Guidelines for compliance to Quality requirements of eProcurement Systems STQC Directorate Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Electronics Niketan, 6 CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003

Dt: 31.08.2011

 CONTENTS
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 Specific requirements of eProcurement System Requirements of Conformity Operating Models of eProcurement System Introduction

Testing framework for Quality and Security Characteristics 6.0 Evaluation & Certification process Annexures Annexure‐I : Risks of eProcurement Systems and related ISO 27001 controls Annexure‐II : Checklist for eSecurity Compliance (including CVC Guidelines) Annexure‐III : Checklist for compliance to GOI procurement procedures (GFR) Annexure‐IV : Checklist for legal compliance (IT Act – Amendment 2008) Annexure‐V : Definitions and Reference Documents Reference documents: 1. eTendering Process 2. eTendering Glossary 3. eProcurement Integrity Matrix 4. OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Top10 Application Security Risks‐ 2010 5. Business requirements specification‐ cross industry e‐Tendering process (Source CWA 15666) Forms & Templates: Template I : Template for defining Usability Requirements Specifications of the Software product Template II : Template for Performance Specification Form I : Application form for applying for Testing to STQC

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1.0 1.1 Introduction Background The public sector is one of the biggest purchasers of goods & services in the economy. The Government of India acknowledges that automating procurement process using electronic tools/techniques and enabling opportunities to suppliers fully supports the objective of non‐discrimination, fair & open competition. eProcurement is identified as a mission mode project under national eGovernance plan. The objective is to transform public sector purchase activity from labor intensive paper based to efficient eProcurement process. Electronic Procurement (eProcurement) is the use of Information and Communication Technology (specially the Internet) by the buyer (in this case Government) in conducting their procurement processes with supplier for the acquisition of goods (supplies), works and services. Use of Information Technology promotes the aims of open, non‐discriminatory and efficient government procurement through transparent procedures.It is the technology‐enabled acquisition of goods and services, required by an organisation, at the best value obtainable in the most efficient manner possible. The factors driving the adoption of eProcurement are:  Reduced purchasing cost and improved efficiency  Standardized purchasing processes across the organization  Reduced administrative costs with better effectiveness  Significant reduction in the procurement cycle  Reduced discretion At the same time the inhibitors to adoption are:  Lack of supplier readiness  System integration issues (compatibility and interoperability)  Confidence on the system (Security, Functionality and Performance)  Insufficient skilled staff eProcurement involves a set of technology solution which concentrate on different key areas of procurement such as  e‐Tendering,  e‐Auction or Reverse Auction,  e‐Catalogue/Purchasing,  eMarket Place,  e‐Invocing etc.,. The focus of the current Guidelines is mainly on e‐Tendering, (i.e. tendering with encrypted bids, the equivalent of which in the manual context would be ‘sealed bids’). This document provides the guideline for compliance to quality requirements of eProcurement systems. The essential quality characteristics of eProcurement system cover Security, Transparency & Functionality.

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General Requirements of eProcurement System The basic requirements of any eProcurement system are to achieve the goal of Government procurement, standardisation of procurement processes and information entities in an efficient and transparent way. Hence the key requirements are to:  Address the requirement of GFR For public procurement of goods, services, works (e.g. construction) compliance with GFR rules, processes, roles (purchasing officer, local purchasing committee etc) are mandatory requirements. The GFR rules needs to be applied into the application workflow of e‐tendering process. eProcurement System should be designed as per defined workflow with adequate security measures.  Confidentiality and Integrity of Information The key requirement of procurement in public service organisation is to maintain the confidentiality & integrity of the information in procurement life cycle to protect the interest of buyer & supplier and to encourage the competitiveness in the business. The e‐procurement platform transacts confidential procurement data and is exposed to several security threats. This requires employing a combination of security technologies and security best practices which result in reduced threat of data loss, leakage or manipulation. Address Vigilance Guidelines The system should meet the requirements of guidelines issued from time to time by Central Vigilance Commission. System Adaptability & customisation eTendering System need to have templates to offer flexibility in bidding methodologies as prevailing and followed currently in the manual process. Further, system should have templates to adopt bidding methodologies as may be prescribed by respective authorities.

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The aim of this document is to provide guidelines that could be followed for designing/developing some critical functionality in an e‐Procurement system as well as the necessary process for monitoring adherence to the security and transparency requirements of an e‐procurement system during the implementation and post implementation by the e‐procurement application developers, service providers and other stakeholders. Objective To provide Guidelines for assuring Quality and Security of an e‐Procurement system so that confidence can be provided to its stakeholders that the system is secure, transparent, auditable & compliant with government procurement procedures. Target Audience  Purchase/ Head of Public Service Organization  eProcurement Service Provider  eProcurement Solution Provider/ Application Developer  Third Party Testing and Audit Organization
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1.5. Approach To achieve the above objective the following approach is recommended.  Evaluation of eProcurement System (including data, software, hardware, network, process) to ensure  Correct & complete implementation of organisation procurement policies & procedures  Compliance to GFR rules, CVC guidelines, IT Act (including amendments)  Assuring Security by Design & Development (ie some critical security and transparency related functionality has to be built into the e‐procurement software application) , Implementation, Deployment & Use  Security of Data Storage and Communication  Performance  Usability  Interoperability  Identification of risks and concerns of e‐procurement system & providing the guidelines for mitigating the identified risks. 2.0 Operating Models of eProcurement System There are four operating models for eProcurement (Reference doc – 1) i) Dedicated e‐Procurement System: the Government organization wishing to do e‐ Procurement, owns and controls the system infrastructure, and also controls all the procurement activities carried out. ii) Outsourcing Model‐1 (Partial Outsourcing – Managed Services): The Government organization procures and owns the system, which is managed by service provider with adequate security controls. There is a risk that service providers may get access to vendor data. Issues relating to Official Secrets Act shall be considered for this model. iii) Outsourcing Model‐2 (Partial Outsourcing – Infrastructure Support): The Government organization uses the eProcurement system of a Service Provider. The Service Provider also owns and controls the infrastructure. There is a risk that service providers may get access to vendor data & service provider start participating in core procurement process, Issues relating to Official Secrets Act shall be considered for this model. iv) Outsourcing Model‐3 (Full Outsourcing (ASP) Model): Multiple Government organizations can register and themselves use the ASP’s portal for their various e‐tendering/ e‐auction activities with complete control of the all the ‘core tendering activities’ in their hands, without any intervention from the service provider. The registration/ deregistration activities, and the portal infrastructure is managed by the service provider with adequate security controls. In this case, essentially the Service Provider is only a platform‐provider. The powers and responsibility of the tendering process remains in the hands of the duly authorized officers of the government organizations, and does not get transferred to third party service providers as in ‘Outsourcing Model‐2 (Full Outsourcing)’. So while there is some outsourcing in respect of infrastructure, there is no outsourcing of the actual tendering/ procurement activities by the concerned user‐Government organizations.

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All models of e‐procurement system must incorporate functionality, processes and technologies outlined in (Annexure I, II, III and IV), and especially apply countermeasures to mitigate known risks (Annexure‐I) 3.0 Specific requirement of eProcurement System 3.1 The service provider in consultation with the Purchase Officer shall establish the following process:  Business Process Re‐engineering switching from Manual Procurement to eProcurement. (Since Government tendering processes falls within a standard framework, only limited options should be given to the Purchase Officer. The service Provider/ Purchase Officer should not be able to reduce the essential security and transparency aspects of the system on the pretext of re‐engineering and customization]).  Implementation of Bid‐ Encryption at client‐end (ie bidder’s computer) using Symmetric Key, or Asymmetric Key (PKI‐based) subject to issues raised in Annexure‐I and II being suitably addressed  Bids before transmission from the bidder’s computer should be protected with SSL Encryption.  Functionality/ Security/ Transparency related Requirements of a Manual Tendering System and Conformance its Availability in the Offered eProcurement system (functionality requirements of GFR & CVC guidelines)  eProcurement System must have templates to offer flexibility in bidding methodology as prevailing and followed currently in the manner of processing. Further, the system should have templates to adopt bidding methodology as may be prescribed by the purchaser, as long as the methodology is a legally acceptable methodology.  eProcurement System should deploy PKI based technologies for authenticating the bids, and opening electronic tender box. Secure methodology for decrypting bids should be deployed corresponding to the encryption methodology deployed (viz symmetric, or PKI‐based asymmetric). The entire IT hardware infrastructure of E‐Procurement System which includes application software, hardware, and system software be hardened as relevant. The system must deploy anti‐spyware and anti‐spam with a provision to update regularly. The updation of these software on the E‐Procurement System be done using the offline updation mode. The E‐Procurement System must have software tools to protect the operating system from injection of spyware. The entire infrastructure be protected and secured at the perimeter level by installing firewalls and Intrusion Prevention System. The system be configured properly so as to detect any kind of Intrusion into IT system.  eProcurement System can be further secured by installing suitable security incident and event management mechanisms SIEM (Security Incident Event Management).  eProcurement application should have audit trail facilities.  The PKI Key Management System for authenticating the bids or other purposes must specify the holder of private key and public key. The procedure in this case may be prescribed.  eProcurement System should not provide read access to password to the Administrator. E‐Procurement System further should not have “forgot password” feature which provides administrator‐generated or system‐generated temporary password. Once the password is forgotten, a new password may be
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allotted following a set of processes needed for allotment of password. The forget password request shall be digitally signed. The Purchase Officer of a Public Service Organisation (Government Department) must to ensure that e‐Procurement system which he intends to use complies with all the applicable requirements listed in Sections 3 and 4. The Purchase Officer must analyse the risk arising out of establishment of above mentioned processes and apply suitable controls. The annexure I,II,III and IV may be followed Escrowing of Source Code The source code of the e‐procurement application software along with the modification/changes/patches which is implemented by the agency from time to time shall be escrowed with the agency nominated by the user organizations or government in case of dedicated portals. An MOU would be entered between purchase officer/ purchase‐organization and service provider.

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4.0 Requirements of Conformity 4.1 eProcurerement systems must address:  E‐procurement application should have provisions of ensuring validation of PKI signature through Certificate revocation list (CRL) and validity of certificate.  Shall have mechanism for time synchronisation by using time synchronisation service (TSS) at hosting level, or synchronisation with master‐server at the data‐ centre where the e‐procurement system is hosted  Time Stamping [facility should be there in the e‐procurement application for time‐stamping of all important events like – creation of tender notice, approval of tender notice/ tender documents, submission of bids and supplementary bids (like modification, substitution, alternatives), etc]  The system must confirm to GFR rules, processes, roles (purchasing officer, local purchasing committee etc.), compliance to CVC guidelines and Information Technology Act (including amendments) and other laws of the land as applicable. 4.2 Other Requirements for Quality and Security Evaluation : The following conditions shall be agreed in writing by service provider  For Dedicated portal and ASP‐Model, the e‐procurement application should have facility for generating audit‐logs, which should be accessible (in downloadable such form) to a specially designated officer of the Purchase organization. For Outsourcing Models 1 and 3, e‐procurement service provider shall submit all the logs of transaction created by the e‐procurement solution including forensic image on quarterly basis or as prescribed by the user organization regularly and as and when demanded by the purchasers. The logs will be duly signed by the administrator of the service provider by his electronic signature.  The audit for certification of the entire e‐procurement solution shall be undertaken after its deployment and prior to its usage.  The e‐procurement solution including the computer server shall be installed in India. No data as captured/stored in the e‐procurement solution will be taken
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out of India. However, bidder outside India should be able to quote and download permitted data/information. The audit of the ‘ complete e‐procurement system’ shall be undertaken only on the request of the organization/agency who wish to use/install the system. Software application can be tested based on the request of the developer. The e‐procurement solution shall need to be tested and audited again after it has been significantly modified (addition/ deletion of functions/ modules) or customized for a new organization whether stand alone or shared mode The traffic emanating to and from eProcurement systems will be scanned if required by the authorised body. The traffic (netflow) emanating to and from eProcurement System may be provided to CERT‐IN.

