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Jurisdiction
Region
Requirement
Policy
Information Security Manual (ISM)
Applies to
New Zealand Government departments, agencies and organizations; Crown entities, local government and private sector organizations
Provision
Objective 5.9
Description
Objective 5.9.1. Agencies implement a Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP) to enable members of the public to report vulnerabilities in the agency’s public-facing systems and applications and receive feedback on such reports. Objective 5.9.20. A VDP will typically include: A scoping statement setting out which systems the policy applies to (e.g. the agency’s website and other public-facing systems); Details of how finders can contact the agency’s security team (including any public keys for encrypting reports); Permitted activities; Acknowledgement of reports and a response time (typically 60 or 90 days) for corrections, adjustments, or other “fixes”; Reporters/finders agreeing to not share information about the vulnerability until the end of the disclosure period, to let the organisation fix the issues before it becomes public; Illegal activities are not permitted (specifying any relevant legislation, such as the Crimes Act, the Privacy Act etc.); and Either a statement that bug bounties will not be paid for any discoveries, or information about the agency’s bug bounty programme. Version 3.8 of this manual was released in September 2024.
Date
September 2024
Organization
Government Communications Security Bureau