Example of Third Party Access Policy

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1.  Purpose

This document describes the policy under which third-party persons or organizations connect to or access network resources on XXX networks for the purpose of transacting business related to XXX or other approved business transactions.

2. Scope

All connections and network resources access between third parties that require access to non-public resources fall under this policy, regardless of what technology is used for the connection. Connectivity to third parties such as the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provide Internet access for XXX or to the Public Switched Telephone Network does NOT fall under this policy.

2.1 Employees

This policy applies to all  Employees, Contractors, and Third Party Employees, who use, process, and manage information and business processes of XXX.

2.2 Documentation

The documentation shall consist of the software installation Policy, and related procedures & guidelines. The Compliance Policy document and all other referenced documents shall be controlled. Version control shall be to preserve the latest release and the previous version of any document. However, the previous version of the documents shall be retained only for a period of two years for legal and knowledge preservation purposes.

2.3 Records

Records being generated as part of this Policy shall be retained for a period of two years. Records shall be in hard copy or electronic media. The records shall be owned by the respective system administrators and shall be audited once a year.

2.4 Distribution and Maintenance

This Policy document shall be made available to all the employees covered in the scope. All the changes and new releases of this document shall be made available to the persons concerned. The maintenance responsibility of the document shall be with the CISO and system administrators.

3. Privacy

This Policy document shall be considered as “confidential” and shall be made available to the concerned persons with proper access control. Subsequent changes and versions of this document shall be controlled.

4. Responsibility

This Policy shall be implemented by the CISO  and designated personnel (if any). This policy has full support from the executive steering committee and human resources. This policy is a living document and may be modified at any time by the IT manager, human resources, or the executive steering committee.

5 Policy

6.1 Pre-Requisites Security Review

All new extranet connectivity will go through a security review with the Office of the IT Manager. The reviews are to ensure that all access matches the business requirements in the best possible way and that the principle of least access is followed.

6.2 Third Party Connection Agreement

All new connection requests between third parties and XXX require that the third party and representatives agree to and sign the Third Party Agreement. This agreement must be signed by the IT Manager as well as a representative from the third party who is legally empowered to sign on behalf of the third party.  By signing this agreement the third party agrees to abide by all referenced policies. The signed document is to be kept on file with the relevant extranet group.  All non-publicly accessible information is the sole property of XXX.

 6.3 Business Case

All extranet connections or network resource access must be accompanied by a valid business justification, in writing, that is approved by both the third party and the corresponding KDCC contracting authority or rightful designee. Typically this function is handled as part of the Third Party Agreement.

6.4 Point Of Contact

The KDCC contracting authority must designate a person to be the Point of Contact (POC) for the third-party connection. The POC acts on behalf of the KDCC contracting authority and is responsible for those portions of this policy and the “Third Party Agreement” that pertain to it. In the event that the POC changes, the relevant third party person or organization, must be informed promptly.

6.5 Establishing Connectivity

All contracting authorities within that wish to establish connectivity or network resource access to a third party are to file an Extranet connectivity request with IT Manager accompanied by a “Third Party Agreement” signed by the third party person, organization, or rightful designee.  IT Manager will then engage the third party to address security issues inherent in the project. The sponsoring contract authority must provide full and complete information as to the nature of the proposed access to the IT Manager, as requested. All connectivity established must be based on the least-access principle, in accordance with the approved business requirements and the security review. All connectivity requests will have a specific beginning and ending date.  In no case will rely upon the third party to protect the network or resources.  IT Manager will grant access to all approved resources and reserves the right to refuse access on the basis of legitimate security concerns as decided by the CISO.

6.6 Modifying or Changing Connectivity and Access

All changes in access must be accompanied by a valid business justification, and are subject to security review.  The sponsoring contracting authority is responsible for notifying the third party person or organization and IT Manager when there is a material change in their originally provided information so that security and connectivity evolve accordingly.  Extensions will be granted on a case-by-case basis and must be requested in writing by the sponsoring contracting authority.

6.7 Terminating Access

When access is no longer required, the sponsoring contracting authority within XXX must notify the IT Manager, who will then terminate the access. This may mean a modification of existing permissions up to terminating the circuit, as appropriate. IT security teams must conduct an audit of their respective connections on an annual basis to ensure that all existing connections are still needed and that the access provided meets the needs of the connection. Connections that are found to be deprecated, and/or are no longer being used to conduct business or other approved business transactions will be terminated immediately. Should a security incident or a finding that a circuit has been deprecated and is no longer being used to conduct business or other approved business transactions necessitate a modification of existing permissions, or termination of connectivity, the IT Manager will notify the POC of the sponsoring contracting authority of the change prior to taking any action.

7 Enforcement

Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subjected to disciplinary action in line with the HR Policy.

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If you need assistance or have any doubt and need to ask any questions contact me at preteshbiswas@gmail.com. You can also contribute to this discussion and I shall be happy to publish them. Your comments and suggestion are also welcome.

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Pretesh Biswas has wealth of qualifications and experience in providing results-oriented solutions for your system development, training or auditing needs. He has helped dozens of organizations in implementing effective management systems to a number of standards. He provide a unique blend of specialized knowledge, experience, tools and interactive skills to help you develop systems that not only get certified, but also contribute to the bottom line. He has taught literally hundreds of students over the past 5 years. He has experience in training at hundreds of organizations in several industry sectors. His training is unique in that which can be customized as to your management system and activities and deliver them at your facility. This greatly accelerates the learning curve and application of the knowledge acquired. He is now ex-Certification body lead auditor now working as consultancy auditor. He has performed hundreds of audits in several industry sectors. As consultancy auditor, he not just report findings, but provide value-added service in recommending appropriate solutions. Experience Consultancy: He has helped over 100 clients in a wide variety of industries achieve ISO 9001,14001,27001,20000, OHSAS 18001 and TS 16949 certification. Industries include automotive, metal stamping and screw machine, fabrication, machining, assembly, Forging electrostatic and chrome plating, heat-treating, coatings, glass, plastic and rubber products, electrical and electronic equipment, assemblies & components, batteries, computer hardware and software, printing, placement and Security help, warehousing and distribution, repair facilities, consumer credit counseling agencies, banks, call centers, etc. Training: He has delivered public and on-site quality management training to over 1000 students. Courses include ISO/TS -RAB approved Lead Auditor, Internal Auditing, Implementation, Documentation, as well as customized ISO/TS courses, PPAP, FMEA, APQP and Control Plans. Auditing: He has conducted over 100 third party registration and surveillance audits and dozens of gap, internal and pre-assessment audits to ISO/QS/TS Standards, in the manufacturing and service sectors. Other services: He has provided business planning, restructuring, asset management, systems and process streamlining services to a variety of manufacturing and service clients such as printing, plastics, automotive, transportation and custom brokerage, warehousing and distribution, electrical and electronics, trading, equipment leasing, etc. Education & professional certification: Pretesh Biswas has held IRCA certified Lead Auditor for ISO 9001,14001 and 27001. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a MBA in Systems and Marketing. Prior to becoming a business consultant 6 years ago, he has worked in several portfolios such as Marketing, operations, production, Quality and customer care. He is also certified in Six Sigma Black belt .

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