Storage of Electronic Invoices  It is assumed that invoices transmitted electronically will be stored electronically. If public service organisation wish to store invoice in the paper form, same shall be provisioned in local purchase procedure approved from competent authority  For VAT purpose records must be retained for years as provided in the respective Act.  The records may be stored anywhere State Data Centre/PSU own data center. The only requirement is that of security, strategic control and record must be made available to public service organisation on demand within two working days.

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 5.0 Testing framework for Quality and Security Characteristics 5.1 eProcurement Quality and Security Assurance Model A eProcurement Quality and Security Assurance Model is depicted below:

The Quality & Security evaluation model consist of four layers namely, Data, Application, Infrastructure and Process. Layer by layer assessment will ensure compliance with applicable requirements such as CVC, IT Act, GFR 2005 and concerns of other stakeholders. 5.2 Description of the model Brief description of the layers (from outermost to inner) is given below.  Process‐Layer ISO 27001 Process Audit # Verification of the IT security processes to ensure that secure and best practices are followed in operation and maintenance of the e‐Procurement System in line with international standard on Information Security Management System, ISO 27001/27002 To supplement the functionality built into the e‐procurement system, where some requirements of the e‐procurement system and allied processes are being addressed through organizational procedures under ISO 27001/ 27002, these should be explicitly defined with satisfactory explanations. At the time of certification/ audit, such procedures as outlined by the e‐procurement vendor / service provider in response to Annexure‐I , II, III of these Guidelines, shall be reviewed and evaluated. Monitoring against agreed SLAs # SLA monitoring shall ensure that the e‐procurement system is adhering to the agreed upon service related (i.e., user centric) as well as system related (i.e.,
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technology centric) service quality requirements such as availability, performance, problem resolution, etc. While service related SLAs take care of the services delivery issues, the system related SLAs address IT technology (hardware, software and network) used in delivering the services.  Infrastructure Layer Architecture Review # The review of e‐procurement system shall be done to ensure that the defined architecture of the e‐procurement system is adequate and suitable for meeting the various operational and service delivery requirements such as performance, security, availability, etc. It is also recommended that once the e‐procurement system is deployed, the deployed architecture should be audited to verify its compliance against the defined architecture. The audit should cover logical positioning of various system components such as firewall, IDS/IPS, servers, load balancer, etc. In addition, end‐ to‐end transaction flows should be verified to ensure that they are going through the defined path by using dummy test transactions and analysis of logs at various layers. Certification body shall use standardized checklist for the criteria. Vulnerability Assessment (Servers & Network Devices) # System configuration checking or verification of hardening and vulnerability scanning shall be performed to find out weaknesses, vulnerabilities and mis‐configuration in the target hosts (Servers, Routers, Firewalls, Switches etc.) which hosts the e‐ procurement application system. Certification body shall use standardized checklist for the criteria. Penetration Testing of the System # Penetration Testing (PT) shall be normally done remotely from public domain (Internet) and also can be done from internal network to find out exploitable vulnerabilities. Series of testing conducted like information gathering from public domain, port scanning, system fingerprinting, service probing, vulnerability scanning, manual testing, password cracking etc. using state‐of‐the‐art tools (commercial and open source) and other techniques shall be used with the objective of unearthing vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the overall e‐procurement system and its underlying IT infrastructure. Certification body shall use standardized checklist for the criteria. Performance Testing of the System # Performance testing of the e‐procurement system shall be done to ensure that system is capable of handling defined user as well as transactional load. The performance testing of the e‐procurement system essentially means measuring the response time of the system for defined scenarios. While measuring the response time it is important to record the resource (CPU, Memory, etc.) utilization. The capacity of the e‐procurement system should be checked by systematically increasing the load on the system till performance degradation or system crash is encountered. Also the manner/ trend in which performance changes with load will determine the scalability of the e‐procurement system.

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  Application Layer Application Design Review # (Note: This would be applicable only where ‘customized software development’ is being done for a specific organization. Furthermore, it should be noted that this review would not be a substitute for the review and testing of critical security and functionality outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines) Design review covers the high level design and the low level (detailed) design of the e‐ procurement software application. It will ensure that software has been designed using best practices and design rules. The review will verify that the design has modularity, flexibility, low complexity, structural fan‐in & fan‐out and it is loosely coupled & highly cohesive. The correctness of logics and algorithms used in the detailed design should be verified including any zero day vulnerability in the algorithm. Application Code review * (Note: This would be applicable only where ‘customized software development’ is being done for a specific organization. Furthermore, it should be noted that this review would not be a substitute for the review and testing of critical security and functionality outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines) The code review (i.e., static analysis) of the software application source code shall be carried out using tool and measure metrics such as lines of Code, Code Complexity, Fan‐in & fan‐out, Application Call Graph, Dead Codes, Rule Violation, Memory leaks etc. It is also recommended to perform walk through of the source code with code developer to verify the logics and algorithms used for correctness and optimization. Special focus should be given to identify any unwanted functions (not required by the e‐procurement software application), as these ‘not to have functionalities’ can be potential security threats. Application Functional Testing # The functional testing of the e‐procurement software application shall be carried out to validate the application meets the specified functional requirements covering the work flows, navigations, and business & data Validation rules for the defined user categories with access rights. The functional testing should be done following black box approach and using end‐to‐end user scenarios. (Note: Detailed scenarios would be prepared for each application software to be tested. This would include all important steps and scenarios of Government Tendering , as well as, ‘all issues’ outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines) Application Security Testing # The test is conducted to unearth various application security vulnerabilities, weaknesses and concerns related to Data /Input Validation, Authentication, Authorization /Access Control, Session Management, Error Handling, Use of Cryptography, etc. Typical issues which may be discovered in an application security
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testing include Cross‐site scripting, Broken ACLs/Weak passwords, Weak session management, Buffer overflows, Forceful browsing, Form/hidden field manipulation, Command injection, SQL injection, Cookie poisoning, Insecure use of cryptography,, Mis‐configurations, Well‐known platform vulnerabilities, Errors triggering sensitive information leak etc. OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) guidelines are used for the testing. (Note: Detailed scenarios would be prepared for each application software to be tested. This would tests to cover ‘all’ security related issues outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines, especially aspects related to bid‐encryption. In addition, standard security tests, viz – Cert‐In, OWASP, FBI Top 20 (any other?) will be conducted) Application Usability Testing * Usability testing usually involves systematic observation under controlled conditions to determine how well people can use the product. e‐procurement system is used by users of different levels of computer knowledge. User expectation varies with different types of user. Usability testing will ensure that the all types of users are comfortable to use the system. This shall be done by using defined international standards which recommend extensive user interaction and analysis of user behaviour for a defined task. Application Interoperability and Compatibility Testing * Interoperability Testing shall be done to check if the software can co‐exist and interchange data with other supporting software in the system. Compatibility testing shall check if the software runs on different types of operating systems and other hardware/software/interface according to customer requirements  Data Layer Data Storage Security Audit # This is to be done to ensure the use of standard and strong cryptography while storing the sensitive data and user credentials in the application or associated data base. It is also verified that the cryptography used is compliant with the Information Technology Act and the CVC guidelines Data Communication Security Audit# This is to be done to ensure that secure communication channel like SSL, TLS or equivalent is used for transmission of sensitive data and credentials by the e‐ procurement system. The cryptographic algorithms and the key size implemented by the system should be standard, strong and compliant with the IT ACT and the CVC guidelines. It is recommended that the complete data transmission to and from the e‐ procurement website should be SSL/ TLS enabled. 6.0 Evaluation and Certification Process 6.1 The applicant shall submit the request to Testing and auditing agency (like STQC) to get eProcurement System assessed. The application should specify whether testing is required ‘only for the e‐procurement application’, or for ‘the complete e‐
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procurement system, viz the application along with the server in a specific hosting environment’. Application for the former case can be made by the application software developer or licensor, and will cover only Part‐1 of the two scenarios outlined below. The application for the latter case can be made by the service‐ provider, or the organization which is procuring the system for its dedicated use, and will cover both Part‐1 and 2 of the two scenarios outlined below. 6.2 Inputs & access required by Certification Body [Scenario‐A: Where ‘Customized Software Development’ of an e‐Procurement System is undertaken] (Part‐1)  Inputs required for Application Testing o RFP of the e‐Procurement o Software Requirements Specification (SRS) addressing functional and non‐functional requirements including business functions and applicable regulations, standards and policies. o User manual (operational instructions). o Software application related information such as – Work flows/ Navigations, Business logics/ Rules, Validation Rules, Screen shots and User categories with roles & access rights. Specifically for testing, application related information such as – Work flows/ Navigations for creating comprehensive ‘System Test Cases’ covering various tendering scenarios, User categories with roles & access rights would be required. o Software Design Document o Software Application Source Code (if the need is to assess to all desirable requirements) The inputs should be available along with access to the application hosted in a staging environment with test data. Note: Apart from review of the ‘developmental aspects’, detailed scenarios would be prepared for each application software to be tested. This would cover ‘all’ security related issues outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines, especially aspects related to bid‐encryption. (Part‐2)  System Architecture  Security Architecture for conducting VA&P  ISMS of eProcurement Information System (eSecurity Manual)  Access to e‐procurement system/ test site with sample data (preferably field data).  Access to hardware, software, Network & IT infrastructure to connect test tools on to the system, where required. Non‐disclosure Agreement (NDA) will be signed by STQC to cover the confidentiality of the information submitted by the applicant [Scenario‐B: Where ‘Ready‐to‐Use’ e‐Procurement Software License is to provided, or e‐Procurement Services are made available through an ASP]
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Note: The focus Testing/ Certification here is on the ‘Functionality’’, ‘Security’ and ‘Transparency’ related aspects. (Part‐1) o User Manual (operational instructions), or equivalent Guidelines for users provided online on the screens of the application o Software application related information such as – Work flows/ Navigations for creating comprehensive ‘System Test Cases’ covering various tendering scenarios, User categories with roles & access rights. The inputs should be available along with access to the application hosted in a staging environment with test data Note: Detailed scenarios would be prepared for each application software to be tested. This would tests to cover ‘all’ security related issues outlined in Annexures I, II and III of these Guidelines, especially aspects related to bid‐encryption. (Part‐2)  System Architecture  Security Architecture for conducting VA&PT  Access to e‐procurement system/ test site with sample data (preferably field data).  Access to hardware, software, Network & IT infrastructure to connect test tools on to the system, where required. Non‐disclosure Agreement (NDA) will be signed by STQC to cover the confidentiality of the information submitted by the applicant. 6.3 Requirements of Compliance for demonstration Testing and assessment as specified in Section 4.0 shall be carried out. To demonstrate conformity to the ESSENTIAL Quality and eSecurity assurance requirements and minimum functionality compliance the following shall be complied:  Evidence of compliance to implementation of ISO 27001 Information Security Management System with applicable controls in all concerned entities. The Security processes shall be audited as per controls defined in eSecurity Manual provided by the applicant, and/ or in the applicant’s response to Annexure I, II, III, and IV.  The risk analysis methodology used by the service provider shall adequately address the concerns raised in this document (Annexure‐I). Mitigation methodology and techniques implemented should ensure eProcurement Information System is secure.  While implementing the security controls the service provider shall demonstrate that the requirements of vigilance administration (CVC) (Annexure‐II) are adequately addressed in the Information Security Management System. Also while implementing ISO 27001, the solution provider shall ensure that adequate controls have been implemented to ensure that security at design and operation level are addressed adequately

