Security Overview

Last updated: 15 July 2024


DX is a cloud application platform used by organizations of all sizes to measure and improve developer experience. DX applies security best practices and manages platform security so customers can focus on their business.

DX’s Commitment to Trust

Trust is a core principle of DX. It’s this commitment to customer privacy and inspiring trust that directs the decisions we make on a daily basis. Trust is the responsibility of each and every employee and one we take seriously.

Compliance certifications

DX is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, demonstrating our commitment to adhering to rigorous industry standards and best practices to protect our customers' data.

Vulnerability reporting

If you are a DX customer and you would like to report a vulnerability or have a security concern regarding DX, please email security@getdx.com. For other security inquiries, please email support@getdx.com.

Security Assessments and Compliance

Data Centers

DX’s physical infrastructure is hosted and managed within Amazon’s secure data centers and utilize the Amazon Web Service (AWS) technology. Amazon continually manages risk and undergoes recurring assessments to ensure compliance with industry standards. Amazon’s data center operations have been accredited under:

  • ISO 27001
  • SOC 1 and SOC 2/SSAE 16/ISAE 3402 (Previously SAS 70 Type II)
  • PCI Level 1
  • FISMA Moderate
  • Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)

PCI

We use PCI compliant payment processor Stripe for encrypting and processing credit card payments. DX’s infrastructure provider is PCI Level 1 compliant.

Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Assessments

Third party security testing of the DX application is performed by independent and reputable security consulting firms. Findings from each assessment are reviewed with the assessors, risk ranked, and assigned to the responsible team.

Physical Security

DX utilizes ISO 27001 and FISMA certified data centers managed by Amazon. Amazon has many years of experience in designing, constructing, and operating large-scale data centers. This experience has been applied to the AWS platform and infrastructure. AWS data centers are housed in nondescript facilities, and critical facilities have extensive setback and military grade perimeter control berms as well as other natural boundary protection. Physical access is strictly controlled both at the perimeter and at building ingress points by professional security staff utilizing video surveillance, state-of-the-art intrusion detection systems, and other electronic means. Authorized staff must pass two-factor authentication no fewer than three times to access data center floors. All visitors and contractors are required to present identification and are signed in and continually escorted by authorized staff.

Amazon only provides data center access and information to employees who have a legitimate business need for such privileges. When an employee no longer has a business need for these privileges, his or her access is immediately revoked, even if they continue to be an employee of Amazon or Amazon Web Services. All physical and electronic access to data centers by Amazon employees is logged and audited routinely.

For additional information see: https://aws.amazon.com/security

Environmental Safeguards

Fire Detection and Suppression

Automatic fire detection and suppression equipment has been installed to reduce risk. The fire detection system utilizes smoke detection sensors in all data center environments, mechanical and electrical infrastructure spaces, chiller rooms and generator equipment rooms. These areas are protected by either wet-pipe, double-interlocked pre-action, or gaseous sprinkler systems.

Power

The data center electrical power systems are designed to be fully redundant and maintainable without impact to operations, 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units provide back-up power in the event of an electrical failure for critical and essential loads in the facility. Data centers use generators to provide backup power for the entire facility.

Climate and Temperature Control

Climate control is required to maintain a constant operating temperature for servers and other hardware, which prevents overheating and reduces the possibility of service outages. Data centers are conditioned to maintain atmospheric conditions at optimal levels. Monitoring systems and data center personnel ensure temperature and humidity are at the appropriate levels.

Management

Data center staff monitor electrical, mechanical and life support systems and equipment so issues are immediately identified. Preventative maintenance is performed to maintain the continued operability of equipment.

For additional information see: https://aws.amazon.com/security

Firewalls

Firewalls are utilized to restrict access to systems from external networks and between systems internally. By default, all access is denied and only explicitly allowed ports and protocols are allowed based on business need. Each system is assigned to a firewall security group based on the system’s function. Security groups restrict access to only the ports and protocols required for a system’s specific function to mitigate risk.

Host-based firewalls restrict customer applications from establishing localhost connections over the loopback network interface to further isolate customer applications. Host-based firewalls also provide the ability to further limit inbound and outbound connections as needed.

