Israel plans web host security rating system
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Israel’s cybersecurity watchdog The National Cyber Directorate is proposing setting up a safety standard for web hosting providers to let businesses that use their servers know how secure their data will be, following a cyberattack last year.
The Times of Israel reports that the idea to rank the providers stems from an incident last May when thousands of Israeli websites were simultaneously defaced with anti-Israel messages. After an investigation it was determined that the hackers inflicted the damage by penetrating just one website hosting provider.
The new program aims to standardize three levels of security — silver, gold or platinum. A spokeswoman for the directorate said that the program will be voluntary, and free for silver and gold standards. For platinum, host providers will have to pay for an inspector’s services at a cost of a few thousand shekels.
Hosting providers that implement the program can also benefit from the stamp of approval they get from the directorate. The service provider will have to prove compliance with a series of controls established by the directorate. These include access control, endpoint and server protection, peripheral protection, monitoring and control systems and a secure cloud environment to make sure the customer’s data is protected.
There are currently dozens of companies in Israel that offer web hosting services, the directorate said in a statement.