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The software shall be tested for functionality, workflow and other essential requirements (like Central Vigilance Commission Guidelines, GFR, Information Technology Act – Annexure I, II, III, and IV).  The application hardening shall be assessed for Top 10 vulnerabilities defined by OWASP (Reference doc – 3)  Network should be assessed for adequate security through penetration testing and vulnerability assessment as per NIST 800‐115.To demonstrate that the requirements are implemented and effective, the services of agencies empanelled by CERT‐IN can be used (http://www.cert‐in.org.in). To demonstrate compliance to the DESIRABLE requirements following shall be complied, where applicable:  The software source code shall be evaluated using white box test approach through code review/ inspection process for identifying malicious codes/ Trojan etc.  Workflow shall be in line with the requirement of CWA 15666 to standardized Business Processes and Information Entities using UML Version 1.4 and ebXML Core Components Technical Specification for Data Structure (Reference doc ‐ 4). This will attain the objective of Interoperability and Compatibility of various solutions both at buyer and supplier end  The solution shall be tested to Usability requirements as per Usability information defined in Template I. 6.4 If results are satisfactory and meet the requirements of this document, STQC shall issue a letter indicating Conformity with specified requirements.

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Certification Process Flow Chart Applicant Request STQC for Certification Contract Agreement Between STQC and Applicant STQC to evaluate evidence of conformity supplied by the Applicant No Satisfactory Assessment of Information System Testing of Application by test lab Result Satisfactory Grant of Certificate of approval for Update the record and maintenance of certificate

Refer to

Guidelines for Quality Requirements of eProcurement System

Non disclosure agreement Test Pre-requisites & Procedure Test Activities Test Records Test Reports

Corrective Action by Supplier

Intimate client for non compliance if minor discrepancy, ask client to provide the information/ If major and not able to close then close the job with intimation to Applicant

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 Scope of Certification eProcurement life cycle consist of following activities:  Purchase to pay o Contract management o Content management o Selection/requisition o Workflow‐approval o order o receive o invoice o payment  eSourcing o management information o collaboration o specification/notice o expression of interest o invitation to tender o evaluate o negotiate/reverse auction o award Generally, these activities are covered in different modules e.g.  Supplier Registration  E‐tedenring  eAuction  ePayment  Accounting  Reverse Auction  eCatalogue Management  MIS  Contract Management The applicant can define any module as a part of scope of certification while the eTendering module is the essential requirement to obtain the certification. Depending on the complexity of the module and the scope identified by the applicant the Certification Body/Test Agency will charge for testing and certification. Note: For any major change in application (e.g. encryption method, tender opening event,process re‐engineering). The application requires to be completely re‐tested. It is further emphasized the service provider should not have source code and escrowing requirement mentioned earlier should be strictly adhered to.

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 Annexure‐I ‐ Risks of eProcurement Systems and related ISO 27001 controls Sl. Risks / Concerns Control ISO 27001 No. Identification Control Reference 1. Concerns related with Electronic vs. Manual Procurement 1.1 While implementing eProcurement system the Identification of A 15.1.1 “All relevant solution provider may do business process re‐ applicable statutory, regulatory engineering to make the system efficient and legislation and contractual effective. There is a risk of compromising basic compliance requirements and the organization’s principles of public procurement approach to meet these requirements shall be explicitly defined, documented, and kept up to date for each information system and the organization”.

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Guidance and recommended practices The underlying principle of e‐tendering and manual tendering process should be same in respect of guidelines of CVC, GFR, Legal and transparency related requirements. While doing reengineering these requirements shall not be negotiated and compromised. Since section A15.1.1 of ISO 27001 demands explicit definition of the requirements, Annexures I, II, III of these Guidelines should be treated as a ‘Checklist’ for this purpose: Identification of A 15.1.1 Incorporation of multiple bidding “All relevant applicable methodologies in eProcurement solutions as statutory, regulatory legislation provisioned in Manual Procurement System and contractual and the flexibility in the solution to the extent compliance requirements and the organization’s required approach to meet these requirements shall be explicitly defined, documented, and kept up to date for each information system and the organization”.

Guidance and recommended practices‐ e Procurement System Depending upon the requirements of a tender any one of the multiple bidding methodologies as outlined below shall be provisioned in the application:  Single‐stage, single‐ envelope  Single‐stage, two‐ envelope  Two stage (with facility for ‘technical conformance’, and if required, ‘revised tender documents’)  Two‐stage, two‐ envelope and requirement of Pre‐qualification stage when required submission of one or more Alternative bids as applicable.  Each bid part (eg technical, financial) may be required to be submitted in a ‘summary format’ along with a ‘detailed bid’. The latter could be a large file. There should be provision of appropriate file size (at least 10 MB) in the application with data encryption as outlined elsewhere in these Guidelines.  After having submitted the ‘original’ bid for each bid‐part, a bidder has a right to submit:  ‘Modification’ bid
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 ‘Substitution’ bid Or ‘Withdrawal’ bid for all his bid‐submissions. The e‐tendering system must effectively cater to all these possibilities without compromising security and transparency in any manner at any stage, for any bid part (such as Pre‐qualification, Technical, and Financial). The e‐tendering system need to have templates to offer flexibility in bidding methodologies as prevailing and followed currently in the manual process. Further, system should have templates to adopt bidding methodologies as may be prescribed by respective authorities. 2.0 Concerns relating to Implementation of e‐procurement systems using PKI based Bid‐ Encryption A 12.3 2.1 A system in which Public Key of a Tender‐ Cryptographic Objective: To protect Opening Officer or of any other officer of the controls the confidentiality, purchase department, or of any person from Regulation of authenticity or the service provider’s organization is used for cryptographic integrity of information by bid‐encryption, and corresponding Private‐Key controls cryptographic means. used for Decryption A.12.3.1 : “A policy on the use of Many time bids are encrypted at the bidder’s cryptographic computer with public‐key as mentioned controls for above, and the encrypted bids, with additional protection of information shall be SSL encryption, reach the e‐tendering server developed and through file‐upload and/ or filling of online‐ implemented”. forms. A.12.3.2 : “Key management shall be There are risks related to integrity of persons in place to support in (a) purchase (buyer) organization & (b) e‐ the organization’s use of cryptographic Tendering Service Providers organization. As techniques”. Typical implementation practices include A 15.1.6  Private Key with which decryption is done, “Cryptographic is available with the concerned officer controls shall be used in compliance with all before the Public Tender Opening Event relevant  Public Key with which bid‐encryption is agreements, laws, and regulations”. done is available publicly.  Public Key algorithms are slow.  Copy of the decryption‐key (ie private key of the encryption‐certificate issued by a CA) is generally available (ie backed up) with the CA. Duplicate can generally be requested in case of loss, however, this can also be misused. Guidance and recommended practices‐ Use of PKI technique If the e‐procurement system uses PKI for bid‐encryption, it has to satisfactorily address the above issues and consequent concerns (Ref 2.2 below) through suitable functionality built into the e‐procurement application. Where, in addition, some issues are being further addressed through organizational procedures under ISO 27001, these should be explicitly defined with satisfactory explanations, otherwise certification process will become subjective. While doing this, the following can be kept in view:
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2.2

Various techniques are available in market for improving implementation of PKI based encryption such as escrowing, splitting and repeated encryption to further strengthening the security of information and implementation. If the e‐procurement system uses any of the above techniques, it will have to be explained how the related concerns (Ref 2.2 below) have been addressed. Furthermore, practical procedures will have to be put in place which can be implemented at the field level in diverse locations in the country in a user friendly manner. A 12.6.1 (i) While all efforts must be made to ensure Control of “Timely information about that no spyware is put in the server which technical technical vulnerabilities of can make clandestine copies of a file or vulnerabilities information data being uploaded to the server, and then systems being used shall be obtained, the sending this clandestine copy to a secret Protection organization's exposure destination, the possibility of such spyware against to such vulnerabilities being planted in the web‐server cannot be malicious and evaluated, and appropriate measures totally ruled out. This undesirable mobile code taken to eventuality could occur due to connivance address the associated of the administrators of the Service OS Access risk”. Provider, or even through remote injection. Control For secure & transparent functioning of the A 10.4 e‐tendering system, it cannot be assumed Log monitoring A.10.4.1 “Detection, prevention, that there will never be such a possibility of and recovery controls to the spyware being planted in the e‐ protect against tendering server. malicious code and appropriate user awareness procedures (ii) If the spyware is planted at the kernel shall be level, there may not be any audit trail. implemented”. (iii) Audit Trails (both application level, and A.10.4.2 “Where the use of mobile Operating system level) are essentially code is authorized, the reports. To that extent it is possible to configuration shall fudge these. Also, other than application‐ ensure that the authorized mobile code operates level audit trail reports, the other audit trail according to a reports can be quite complex and clearly defined security impractical to analyze for ongoing policy, and unauthorized mobile code shall operations of this nature. In spite of this, be prevented from audit trail‐reports are useful and should be executing”. there as supporting evidence. However, in a sensitive application of this nature, audit A 11.5 trails cannot be depended upon as the sole A.11.5.1 protection against any mala‐fide act. Access to operating systems shall be controlled by a secure log‐on procedure.

A.11.5.2
All users shall have a unique identifier (user ID) for their personal use only, and a suitable authentication technique shall be chosen to

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substantiate the claimed identity of a user. A.11.5.3 Systems for managing passwords shall be interactive and shall ensure quality passwords. A.11.5.4 The use of utility programs that might be capable of overriding system and application controls shall be restricted and tightly controlled.

A.11.5.5
Inactive sessions shall shut down after a defined period of inactivity. A.11.5.6 Restrictions on connection times shall be used to provide additional security for high‐risk applications.

A10.10 A.10.10.1
Audit logs recording user activities, exceptions, and information security events shall be produced and kept for an agreed period to assist in future investigations and access control monitoring.

A.10.10.2
Procedures for monitoring use of information processing facilities shall be established and the results of the monitoring activities reviewed regularly. A.10.10.3 Logging facilities and log information shall be protected against tampering and unauthorized access.

A.10.10.4
System administrator and system operator activities shall be logged. A.10.10.5 Faults shall be logged, analyzed, and appropriate action taken.