DDoS Mitigation

Our infrastructure provides DDoS mitigation techniques including TCP Syn cookies and connection rate limiting in addition to maintaining multiple backbone connections and internal bandwidth capacity that exceeds the Internet carrier supplied bandwidth. We work closely with our providers to quickly respond to events and enable advanced DDoS mitigation controls when needed.

Spoofing and Sniffing Protections

Managed firewalls prevent IP, MAC, and ARP spoofing on the network and between virtual hosts to ensure spoofing is not possible. Packet sniffing is prevented by infrastructure including the hypervisor which will not deliver traffic to an interface which it is not addressed to. DX utilizes application isolation, operating system restrictions, and encrypted connections to further ensure risk is mitigated at all levels.

Port Scanning

Port scanning is prohibited and every reported instance is investigated by our infrastructure provider. When port scans are detected, they are stopped and access is blocked.

System Security

System Configuration

System configuration and consistency is maintained through standard, up-to-date images, configuration management software, and by replacing systems with updated deployments. Systems are deployed using up-to-date images that are updated with configuration changes and security updates before deployment. Once deployed, existing systems are decommissioned and replaced with up-to-date systems.

System Authentication

Operating system access is limited to DX staff and requires username and key authentication. Operating systems do not allow password authentication to prevent password brute force attacks, theft, and sharing.

Vulnerability Management

Our vulnerability management process is designed to remediate risks without customer interaction or impact. DX is notified of vulnerabilities through internal and external assessments, system patch monitoring, and third party mailing lists and services. Each vulnerability is reviewed to determine if it is applicable to DX’s environment, ranked based on risk, and assigned to the appropriate team for resolution.

New systems are deployed with the latest updates, security fixes, and DX configurations and existing systems are decommissioned as customers are migrated to the new instances. This process allows DX to keep the environment up-to-date. Since customer applications run in isolated environments, they are unaffected by these core system updates.

To further mitigate risk, each component type is assigned to a unique network security group. These security groups are designed to only allow access to the ports and protocols required for the specific component type. For example, user applications running within an isolated dyno are denied access to the DX management infrastructure as each is within its own network security group and access is not allowed between the two.

DX Application Security

We undergo penetration tests, vulnerability assessments, and source code reviews to assess the security of our application, architecture, and implementation. Our third party security assessments cover all areas of our platform including testing for OWASP Top 10 web application vulnerabilities and customer application isolation. DX works closely with external security assessors to review the security of the DX platform and applications and apply best practices.

Issues found in DX applications are risk ranked, prioritized, assigned to the responsible team for remediation, and DX’s security team reviews each remediation plan to ensure proper resolution.

Privacy

DX has a published privacy policy that clearly defines what data is collected and how it is used. DX are committed to customer privacy and transparency.

We take steps to protect the privacy of our customers and protect data stored within the platform. Some of the protections inherent to DX’s products include authentication, access controls, data transport encryption, HTTPS support for customer applications, and the ability for customers to encrypt stored data. For additional information see: https://getdx.com/policies/privacy

Access to Customer Data

DX staff does not access or interact with customer data or applications as part of normal operations. There may be cases where DX is requested to interact with customer data or applications at the request of the customer for support purposes or where required by law. Customer data is access controlled and all access by DX staff is accompanied by customer approval or government mandate, reason for access, actions taken by staff, and support start and end time.

Employee Screening and Policies

As a condition of employment all DX employees undergo pre-employment background checks and agree to company policies including security and acceptable use policies.

Security Staff

Our security team is led by the Chief Information Security officer (CISO) and includes staff responsible for application and information security. The security team works closely with the entire DX organization and customers to address risk and continue DX’s commitment to trust.

Customer Security Best Practices

Encrypt Data in Transit

Enable HTTPS for applications and SSL database connections to protect sensitive data transmitted to and from applications.

Encrypt Sensitive Data at Rest

Customers with sensitive data can encrypt stored files and data within databases to meet their data security requirements. Data encryption can be deployed using industry standard encryption and the best practices for your language or framework.

Secure Development Practices

Apply development best practices for your chosen development language and framework to mitigate known vulnerability types such as those on the OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks.