://www.somerfordassociates.com/carbon-reduction-policy-and-plan/ As an organisation that works closely with the public sector.

  Covid-19 recovery

  During the Covid-19 pandemic, our robust business continuity measures, prudent fiscal policy, and the benefits of a highly flexible team, meant we were well prepared for the difficulties ahead. ; ; Staff wellbeing has been at the forefront of our Covid-19 recovery plans, taking care of their physical and mental health, including;; ; * home working to avoid unnecessary exposure to the virus; * providing safe office space where staff personal circumstances dictated; * regular contact, albeit remotely, to prevent isolation; * organised e-based social events to maintain interaction; ; ; As a result we have been able to:; ; * give uninterrupted service to our customers; * move our staff to home working; * avoid compulsory redundancies and minimised furlough; * in 2020, gain an 11% increase in revenues; * continue to grow the workforce by over 10% in the same year; * take on new partners to enhance our solutions portfolio; * invest in staff education to meet future customer needs. ; ; Changes in business practices due to Covid-19 have shown that flexible work patterns can be very effective, and we’re unlikely to fully return to our previous style of working. ; ; Our solutions have also helped customers to cope with their changing work patterns too - supporting their Covid recovery by providing the infrastructure, tooling and monitoring to support their own remote, flexible and sustainable ways of working.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Somerford is a healthily growing business, and actively strives to create employment opportunities that are inclusive of all socio-economic groups. For example:; ; * 47% of our staff joined us as junior.; * 17 of our team have joined us as apprentices or graduated from our in house technical academy; * We actively participate in the Armed Forces Covenant Scheme and help to redeploy and re-skill leavers from the Armed Forces. So far, 18 staff have joined us in this way;; ; Strong technical skills are key to the delivery of services to our customers, so we’ve invested heavily in staff training, as is demonstrated by 47% of our staff starting with us as juniors.

  Equal opportunity

  Somerford is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief or age.; ; We do not discriminate on the grounds of disability. We take particular care to respect the rights of those with disabilities, throughout all stages of recruitment and employment. We make reasonable adjustments to ensure those with disabilities are not disadvantaged in the workplace, eg. adjusting working hours or providing special equipment to help to do their job.

  Wellbeing

  Somerford is committed to promoting and supporting the wellbeing of all of its staff. We aim to create a culture which focuses on prevention of issues in the workplace that can adversely affect staff health and wellbeing, and where issues are identified, they are managed promptly before they can have a detrimental impact.; ; This includes:; * providing staff with clarity and purpose regarding their job role;; * ensuring staff have the capability, training, support and encouragement to conduct their role confidently and effectively;; * providing a physical working environment that is suitable for the work to be carried out effectively;; * encouraging staff to maintain a sensible work-life balance;; * minimising the stressful impacts of work;; * ensuring bullying and harassment have no place in the working environment;; * managing sickness and absence effectively;; * considering requests for career breaks and sabbaticals;; * providing medical assistance to staff;; * encouraging employee fitness;; * promoting dignity at work.

Pricing

• Price: £39.60 a unit a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Full features for limited period

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• 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 penny.harrison@somerfordassociates.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.