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A.10.10.6 The clocks of all relevant information processing systems within an organization or security domain shall be synchronized with an agreed accurate time source

Guidance and recommended practices‐ Spyware/Trojan/BOTS It is important that even if a clandestine copy is made and stolen as above, the bid‐ encryption methodology should be such that it should not be possible to decrypt the bids in connivance with any officer of the Buyer organization or the Service Provider organization. While this issue becomes irrelevant if bid encryption is done at bidder‐ end with bidder created symmetric pass‐phrase, in case PKI‐based bid encryption is done, the software functionality has to be suitably augmented to mitigate this security threat. This threat has also been explicitly mentioned in CVC guidelines (refer security check‐point No. 14 of Annexure‐II) a) The controls should be placed to guard against the possibility of injecting spyware for making clandestine copies of a submitted bid and then sending this clandestine copy to a secret destination. The spyware are the malicious software codes which can be injected in to the system remotely. To protect the system from injection of spyware, the system needs to be secured. The system need to be secured and protected in the following manner;  Hardening of hardware and software of the entire Information Technology infrastructure (which include computer system, software, router etc.)  Installation of anti spyware, anti spam and antivirus software.  Installation of software tools to protect the operating system from injection of spyware. These software need to be upgraded on a continuous basis. The entire infrastructure needs to be secured at the perimeter level by installing Firewalls and intrusion Prevention System. After installation of software and protecting by devices as the entire IT infrastructure needs to be audited by the Information Technology Auditors. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT‐IN), Department of Information Technology has empanelled auditors for auditing systems from the point of view of cyber security. It is always recommended that system should be audited at least once in a year and as and when the infrastructure (i.e hardware and software) is augmented by additions of new hardware and software. Further people operating these systems need to be trained in monitoring and detecting any intrusion in the system and network. b) The kernel of the operating system in the IT infrastructure should be secured first by hardening the operating system and installation of software which protects it from inject of spyware or any kind of intrusion. c) The e‐procurement system should have audit trail facilities. These audit trails are complex but dependable. The audit trails reports provide useful information about the instructions which take place in the system both at operating system and
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 2.3

application software. This information is necessary to analyze nature of intrusion, vulnerabilities exploited and to track the perpetrators. It also helps in taking steps in preventing future intrusion. The analysis of audit trail requires appropriate expertise both in respect of application and operating system. Such expertise is available in the country at many places. CERT‐In also facilitates the user organization in analyzing the audit trails. Private Key with which decryption is done, Cryptographic A 12.3 is available with the concerned officer controls A.12.3.1 before the Public Tender Opening Event “A policy on the use of Segregation cryptographic controls for a) If a clandestine copy of a bid is made as of duties protection of described above before the ‘tender opening information shall be developed and event (TOE)’, and if the concerned tender‐ implemented.” opening officer (TOE‐officer) connives in decrypting the bid before the TOE, the A.12.3.2 “Key management shall be in confidentiality of the bid is compromised. place to support the organization’s use b) The above concern with the difference of cryptographic techniques” that the copy of the bid is made with the connivance of the Database Administrator A 10.1.3 “Duties and areas of (DBA). responsibility shall be segregated to reduce c) If the concerned TOE‐officer(s) is/ are opportunities for unauthorized or absent during the TOE, how the bids will be unintentional modification or decrypted especially keeping in view that misuse of the organization’s the private‐keys should not be handed over assets.” to anybody else. Guidance and recommended practices Note: While some guidance is provided below, it is the responsibility of the individual vendors to design and develop their applications in a manner that addresses the outlined concerns. They should first convincingly demonstrate the full methodology to DIT, and then DIT will transparently put this methodology on its website, so that bidders who use such e‐procurement systems in future are fully assured against breach of confidentiality of their bid‐data. A process needs to be established and followed in respect of key management of encryption keys particularly the key with which the bid would be decrypted at the time of opening of the bids. Such process should avoid compromising confidentiality and possibility of decrypting clandestine copy of the bid. In this regard the following three approaches may be adopted with proper checks while keeping in view the legality of the process for end‐users. Furthermore, practical procedures will have to be put in place which can be implemented at the field level in diverse locations in the country in a user friendly manner.  Splitting of Keys: A bidder would submit the bid document after encrypting it with the public key of the tendering organization, so that the contents are encrypted and are decrypted by the authorized officials at the tendering organization. To minimize the risks associated with “person of dubious integrity” or collusion, private key decryption should be split into `M’ parts with the requirement of minimum `N’
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 2.4

splits being required for its use. (`N’ should be more than 1 and less than or equal to M). `N’ and `M’ will be decided by the tendering organization and suitably configured on the system.  Multiple encryption of the bid document with multiple public keys and decryption of document with the multiple corresponding private keys of the tendering organization. Application of multiple encryption of the bid document could be prescribed in a predefined order by authorized officials of the tendering organization. Decryption will have to be carried out in the reverse order. The multiple decryption keys (i.e. private) may be held by different officials of the tender organization. Encrypting the bid document first with public key of the bidder and then by the public key of tendering organization. The bid document may then be decrypted by the private key of the authorized official of tendering organization and then by the private key of bidder. It may be noted that the decryption keys are applied in reverse order in application of encryption keys. The implementation of this system, however, would require physical presence of the bidder who encrypted the bid at the time of submission of bid. Preferably the person of bidding organization should be same who has signed the bid by digital signature. There are logistic issues with this approach. A 12.3 Public Key with which bid‐encryption is Cryptographic A.12.3.1 done is available publicly. The easy controls A policy on the use of availability of the public key makes the cryptographic controls for data encrypted with it vulnerable to Regulation of protection of ‘Chosen Plaintext Attack’ cryptographic information shall be developed and implemented. controls A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

2.5

Guidance and recommended practices Note: While some guidance is provided below, it is the responsibility of the individual vendors to design and develop their applications in a manner that addresses the outlined concerns. They should first convincingly demonstrate the full methodology to DIT, and then DIT will transparently put this methodology on its website, so that bidders who use such e‐procurement systems in future are fully assured against breach of confidentiality of their bid‐data. Public Key algorithms are slow. As a result Capacity A 10.3.1 many e‐tendering systems which use PKI for management The use of resources shall be monitored, tuned, and bid‐encryption, use mainly an encrypted projections online‐form for bid submission, and do not made of future capacity requirements to ensure have facility for an encrypted detailed bid (eg the required system detailed technical bid as a file), along with the performance. online form. As a result, the detailed bid is either not submitted, or it is submitted in
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unencrypted form. Guidance and recommended practices Note: While some guidance is provided below, it is the responsibility of the individual vendors to design and develop their applications in a manner that addresses the outlined concerns. They should first convincingly demonstrate the full methodology to DIT, and then DIT will transparently put this methodology on its website, so that bidders who use such e‐procurement systems in future are fully assured against breach of confidentiality of their bid‐data. 2.6 A system in which Public Key of a bidder’s representative is used for bid‐encryption at bidder’s office, and where decryption will be done by the bidder’s representative himself using his private key during the Online Public TOE. Concerns: a) Concerns outlined in 2.4 and 2.5 outlined above are applicable here also, and should be suitably addressed. b) How would the bids be opened if the bidder’s representative with whose key bids have been encrypted is not available during the Online Public TOE ? The non‐availability could be due to leave, termination or any other reason. c) Copy of the decryption‐key (ie private key of the encryption‐certificate issued by a CA) is generally available (ie backed up) with the CA. Duplicate can generally be requested in case of loss, however, this can also be misused. Note: Private key cannot be transmitted by the bidder over the internet. Furthermore, during the Online Public TOE, bids cannot be allowed to be downloaded from the server to the bidder’s computer. This would tantamount to the bids being taken away from the tender‐box back to the bidder’s office for opening. This cannot be allowed. Therefore the bidder will have to be physically present during the Public TOE, and such a system will never be able to have a proper Online Public TOE. This would immediately remove one of the biggest benefits of e‐procurement. Assuming that all other concerns are satisfactorily addressed, this would at best be a PARTIAL e‐ procurement system. 3. Concerns relating to situations where bids before being transmitted from the bidder’s
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computer are protected with only SSL Encryption and Database level Encryption is done before the bid is stored in the Database Server 3.1 i) For secure and transparent functioning of Cryptographic A 12.3 A.12.3.1 the e‐tendering system, it cannot be controls A policy on the use of assumed that there will never be any cryptographic controls for “persons of dubious integrity” in the Regulation of protection of Purchase organization cryptographic information shall be developed and ii) For secure and transparent functioning of controls implemented. the e‐tendering system, it cannot be A.12.3.2 assumed that there will never be any Key management shall be in place to support the “persons of dubious integrity” in the e‐ organization’s use tendering Service Provider’s organization of cryptographic techniques iii) While all efforts must be made to ensure A 15.1.6 that no spyware is put in the server which Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with can make clandestine copies of a file or data all relevant being uploaded to the server, and agreements, laws, and then sending this clandestine copy to a regulations. secret destination, the possibility of such spyware being planted in the web‐server cannot be totally ruled out. This undesirable eventuality could occur due to connivance of the administrators of the Service Provider, or even through remote injection. For secure and transparent functioning of the e‐tendering system, it cannot be assumed that there will never be such a possibility of the spyware being planted in the e‐tendering server. iv) If the spyware is planted at the kernel level, there may not be any audit trail. v) Audit Trails (both application level and Operating system level) are essentially reports. To that extent it is possible to fudge these. Also, other than application‐ level audit trail reports, the other audit trail reports can be quite complex and impractical to analyze for ongoing operations of this nature. In spite of this, audit trail‐reports are useful and should be there as supporting evidence. However, in a sensitive application of this nature, audit trails cannot be depended upon as the sole protection against any malafide act. Guidance and recommended practices Secure submission of bid from bidder’s computer to the server should be done after the bid file/ data is encrypted (with symmetric or asymmetric encryption) at the bidder’s computer and further submitted to the e‐procurement server through SSL encryption. Only the encrypted file submitted by the bidder should be stored and should be decrypted at the Tender Opening Event (TOE). A 12.3 3.2 Assuming that ‘only SSL encryption’ is applied Cryptographic A.12.3.1 to a bid while it is being transmitted from the controls A policy on the use of bidder’s computer to the server, it is a fact the
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cryptographic role of SSL encryption is limited to the Regulation of controls for transmission phase (ie transportation to the cryptographic protection of server), and that on reaching the server the controls information shall be developed and SSL encryption is removed. The bid is now implemented. presumably encrypted again with PKI or A.12.3.2 Symmetric Key. Albeit small, there is an Key management shall be in place to ‘interim period’ before the bid is encrypted support the again. In the interim period the bid is actually organization’s use in an unencrypted state and to that extent of cryptographic techniques vulnerable. Irrespective of whether PKI or Symmetric Key A 15.1.6 is used for encryption at Database‐level, the Cryptographic encrypting key is available/ accessible to some controls shall be used officer of the purchase organization, or an in compliance with all relevant administrator of the e‐tendering Service agreements, laws, Provider, or the DBA. and regulations. The above issues exist irrespective of whether only select data is encrypted, or the entire database is encrypted. If a clandestine copy of a bid is made as described above in the interim period which would be before the ‘tender opening event (TOE)’, and if the administrator connives, the confidentiality of the bid is compromised. 1b. The above concern with the difference that the copy of the bid is made with the connivance of the Database Administrator (DBA) and decryption done in connivance with the person holding the decryption key. Guidance and recommended practices Secure submission of bid from bidder’s computer to the server should be done after the bid file is encrypted (with symmetric or asymmetric encryption) at the bidder’s computer and further submitted to the e‐procurement server through SSL encryption. Only the encrypted file submitted by the bidder should be stored and should be decrypted at the Tender Opening Event (TOE). The two‐way process as suggested may be followed strictly. This will address the concerns raised. The information on reaching the server where e‐procurement software is deployed through SSL mode will remain encrypted even after the SSL encryption is removed. Information will lie encrypted in the system hosting e‐ procurement software. Data Base Administrator (DBA) will not be able to decrypt the information as he will not be having the decryption keys. It may be mentioned here that at no point of time the System Administrator or Data Base Administrator should be authorized to hold the private (decryption) key. The organization shall have a procedure which can include three different approaches to address three different scenarios. 4. Concern about Symmetric key based Bid‐Encryption done at the Bidder’s computer 4.1 a) While bidders’ representatives should be Cryptographic A 12.3 welcome during Online Public TOE, it should controls A.12.3.1

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not be mandatory for them to be present if Regulation of their bids are to be opened. cryptographic b) How the security of the symmetric key (i.e. controls the key used for encryption of each bid‐part) is ensured, between the period of bid‐ submission and the Online Public TOE, keeping in view the concerns outlined above. c) It should be allowed for a bidder to have different keys for bid‐encryption of each bid‐ part (such as Pre‐qualification, Technical, and Financial) he submits.

A policy on the use of cryptographic controls for protection of information shall be developed and implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

Guidance and recommended practices The organization shall have procedure to address above. E‐Procurement system should have functionality such that the physical presence of bidders should not be mandatory during Online Public TOE. 5. Concerns/ clarifications based on s42(1) of the IT Act 2000 relating to Digital Signatures, a User Organization’s Administrative Hierarchy, and some related aspects A 12.3 5.1 In any large Government or PSU Purchase Cryptographic A.12.3.1 organization, there can be multiple indenting controls A policy on the use of departments, multiple tendering authorities cryptographic (ie entities which can invite tenders in their Regulation of controls for name), and tens (and sometimes hundreds) of cryptographic protection of Information shall be officers involved with different activities controls developed and relating to various tenders. implemented. A situation should not arise in the e‐tendering A.12.3.2 Key management system where due to limitation of the e‐ shall be in place to tendering system, these departments and support the officers are not able to themselves execute organization’s use of cryptographic their duly assigned roles as in the manual techniques process, and are constrained to re‐assign/ abdicate their roles and responsibilities to a A 15.1.6 few tech‐savvy technicians or the personnel of Cryptographic the service‐provider of the e‐tendering controls shall be used in compliance with all system. relevant agreements, laws, and regulations. The concerns in this regard are : a) No such limitations exist in the offered e‐ tendering system, and the system supports multiple departments and a comprehensive hierarchy of officers which is such that each officer can continue to perform his/ her tendering related role in a secure manner with full accountability, and with no need for any re‐assigning of responsibilities. It is being clarified that the objective here is not to provide a full‐
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b)

c)

d)

e)

fledged virtual office to the officers, but to provide adequate facilities within the application for multiple officers of multiple departments to carry out their respective tendering related activities with proper security and full accountability. Roles relating to various tendering activities within each department, and which could vary from tender to tender, would inter alia include – deciding methodology and rules pertaining to a particular tender, creation of tender notice, approval/ rejection of tender notice, creation of corrigendum, approval of corrigendum, creation tender document forms, approval of tender document forms, overall approval/ rejection of tender documents, providing responses to clarification of tender documents, uploading minutes of pre‐bid meeting, one or more officers conducting public online tender opening event (TOE), approving minutes of the public online TOE, short‐listing responsive bidders for the next stage (where applicable), managing roles of various personnel, and assigning alternative personnel in case the original assignees are absent, etc. The offered e‐tendering system has facility, such that roles with conflict of interest can be offered to different persons within the organization, so that conflict of interest is avoided. There should be one authorized person as an overall coordinator and representative of that organization in the e‐tendering system, with powers to delegate different roles to different users from time to time, and all such role‐changes must be audit‐ trailed in the application. The credentials of this overall coordinator must be verified. There should be provision for having separate authorized user (at the corporate level of each Buyer organization, i.e. external to its tendering departments) who can access the application‐level audit‐trail (ie audit‐log) reports. Other users of the organization should not have access to these reports. Under no circumstances will it be required for any officer to hand over his/ her
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5.2

private‐key (used for digital‐signing, or bid‐ decryption if applicable in the offered system) to anyone else – within the organization, or to anyone in the service provider’s organization, or to anybody else. f) There could be occasions when an authorized officer of a Purchase/Buyer organization is on leave, gets transferred, resigns or his/ her services are terminated. One example where such an eventuality may arise is if the public key of the tender opening officer is used for bid encryption, and his private key required for bid decryption during the online tender opening event. There should no limitation in the e‐tendering system which may necessitate that the private key of such an officer be handed over to anybody else for the scheduled tendering processes to continue uninterrupted. Note: The above is necessary for compliance with s‐42(1) of the IT Act 2000. Guidance and recommended practices The e‐procurement system should have the features to address above. Under the IT Act, 2000 any holder of a Digital Signature, who’s Digital Signature Certificate has been issued by a licensed CA, is responsible for protecting the corresponding private key. Unless the certificate validity has expired or the certificate has been revoked by the issuing CA, any digital signature will be legally valid and will be attributed to the person listed in the Digital Signature Certificate. Similar mechanism measures should be evolved for encryption key pair as well. Handing over of private (decryption) key by one officer to another officer both in case of digital signature as well as in case of encryption should not be allowed In case of digital signature, private key should be one of the two factor authentication method which must be implemented. The other could be Personal Identification Number (PIN) or biometric etc., so that nobody else can use the private key for signing the document. Further, it is the responsibility of the e‐procurement system to reject the Digital Signature (except for verification) in case the corresponding Digital Signature Certificate has expired. It is suggested that e‐procurement tendering system must have signing interface which can keep track of corresponding certificate particularly relating to expiry aspect of digital signature. There should also be a clause in the tender document stating that tender will not be considered for evaluation if the digital signature certificate has expired (except for verification). A 12.3 In any large Supplier/ Vendor organization, Cryptographic A.12.3.1 controls there can be multiple sales departments A policy on the use of which can bid for different tenders. Also cryptographic within each such department there can be Regulation of
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many executives involved with different cryptographic controls activities relating to various tenders. A situation should not arise in the e‐tendering system where due to limitation of the e‐ tendering system, these departments and executives are not able to themselves execute their duly assigned roles as in the manual process, and are constrained to re‐assign/ abdicate their roles and responsibilities to a few tech‐savvy technicians or the personnel of the service‐provider of the e‐tendering system.

controls for protection of information shall be developed and implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

Guidance and recommended practices This has implication on process and technology. There would be scenarios regarding multiple tendering within organization. e‐Procurement software must have features to address such suggested issues’ viz – multiple sales departments within a bidder/ supplier organization, multiple executives (each with his own digital signature certificate) for performing various e‐procurement related tasks within each such department; system for managing roles and authorizations of such executives in case of transfer, leave, termination etc; independent executive within each bidder/ supplier organization for accessing audit trails relating to that organization. Apart from from ensuring security within a supplier/ bidder organization, such functionality is necessary to ensure that users within a supplier/ bidder organization do not handover their private keys to each other for completing an ongoing tendering process. If these concerns are not addressed, it would result in violation of s‐42(1) of the IT Act. Further, it is suggested that organizations implementing e‐procurement system should conduct training programmes for persons who have been assigned roles and are using the system on functional aspect related to process and technical aspects of the system. The training programme should also cover dos and don’ts for using the system. 6. Some other functionality/ Security/ Transparency related requirements of a Manual Tendering System and Conformance its Availability in the offered e‐tendering system Cryptographic A 12.3 6.1 Concern A.12.3.1 (Manual System)A Tender Notice is issued controls A policy on the use of after internal clearance. Once a Tender Notice cryptographic controls for is published in a newspaper, it becomes an Regulation of protection of information cryptographic shall be developed and authentic record. implemented. controls A.12.3.2 (Electronic System) Key management shall be a) At a higher level, there should be clearance in place to support the organization’s use (which is audit‐trailed within the application of cryptographic and digitally signed) before a Tender Notice is techniques issued. A 15.1.6 b) For authenticity and for assurance that it Cryptographic controls shall be used in has not been tampered, the electronic Tender compliance with all

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Notice (which is an electronic record), should have an audit‐trail within the application of its creation/ approval/ posting. Also, the tender notice should be digitally signed by an authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization. Concern (Manual System) A Corrigendum is issued after internal clearance/ approval. Once a Corrigendum to a Tender Notice is published in a newspaper, it becomes an authentic record. (Electronic System) a) At a higher level, there should be clearance (which is audit‐trailed within the application and digitally signed) before a Corrigendum is issued. b) For authenticity and for assurance that it has not been tampered, the electronic Corrigendum (which is an electronic record), should have an audit‐trail within the application of its creation/ approval / posting. Also, the Corrigendum should be digitally signed by an authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization. Concern (Manual System) Once Tender Documents are published, and sold with official receipt and serial no. for each copy sold, these become an authentic record. (Electronic System) a) For authenticity and for assurance that it has not been tampered, the electronic Tender Documents (which is an electronic record), should have an audit‐trail within the application of its posting. Also, the Tender Documents should be digitally signed by an authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization. b) At the time of online sale/ downloading of the tender documents, official serial number should be given along with the receipt. Concern (Manual System) An Addendum is issued after internal clearance/ approval. Once Addendum to Tender Documents are published, and

relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

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distributed, these become an authentic record. (Electronic System) a) At a higher level, there should be clearance (which is audit‐trailed within the application and digitally signed) before an Addendum is issued. b) For authenticity and for assurance that it has not been tampered, the electronic Addendum (which is an electronic record), should have an audit‐trail within the application of its approval/ posting. Also, the Addendum should be digitally signed by an authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization. Concern (Manual System) Clarification of Tender Documents. In response to a bidder’s query, an authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization responds to the querist with a copy to all other prospective bidders who have purchased tender documents (without revealing the identity of the querist). The response is signed by the concerned officer for authenticity. (Electronic System) The e‐tendering system should also have such a facility with all the functionality as described in the previous column. For authenticity and for assurance that it has not been tampered, the response from the authorized officer of the Purchase/ Buyer organization should be digitally signed by him. Concern (Manual System) Pre‐Bid meeting. The minutes of the Pre‐bid meeting are signed for authenticity by an authorized officer of the Purchaser/ Buyer organization and made available to the prospective bidders. (Electronic System) The e‐tendering system should also have such a facility with all the functionality as described in the previous column. For authenticity and for assurance that it has not been tampered, the Minutes should be digitally signed by an authorized officer of the Purchaser/ Buyer
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6.2

organization. Concern (Manual System) Bid Methodologies/ Formats: Depending on the circumstances and nature of a tender, one of the many bidding methodologies may be prescribed by a Buyer, and the bidder would have to respond accordingly.  Single‐stage, single‐ envelope  Single‐stage, two‐ envelope  Two stage (with facility for ‘technical conformance’, and if required, ‘revised tender documents’)  Two‐stage, two‐ envelope  Where required, the above may be combined with a Pre‐qualification stage  In some cases, the Purchaser may allow submission of one or more Alternative bids  Each bid part (eg technical, financial) may be required to be submitted in a ‘summary format’ along with a ‘detailed bid’. The latter could be a large file.  After having submitted the ‘original’ bid for each bid‐part, a bidder has a right to submit: ‘Modification’ bid ‘Substitution’ bid Or ‘Withdrawal’ bid for all his bid‐ submissions. (Electronic System) The e‐tendering system should support all the bidding methodologies/ formats as outlined above without sacrificing any aspect of security and transparency including those listed elsewhere in this document. Guidance and recommended practices CVC Circular No. Office Order No.43/7/04 dated 2nd July 2004 had also required that tender documents posted on an e‐tendering/ e‐procurement website should be digitally signed by an officer of the tendering organization, and for the assurance of the bidder who is viewing or downloading the tender documents, the CVC circular required that facility be provided to verify the digital signature to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the tender documents. The e‐procurement system should have functionality as outlined above under ‘(Electronic System)’, and the Buyer organization should have related procedures to implement this. Concern Cryptographic A 12.3
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6.3

