eDisposals
Since 2002, VEGA has been assisting the Disposal Services
Authority (DSA) in its security requirements for its eCommerce
website, eDisposals.com.
The Challenge
The DSA provides expert and accessible
disposal solutions to a wide range of clients – military and
civilian alike. It not only supplies a collect-to-dispose service,
but also sells a wide range of refurbished items, from socks to
computers.
With the increased use of the Internet and
online selling, particularly through websites such as Amazon and
eBay, the DSA decided that having an online marketplace for the
disposal of its non-contentious items would be a viable sales
channel. It would enable sellers and buyers to introduce each other
in a modern manner, thereby facilitating the exchange of equipment
and subsequently generating more return to the Government. The end
result is eDisposals.com, the DSA’s own eCommerce website.
How VEGA helped
The very nature of the website demands that
its integrity and the confidentiality of its customers must be
assured. Since 2002, VEGA has played a key role in ensuring that
this requirement has been met by providing a Security Assurance
Coordinator under the CLAS scheme to help define and manage the
resources and processes required to address the security
requirements of eDisposals.
In addition, VEGA managed and supplied
CHECK-approved staff to perform two rounds of formal penetration
and application testing of different versions of the website before
they went live in 2004 and 2005. The first covered the entire
operational basis of the site, which led to successful
accreditation, while the second covered the security testing of an
important extra module which integrated with other DSA systems.
VEGA also specified, managed and reviewed at least six rounds of
penetration and application tests from other CHECK suppliers, in
between 2002-2008, explaining their consequences to the DSA. The
results of all of these tests proved the quality of the advice
given by the VEGA Security Assurance Coordinator.
Value being delivered
eDisposals is the first operational eCommerce
website the MOD is managing and is in the vanguard of a raft of
security, technology and usability issues. VEGA has also ensured
that the implementation of the credit card payment facilities
across the site – the first MOD website to do so – and a two-factor
authentication system have complied with all the appropriate
security and privacy regulations.
In January 2009, eDisposals.com won the Shared Services category at the e-Government
National Awards.
Testimonial
DSA Director for Business Development and
Information Systems, Les Taylor, said: “The main VEGA consultant
has become an integral part of the project, delivering
cost-effective, practical and secure solutions to the DSA as it
leads the way in this area of eCommerce within the MOD. He has
taken the DSA’s side in all matters, and steered it through the
practical use of Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) and MOD security
policies. This has led to the whole project being successful for
the MOD, HMG and its commercial partners. To date, the system has
remained operational 24/7 for four years without succumbing to
embarrassment (through hackers defacing the site) or denial of
service (hackers trying to bombard the site with erroneous and
voluminous data). The project has even been mentioned favourably in
Hansard.”
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information about our work in Government