System Description

Access to customer data

A subset of Merit’s Personnel have access to customer data as necessary to support the platform. Individual access is granted based on the role and job responsibilities of the individual. Access to systems containing customer data is reviewed on a regular basis and is monitored on an ongoing basis.

Secure data handling and destruction

Merit has taken a simple, no nonsense approach to security.

Our solution is hosted on Google Cloud Platform. GCP is responsible for the security of the underlying cloud infrastructure and Merit takes the responsibility of securing workloads we deploy in GCP. GCP computing environments are continuously audited, with certifications from accreditation bodies across geographies and verticals, including ISO 27001, FedRAMP, DoD CSM, and PCI DSS. Any device storing any data is subjected to data-at-rest encryption. Thus, a decommissioned device cannot be misused.

At no point is sensitive personal data is captured in clear-text in logs.

Customer responsibilities

Merit’s platform provides the broad functionality of credential issuance and management to its customers. Merit platform is provided as a cloud-based software service, accessible on the internet via web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, etc. As a user of the Merit platform, customers should be proactive in recognizing the value, sensitivity, and need to safeguard the information provided by the service and the role-based access control available to organization admins within the platform. This document details Merit customer responsibilities as they relate to use of the Merit platform. It is the responsibility of Merit customers to familiarize themselves with the information and procedures set forth below and comply with them.

Safeguarding of assets & information

To safeguard information assets and policy enforcement capabilities available in the Merit platform, the customers’ IT governance processes should include end-user training regarding appropriate use and awareness of the need for securing access to their Merit platform account credentials. As with most cloud services, access to the Merit platform requires a login ID and password. When an organization subscribes to the Merit platform service, it is the customer’s responsibility to manage which end users should be given access. Customers should also define when access should be taken away from the end users. For example, access should be revoked upon end user’s separation from employment or as part of departmental changes that result in change of duties or responsibilities. Only valid account credentials should be used by authorized users to access the Merit platform service.

Merit’s platform service should be considered sensitive and confidential by Merit platform users. Users should follow information security best practices in ensuring access to their account credentials is appropriately limited, as well as ensuring that the information and functionality provided by the Merit platform service is protected and restricted from unauthorized use. Merit platform users are responsible for maintaining the security and confidentiality of their user credentials (e.g., Login ID and Password), and are responsible for all activities and uses performed under their account credentials whether authorized by them or not. By establishing user credentials and accessing the Merit platform, end users of the Merit platform service agree to comply with these requirements to safeguard assets and account information.

Password management

Merit platform service is accessible to the global Internet public, as a result, great care must be exercised by Merit platform users in protecting their subscription against unauthorized access and use of their credentials. By establishing user credentials and accessing the Merit platform service, end users agree to proactively protect the security and confidentiality of their user credentials and never share service account credentials, disclose any passwords or user identifications to any unauthorized persons, or permit any unauthorized person to use or access their Merit platform accounts. Any loss of control of passwords or user identifications could result in the loss of “Personally Identifiable Data (PII)” and the culpable account owner(s) may be liable for the actions taken under their service account credentials whether they authorized the activity or not. Additionally, when establishing Merit platform account credentials, end users are required to establish strong passwords following password strength and complexity best practices; passwords should not be easily guessable.

Reporting operational issues

All Merit services are monitored 24×7. On the occasion that Merit users observe performance issues, problems or service outages, users can open a ticket at help@gomerits.com or email help@gomerits.com to report such issues.

Incidents and breaches

By establishing Merit platform account credentials or accessing its service, end users of the service agree to notify Merit immediately of any security incident, including any suspected or confirmed breach of security by emailing security@merits.com to open a support ticket. Also, users of the service agree to logout or exit the service immediately at the end of each session to provide further protection against unauthorized use and intrusion. Merit platform users should also notify Merit immediately if they observe any activity or communications in other forums that may indicate that other Merit customers have had their accounts compromised. Lastly, Merit encourages users to practice responsible disclosure by notifying Merit of any identified security vulnerabilities. Merit is dedicated to providing secure services to clients, and will triage all security vulnerabilities that are reported. Furthermore, Merit will prioritize and fix security vulnerabilities in accordance with the risk that they pose.

Compliance issues

Regulatory requirements and industry mandates are continuously increasing in scope & depth and can vary from industry to industry. Merit users agree to abide by the regulatory requirements, industry mandates, and other compliance requirements imposed on their organizations and understand that use of cloud-based services does not exclude the organizations from responsibilities for restricting access to application information and functionality.

Responsible disclosure policy

Merit is dedicated to keeping its cloud platform safe from all types of security issues thereby providing a safe and secure environment to our customers. Data security is a matter of utmost importance and a top priority for us. If you are a dedicated security researcher or vulnerability hunter and have discovered a security flaw in the Merit platform including the cloud application and infrastructure, we appreciate your support in disclosing the issue to us in a responsible manner. Our responsible disclosure process is managed by the security team at Merit. We are always ready to recognize the efforts of security researchers by rewarding them with a token of appreciation, provided the reported security issue is of high severity and not known to us. While reporting the security vulnerability to Merit’s Security team, please refrain from disclosing the vulnerability details to the public outside of this process without explicit permission. Please provide the complete details. We determine the impact of vulnerability by looking into the ease of exploitation and business risks associated with the vulnerability.

Response

As a security researcher, if you identify or discover a security vulnerability in compliance with the responsible disclosure guidelines, Merit’s security team commits to:

• Acknowledge the receipt of reported security vulnerability in a timely fashion
• Notify you when the vulnerability is remediated

Please send the details of the discovered vulnerability or any security issue to: security@gomerits.com.