A.12.3.1 (Manual System) controls A policy on the use of Signing of each page of each bid part (pre‐ cryptographic qualification, technical, financial) especially Regulation of controls for the ‘summary format’ and the cryptographic protection of information shall be ‘detailed’ bid including modification, controls developed and substitution, withdrawal. implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management The sealed bids are deposited securely in a shall be in place to locked tender box, and stored securely till the support the box is opened during the public tender organization’s use of cryptographic opening event. techniques A 15.1.6 (Electronic System) Cryptographic The e‐tendering system should have the controls shall be used in compliance with all corresponding facilities without sacrificing any relevant agreements, aspect of security and transparency including laws, and regulations. those listed elsewhere in these Guidelines.  It should not be possible to open the ‘e‐ tender boxes’ till the specified time has occurred or elapsed, and till all the authorized Tender‐Opening Officers have formally instructed the system to do so with PKI‐based Digital Signatures  Till the Public Tender Opening Event, security related features should be such that the contents of the bids which are being stored cannot be ‘accessed and decrypted’ by even the authorized officers of the Purchaser/ Buyer or the Administrators of the Service Provider (even if they wish to do so with mala‐fide intentions). Guidance and recommended practices The e‐procurement system should have features to address the suggestions made in this document. Any e‐procurement/e‐tendering services must provide the facility of Time Stamping which is critical for establishing data and time of document submission and its acknowledgement. Time Stamping feature should be built within the application and synchronisation of e‐tendering/ e‐procurement server should be done with master‐ server at the data‐center where the e‐procurement system is hosted (as mentioned in section 4.1 of these Guidelines). Alternatively, the e‐procurement service provider can take Time Stamping services being provided by licensed CAs. Cryptographic A 12.3 (Manual System) A.12.3.1 Public Tender Opening Event(s) [Public TOEs] controls A policy on the use of cryptographic controls for For Transparency, there is an elaborate Regulation of protection of information procedure for opening of bids in the presence cryptographic shall be developed and implemented. of authorized bidders. A few salient aspects of controls
A.12.3.2

35

this are: Authorized representatives of bidder organizations a) Who have submitted their bids are entitled to be present and have to sign in their attendance. b) Each bid is opened one at a time in front of the participating bidders, and the concerned bidder is entitled to satisfy himself that his bid packet is intact and has not been tampered with. c) If Bid security [earnest money deposit (EMD)] is applicable for a tender, then details of the EMD submitted, or exemption claimed with basis thereof is disclosed to the participants. d) Salient points of each opened bid are read out aloud for the benefit of the participating bidders, and to ensure that no change is made in the bid contents later on with connivance. e) Clarifications may be sought from a bidder whose bid has been opened and record is made of the query and the response. f) Each page of the opened bid is countersigned during the TOE itself (by each tender opening officer (typically up to 3) to ensure that no change is made in the bid contents later on with connivance. g) After all the bids are opened and countersigned by the TOE‐officers, the minutes of the meeting (ie TOE) are to be recorded. h) Each bid part may be opened in a separate tender opening event in which only the authorized bidders are allowed. This is supposed to be done in a very transparent manner with proper scheduling of events and proper information to the concerned bidders. i) Bid parts which are due for opening in a subsequent tender opening event are securely stored till that event. j) If in a particular TOE, if it is decided not to open the bid of a bidder, then such bids are returned opened. (Electronic System) Facility for the authorized personnel to conduct Public Online Tender Opening Event with Bidders attending from remote

Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

36

locations electronically with full security procedures. Tender‐Opening Event should be simultaneously viewable by all attendees from their respective locations The e‐tendering system should support all the salient aspects,viz a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i as listed in the previous column without sacrificing any aspect of security and transparency including those listed elsewhere in this matrix/ questionnaire. As soon as a bid is opened, participating bidders should be able to simultaneously download the salient points (ie the summary information) of the opened bid. For (j) keeping in view the nature of the internet, such bids may be archived unopened. Note: In addition, in cases where some bidders have bid offline (ie manually), and this has been allowed, then the following should be ensured: - That the offline bids are opened first and their salient points entered into the system before the online bids are opened. This is all done in the presence of the online bidders who are simultaneously witnessing this exercise. The compiled/ integrated data of the both the online and offline bidders should be made available in the form of an online comparison chart to all the participants. Guidance and recommended practices The GFR requires that tenders be opened in public in the presence of the authorized representatives of the bidders. The Finance Ministry Manual on procurement procedures outlines in details the requirements of a transparently conducted Public Tender Opening Event. CVC Guidelines on security aspects of e‐procurement also stae the requirement of ‘Online Public Tender Opening Event’. Merely opening bids ‘online’, and then separately making them available for display to the bidders subsequently, and/ or from a different location/ screen (ie user interface) without the simultaneous online presence of bidders, does not fulfill the requirements of a proper and transparent online Public TOE. A comprehensive and transparent Public
Tender Opening Event is the ‘backbone of transparency and fairness’ of the Public Procurement process, manual or electronic. This has an impact on technical as well as procedural aspects.

It must be ensured that e‐tendering/ e‐procurement has comprehensive functionality for a transparent Public Online Tender Opening Event (Public OTOE). Well established practices of manual tender opening (with legal and transparency related significance) should have corresponding electronic equivalents for transparent e‐tendering/ e‐procurement. Some relevant processes of a fair and transparent online public TOE should include:
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 i. Opening of the bids in the simultaneous online presence of the bidders with proper online attendance record of the authorized representatives of the bidders. Merely opening bids online, and then subsequently displaying some results to the bidders does not fulfill the requirements of a transparent Online Public Tender Opening Event ii. Security Checks to assure bidders of non‐tampering of their bids, et al during the online TOE itself iii. One‐by‐one opening of the sealed bids in the simultaneous online presence of the bidders iv. Online verification of the digital signatures of bidders affixed to their respective bids v. Reading out, ie allowing bidders to download the electronic version of the salient points of each opened bid (opened in the simultaneous online presence of the bidders) vi. There should be a procedure for seeking clarifications by the TOE officers during online Public TOE from a bidder in the online presence of other bidders, and recording such clarifications vii. Digital counter‐signing (by all the tender opening officers) of each opened bid, in the simultaneous online presence of all participating bidders viii. Preparation of the ‘Minutes of the Tender Opening Event’ and its signing by the concerned officers in the simultaneous online presence of the bidders While bidders should be welcome to be present physically during the TOE, it should not be mandatory for them to do so. All the above should be achieved online in a user‐friendly manner. The e‐procurement system has to satisfactorily address the above requirements through suitable functionality built into the e‐procurement application. Where, in addition, some issues are being further addressed through organizational procedures under ISO 27001, these should be explicitly defined with satisfactory explanations. 7. Concerns/clarifications relating to preventing other Bidders from Bidding in the e‐ Tendering Scenario, and Miscellaneous Concerns/ Clarifications A 12.6.1 7.1 Can the e‐tendering prevent competitors/ Control of Timely information about tender mafia from locking the accounts (target technical technical vulnerabilities accounts) of other users/ bidders by vulnerabilities of information deliberately entering incorrect authentication Cryptographic systems being used shall be obtained, the information against user‐names (which are not controls organization's exposure secret) of such bidders/ users? to such vulnerabilities Regulation of evaluated, and cryptographic appropriate measures taken to address the controls associated risk. A 12.3 A.12.3.1
A policy on the use of cryptographic controls for protection of information shall be developed and implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the

38

organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

7.2

Guidance and recommended practices Generally any system are designed in such a manner that it gets locked/denied permission after repeated login attempts based on wrong passwords and user IDs. Such a scenario, if it exists, in e‐procurement system may be exploited by the competitors/tender mafia to prevent the genuine bidders. To avoid such a situation the e‐procurement system should not have features for locking the system on account of repetitive login attempts based on wrong passwords and user IDs and digital signatures. It is also suggested that login to the e‐procurement system should be based on digital signatures. It has also been suggested that e‐procurement system should have interface software to check the validity of digital signature/certificate. Other innovative methods may also be developed to address this concern. A 12.6.1 For security reasons, Administrators of the e‐ Control of Timely information about tendering application/ portal should not have technical technical vulnerabilities any access to the passwords of the various vulnerabilities of information Cryptographic systems being used shall users. Neither should the Administrators be obtained, the controls be able to generate passwords for the users. organization's exposure Regulation of to such vulnerabilities cryptographic evaluated, and appropriate measures controls taken to address the associated risk.

A 12.3 A.12.3.1
A policy on the use of cryptographic controls for protection of information shall be developed and implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

Guidance and recommended practices The Administrators of the e‐tendering application/portal should not have any access to the passwords of the various users. Neither the software should allow the Administrator to generate password for the users. The designer/developer should factor this at the design stage/development stage, ie the e‐procurement system has to satisfactorily address the above requirements through suitable functionality built into the e‐procurement application.
39

7.3

The Forgot Password feature should not be based on some questions and answers which can be guessed by a competitor/ hacker. Please explain how this is achieved.

A 12.6.1 Control of Timely information about technical technical vulnerabilities vulnerabilities of information Cryptographic systems being used shall be obtained, the controls organization's exposure to such vulnerabilities Regulation of evaluated, and cryptographic appropriate measures taken to address the controls associated risk. A 12.3 A.12.3.1
A policy on the use of cryptographic controls for protection of information shall be developed and implemented. A.12.3.2 Key management shall be in place to support the organization’s use of cryptographic techniques

A 15.1.6
Cryptographic controls shall be used in compliance with all relevant agreements, laws, and regulations.

7.4

Guidance and recommended practices If the e‐procurement system has “Forgot Passwords feature”, it should address these concerns. There should be facility for Comprehensive A 10.10 Log Electronic Audit‐Trail (ie Audit‐Log, or Vigilance Reports) within the application with monitoring A.10.10.1 Audit logs recording user provision for Archiving. activities, exceptions, and information Specifically: security events shall be produced and kept for an i) There should be audit trail reports for ‐‐ agreed period to assist in each tender of each Buyer organization, as future investigations and well as, non‐tender specific activities (like access control monitoring. creation of user‐hierarchy and role A.10.10.2 Procedures for monitoring authorization), which is viewable only to use of information the authorized user of that Buyer processing facilities shall be organization. Other users of the established and the results of the monitoring activities organization should not have access to reviewed regularly. these audit trail reports. A.10.10.3 ii) Similarly, there should be audit trail Logging facilities and log information shall be reports for ‐‐ each tender of each Supplier/ protected against Bidder organization, as well as, non‐tender tampering and specific activities (like creation of user‐ unauthorized access. hierarchy and role authorization), which is A.10.10.4 System administrator and viewable only to the authorized user of system operator activities that Supplier organization. Other users of shall be logged. the organization should not have access to A.10.10.5 Faults shall be logged, audit trail reports. analyzed, and appropriate

40

7.5

7.6

action taken. iii) As backup, and as protection against A.10.10.6 tampering of audit‐trail reports saved by The clocks of all relevant an individual organization at its end, information processing systems within an facility should be available for the organization or security authorized e‐procurement application domain shall be administrator to have parallel access to synchronized with an agreed accurate time such reports of both Buyer organizations, source as well as, Supplier organizations. Furthermore, information pertaining content of bids and Bid Submission [which is sensitive till the Tender‐Opening Event (TOE)], should not be accessible to the e‐ procurement application administrator till the start of the TOE. iv) The authorized administrator of the e‐ procurement/ e‐tendering application should also have access to audit trail reports of other administrators within the application. v) The application should not provide any facility to modify or delete audit logs, or suspend logging operations Guidance and recommended practices The e‐procurement system and software should have the facility and functionality. There should be facility for Reports relating to Tendering‐Activities, and corresponding MIS Reports which are accessible to the relevant authorized users of that organization. CVC Order NA As required in a CVC order, the e‐tendering system should have facility for displaying ‘Award of Contracts’ Guidance and recommended practices The application shall have this functionality. Furthermore, this information should be digitally signed by the concerned user of the Buyer organization with facility for verification by the viewer. A 12.6.1 It is important that officers of a Buyer Control of Timely information about organization involved in procurement related technical technical vulnerabilities activities continue to perform their related vulnerabilities of information roles without re‐assigning or abdicating systems being used shall be obtained, the responsibilities. A pre‐requisite to enable organization's exposure officers to perform their roles is the existence to such vulnerabilities of comprehensive virtual hierarchy and role‐ evaluated, and appropriate measures authorization as outlined above. taken to address the associated risk. Another requirement to enable this is that e‐ Tendering Systems must design their user interfaces to be “user friendly”, and that all information that the user needs to perform each transaction is available easily and clearly from the screen Concern

41

The e‐Tendering application must be designed, developed and deployed using reputed and secure platforms such as ‐‐ .DotNet, J2EE etc, that minimize defects like bugs and vulnerabilities. It is important to ensure that during deployment; only compiled codes of the e‐tendering application software are used, with further protection to prevent run‐time modifications in the code. Please clarify how this is achieved. Concern It should not be possible to compromise the security of the e‐tendering application, even with knowledge of its architecture, design and encryption algorithm used. Guidance and recommended practices The application shall be architectured, designed and developed (ie the required functionality should be inbuilt in the application) to address above concerns. The best practices and processes to develop secure software shall be followed. 8. Concerns relating to Bidders making false assertions based on non‐existing functionality in their e‐tendering software (Important Eligibility/ Qualifying Criteria) NA References may be given of various clients  Quality who have used the e‐tendering/ e‐ assessment procurement software before the date of of solution submission of bids. Such references should  Publically state whether or not the e‐Tendering software available supplied to each reference client was capable capability of handling each of the following  No requirements: composite technical & financial monopolizati bids (single stage‐ single envelope); technical on and financial bids in separate envelopes (single stage‐ two envelope); single stage two envelope preceded by pre‐qualification; and various security and transparency related concerns outlined in this Annexure‐I, Annexure‐II (which is based on CVC Guidelines). Guidance and recommended practices The solution should be assessed in respect of various security and transparency related concerns outline in these Guidelines, and its scope of Capability should be in public domain, ie the functionality claimed should have references. This will discourage monopolizing a particular vendor and solution and will encourage new entrants from offering such systems thereby affecting the competitiveness of procurement of systems. To encourage new entrants, while there should be no compromise on security, transparency and crucial functionality related concerns highlighted herein, the eligibility criteria in respect of ‘number of tenders’, ‘revenue criteria from e‐procurement’, etc should be minimum.
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Summary‐ Analysis of Risk of eProcurement Systems Security Risks Security Availability Authentication Access Audit Trail Compromise through potential weaknesses in the system The need for services to be `on’ all the time Masquerading identity or repudiation of message Any purchasing system must support authentication of users so that individual transaction can be traced back to the relevant person. Generally, this is by user name and password. Alternatively, the authentication mechanism could be network login or other directory services, while higher security requirement may demand token based method such as digital certificate, smart card or biometrics devices. To ensure users only have access to the functions required to do their jobs, an eProcurement system should incorporate “roles – based” access control mechanism. This should allow a particular role to be assigned to each user of the application, and to determine which function areas this role incorporates. A robust eProcurement solution should incorporate a comprehensive audit trail, with recording of who did what and when at various key stages of the purchasing process. The system should also allow rules to be incorporated, example the person who approves a requisition must be different from the requisition originator. Setting such principles within the purchasing application can be a useful counter major against possible fraud. Through employment or legal contractual obligations Internal abuse and misuse External attack by various parties, whether corporate espionage or terrorists Email viruses such as NIMDA or Melissa which have capability of crippling systems Flooding a computer’s internet connection with requests to disrupt traffic flow Misappropriation or release of intellectual property Control of spending to specific suppliers as part of e‐Commerce Some applications which only require users to have access to the internet via a web browser may also require additional software to be installed and run on the local machine, such as ActiveX components, Java Applets, browser script and cookies. Security policy should allow these software components to be installed and run. Lack of interoperability between the system of the bidder and system of the procurement body System interoperability is the smooth transition of data between systems internally within an organisation, example between an
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Liability Computer Fraud Breach by external party Virus affecting the system Denial of service Intellectual property Software Risks Switching Cost and compliance with Rules of Government Procurement Applets, scripting and punch‐out

Interoperability

eProcurement system and a finance system and externally example between a buyers eProcurement system and suppliers eCommerce System. The preferred method of data flow today is eXtensible Mark‐Up Language (XML). XML is accepted a core standard for data exchange between the Government and Business. Project Risks Competitive information Lack of required skills Risk to customer and supplier data, as well as other commercially sensitive information Staff not being properly equipped with the correct skill set. Repercussion of not adhering to roles & responsibilities while handling private key/ user secret of personnel involved in e procurement life cycle. Investing in the wrong technology, this may lead to greater costs than initially projected, or being stuck with a vendor Increasing complexity of organisation, systems and models The increasing electronic delivery of public services to business and citizens, in turn, producing more electronic records. Electronic records unlock content previously difficult to assess in paper form, enable more effective sharing of information and contribute to knowledge exchange. However, they need to be retained and maintained over the medium to long term as the records also demonstrate accountability. Privacy and excess issues and particularly right to information act, VAT and other taxation act required that electronic records be managed constantly within regulatory environment. The risk of damaging goodwill or brand equity as a result of e‐ Commerce mishap To protect historic data in the event of a system failure, or to allow a purchase department to continue off‐site in the event of disaster, security arrangement should also include a business continuity plan. This should detail :  Precautions to prevent disaster from occurring such as virus checking  Physical security in the premises where the application is held and  Duplication of data onto multiple storage devices  Procedures to follow in the event of an unrecoverable disaster e.g. retrieval of off‐site back‐ups or relocating to a “warm recovery” server which contains all historical data. Finally, it is important to test any continuity plans on a regular basis. The time to discover that not all relevant files are backed up is during a test drill, not when trying to recover after a catastrophic failure. Because of involvement of remotely located additional body Rate of change of technology progressing ahead of the ability to secure it Procurement risk, describing employee’s expenditure via non‐ preferred suppliers, resulting in a blow‐out in costs.

Wrong technology choice Complexity and Management of electronic records

Reputational Risk Business Continuity

Environmental Risks Natural hazard Changing technology Maverick Spend/compliance

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Annexure‐II ‐ Checklist for eSecurity Compliance (including CVC Guidelines) Table 1: General Security Issues Sl. Issues to be Checked Means of Checking No. 1 Whether the application is secure from making any Functionality temporary distortion in the electronic posing of tender Verification/Testing notice, just to mislead certain vendors? (Application level) Functionality 2 If yes at 2 above, then whether any automatic systems Verification/Testing alert is provided in the form of daily exception report in (Application level) the application in this regards? Functionality 3 Whether application ensures that the tender documents Verification/Testing issued to/downloaded by bidders are complete in shape (Application level) as per the approved tender documents including all its corrigendum? 4 Is there any check available in the application to detect Functionality and alert about the missing pages to the tenderer, if any? Verification/Testing (Application level) Functionality 5 Whether application ensures that all the corrigendum Verification/Testing issued by the Competent Authority are being fully (Application level) communicated in proper fashion to all bidders including those who had already purchased/downloaded the bid documents well ahead of the due date and before uploading the corrigendum? Functionality 6 Whether system is safe from sending discriminatory Verification/Testing communication to different bidders about the same e‐ (Application level) tendering process? 7 Whether e‐procurement solution has also been Functionality customized to process all type of tenders viz Verification/Testing Limited/Open/Global Tenders? (Application level) 8 Whether online Public Tender opening events feature are Functionality Verification/Testing available in the application? (Application level) 9 Whether facilities for evaluation/loading of bids, strictly in Functionality terms of criteria laid down in bid documents are available Verification/Testing in the application? 10 Whether sufficient safeguards have been provided in the Functionality application to deal with failed attempt blocking? Verification/Testing (Application level) 11 Whether application is safe from submission of fake bids? Functionality Verification/Testing to check that a bid can be submitted only by a duly authorized user of the bidder organization, and that all bidder organizations are authenticated. (Application level)  Application Vulnerability
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12

Whether encryptions of bids are done at clients end?

13

Whether safety against tampering and stealing information of submitted bid, during storage before its opening is ensured?

14

Whether application is safe from siphoning off and decrypting the clandestine copy of a bid encrypted with Public key of tender opening officer?

Assessment (Test for OWASP Top 10 and other known vulnerabilities)  (Application level) Functionality Verification/Testing (Application level)  Functionality Verification/Testing of related ‘features’ and ‘explanations’ given by the e‐procurement/ e‐ tendering software/ service provider against relevant sections and points of Annexure‐I, viz sections 2, 3 and 4 of Annexure‐I. (Application level, as well as, Network level)  Application Vulnerability Assessment (Test for OWASP Top 10 and other known vulnerabilities) (Application level, as well as, Network level)  Functionality Verification/Testing of related ‘features’ and ‘explanations’ given by the e‐procurement/ e‐ tendering software/ service provider against relevant sections and points of Annexure‐I, viz sections 2, 3 and 4 of Annexure‐I. (Application level)  Application Vulnerability Assessment (Test for OWASP Top 10 and other known vulnerabilities) (Application level)
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15

Whether application is safe from mutilation/sabotage of  otherwise rendering the encrypted bid in the e‐tender box during storage, to make it unreadable/invalid in any form, before opening of the bids?

16

Whether introduction of special characters/executable files etc by users are restricted in the application?

17

Whether validity check of DSC is being done at server end? Whether system supports the feature that even though if a published tender is being deleted from the application, does not allow permanent deletion of the published tender from the Database? Whether sufficient security features are provided in the application for authentication procedure of the system administrator like ID, password, digital signature, biometric etc. Whether audit trails are being captured in the application on media not prone to tampering, such as optical write once? Whether log shipping featuring available, where a separate dedicated server receives the logs from the application over web service in real time? Whether integrity and non‐tampering is ensured in maintaining the server clock synchronization and time stamping? Whether application generates any exception report/system alerts etc to indicate the resetting of the

18

Functionality Verification/Testing of related ‘features’ and ‘explanations’ given by the e‐procurement/ e‐ tendering software/ service provider against relevant sections and points of Annexure‐I, viz sections 2, 3 and 4 of Annexure‐I. (Application level, as well as, Network level)  Application Vulnerability Assessment (Test for OWASP Top 10 and other known vulnerabilities) (Application level, as well as, Network level) Testing of Input Validation (Refer OWASP Testing Guide) (Application level) Verification of the implementation (Application level) Verification of the implementation (Application level)

19

20

21

22

23

Review of the authentication mechanism implemented. (Application level, as well as, Network level) Verification of the implementation (Application level, as well as, Network level) Verification of the implementation (Network level) Verification of the implementation (Network level) Functionality Verification/Testing
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24.

25

26

27

Functionality Verification/Testing (Refer GFR for the requirements) (Application level) Verification of Whether any comprehensive third party audit (as per statutory requirement and also as per the requirements of records/reports/certificate s e‐tender processing (compliance to IT Act 2000) was got (Application level, as well conducted before first putting it to public use? as, Network level) Covered below Whether application complies with the Commission/s Guidelines dated 17.9.2009 on Security consideration for e‐procurement systems

clock, in case the application for time stamping is killing at the server level and time is manipulated? Whether application ensures that the quotes from various bidders with their name are not being displayed to anyone including to the organization during carrying out of the e‐ reverse auctioning process? Whether application is fit for usage complying with the requirements of tender processing viz authenticity of tender, non‐repudiation and secrecy of information till the actual opening of tenders

(Network level) Functionality Verification/Testing (Application level)

Table 2: Infrastructure Security Issues Sl. Issues to be Checked No. 1 Perimeter Defence: Deployment of routers, firewalls. IPS/IDS, Remote Access and network segmentation.

Means of Checking Network Architecture Review  Assessment of vulnerabilities and hardening/configuration of network and security devices e.g. routers, switches, firewalls, IPS/IDS etc. (Network level) Review of authentication policies and mechanisms (Network level) 

2

3

4

5

Review of logging and monitoring policies, procedures & mechanisms (Network level) Assessment of vulnerabilities Secure configuration of network host: and hardening/configuration The security of individual servers & workstations is a of the hosts (servers, client critical factor in the defence of any environment, work stations etc.) especially when remote access is allowed workstations should have Safeguards in place to resist (Network level) common attacks. System patching:  Review of Patch As the vulnerability of the system is discovered almost Management Procedure
48

Authentication: Network authentication through deployment of password policy for accessing the network resources. To minimize unauthorised access to the e‐ procurement system, at system level. Monitoring: Deployment of logging at OS/ network level and monitoring the same.

regularly and the system vendors are also releasing the patches, It is expected that the host are patched with latest security updates. 6 Control of Malware: Suitable control like anti‐virus, anti spyware ext. should be deployed on the host associated with e‐ procurement system. However, option for running the services at non‐privileged user profile may be looked for. Otherwise suitable operating system which is immune to virus, Trojan and malware may be deployed. Structured cabling: The availability of the network services is critically dependent on the quality of interconnection between the hosts through structured including termination & marking. It is expected the e‐procurement system has implemented structured cabling and other controls related with network and interconnection.

 Verification of the system patching status (Network level) Review of Malware Control policies, procedures and mechanisms (Network level)

7

Verification of the cabling (Network level)

Table 3: Application Security Issues at Design Level Sl. Issues to be Checked No. 1 Authentication: The authentication mechanism of the e‐procurement application should ensure that the credentials are submitted on the pages that are served under SSL 2 Access Control: The application shall enforce proper access control model to ensure that the parameter available to the user cannot be used for launching any attack. Session management: The design should ensure that session tokens are adequately protected from guessing during an authenticated session. Error handling: The design should ensure that the application does not present user error messages to the outside world which can be used for attacking the application. Input validation: The application may accept input at multiple points from external sources, such as users, client applications, and data feeds. It should perform validation checks of the syntactic and semantic validity of the input. It should also check that input data does not violate limitations of underlying or dependent components, particularly string length and character set. All user‐supplied fields should be validated at the

Means of Checking Functionality Verification of the implementation (Application level, and SSL verification at Network Level) Assessment/Testing (Refer OWASP Testing Guide) (Application level) Assessment/Testing (Refer OWASP Testing Guide) (Application level) Assessment/Testing (Refer OWASP Testing Guide) (Application level) Assessment/Testing (Refer OWASP Testing Guide) (Application level)

3

4

5

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6

server side. Application logging and monitoring: Logging should be enabled across all applications in the environment. Log file data is important for incident and trend analysis as well as for auditing purposes. The application should log failed and successful authentication attempts, changes to application data including user accounts, serve application errors, and failed and successful access to resources

Functionality Verification of the implementation (Application level)

Table 4: Application Security Issues During Deployment & Use Sl. Issues to be Checked Means of Checking No. Verification of the 1 Availability /Clustering /Load balancing: implementation Depending on the number of expected hits and access the option for clustering of servers and load (Network level) balancing of the web application shall be implemented Review of backup policies, 2 Application and data recovery: Suitable management procedure shall be deployed procedures and the backup and restoration records. for regular back‐up of application and data. The regularity of data backup shall be in commensurate (Network level) with the nature of transaction/ business translated into the e‐procurement system. 3 Integrity of the Application, Control of source code. Review of the configuration management procedure, Configuration management: Suitable management control shall be implemented mechanism and its implementation on availability of updated source code and its deployment. Strict configuration control is (Network level) recommended to ensure that the latest software in the production system. Table 5: Application Security Issues during Data Storage & Communication Sl. Issues to be Checked Means of Checking No. Verification of the 1 Encryption for data storage: Sensitive data should be encrypted or hashed in the implementation (Application level) database and file system. The application should differentiate between data that is sensitive to disclosure and must be encrypted, data that is sensitive only to tampering and for which a keyed hash value (HMAC) must be generated, and data that can be irreversibly transformed (hashed) without loss of functionality (such as passwords). The application should store keys used for decryption separately from the encrypted data. Verification of the 2 Data transfer security: implementation Sensitive data should be encrypted prior to (Application level, as well as, transmission to other components. Verify that Network level) intermediate components that handle the data in
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3

clear‐text form, prior to transmission or subsequent to receipt, do not present an undue threat to the data. The application should take advantage of authentication features available within the transport security mechanism. Specially, encryption methodology like SSL must be deployed while communicating with the payment gateway over public network. Access control: Applications should enforce an authorization mechanism that provides access to sensitive data and functionality only to suitably permitted users or clients. Role‐based access controls should be enforced at the database level as well as at the application interface. This will protect the database in the event that the client application is exploited. Authorization checks should require prior successful authentication to have occurred. All attempts to obtain access, without proper authorization should be logged Conduct regular testing of key applications that process sensitive data and of the interfaces available to users from the Internet include both “black box” informed” testing against the application. Determine if users can gain access to data from other accounts.

Testing/Assessment of the access control implementation as per defined policies. (Application level)

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Annexure‐III – Checklist for Compliance to GOI procurement procedures GFR 2005, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure The contents of GFR 2005 are as follows: Chapter Name of the Chapter 1. 2. Introduction General System of Financial Management I. General Principles relating to expenditure & payment of money II. Defalcation and losses III. Submission of records & information Budget formulation and implementation Government Accounts Works Procurement of Goods and Services I. Procurement of Goods II. Procurement of Services Inventory Management Contract Management Grants‐in‐aid and Loans Budgeting and Accounting for Externally Aided Projects Government Guarantees Miscellaneous Subjects I. Establishment II. Refund of revenue III. Debt and misc. obligations of Govt. IV. Security deposits V. Transfer of land and buildings VI. Charitable endowments and other trusts VII. Local bodies VIII. Destruction of records connected with Accounts IX. Contingent and Miscellaneous Expenditure.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Chapter‐6, Procurement of Good & Services is applicable for e‐Procurement System (EPS). The list of GFR requirements given below provides general guidelines about the applicability of the requirements in the EPS and the verification mechanism. The assumption has been made that in an ideal situation, all the GFR requirements will be applicable to the EPS. However, in actual situation, depending on the client’s (buyer organization) requirements, all the GFR requirements may not be applicable and hence not addressed by the EPS. Therefore, it is recommended that the EPS solution/ service provider uses this list as a guideline and prepares similar list for the EPS being developed as per the applicability of the GFR requirements. The compliance to applicable GFR requirements may be verified as follows:  In case of manual procurement system, compliance verification may be done through process audit of the policy & procedures of the client’s (buyer organization). It is up to the client to perform the process audit to ensure compliance.  In case of e‐procurement system, compliance verification shall be done through testing and audit of the functionalities in the EPS solution. It is recommended; that internal verification may be done by the EPS solution provider and also be externally verified by Third Party Agency for client’s acceptance.
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 Rule

Description General GFR covers Rules relating to – Tenders relating to Works, Goods and Services. The e‐procurement system should have functionality to cover all kinds of tenders, whether the tenders relate to Works, Goods or Services. While some specific rules relating to procurement of Goods and Services are outlined below, corresponding functionality for Works tenders should also be implemented in the e‐ procurement system.

To Be Addressed By

Compliance Verification

Chapter 6: Procurement of Goods and Services ‐ Guidelines Rule Description To Be Addressed By Compliance Verification

A) Procurement of Goods: Rule 135 to 162 ‐ ‐ 135 This chapter contains the general rules applicable to all Ministries or Departments, regarding procurement of goods required for use in the public service. Detailed instructions relating to procurement of goods may be issued by the procuring departments broadly in conformity with the general rules contained in this Chapter. ‐ ‐ 136 Definition of Goods The term 'goods' used in this chapter includes all articles, material, commodities, livestock, furniture, fixtures, raw material, spares, instruments, machinery, equipment, industrial plant etc. purchased or otherwise acquired for the use of Government but excludes books, publications, periodicals, etc. for a library. 137 Fundamental principles of public buying: Functionality e‐procurement System Every authority delegated with the financial should have functionality Verification/Testing powers of procuring goods in public interest shall to ensure transparency, of related have the responsibility and accountability to bring accountability, fairness ‘features’ and efficiency, economy, and transparency in matters and equitable treatment ‘explanations’ relating to public procurement and for fair and of suppliers. This should given by the e‐ equitable treatment of suppliers and promotion be ensured by e‐ procurement/ e‐ of competition in public procurement. tendering procurement system The procedure to be followed in making public strictly and satisfactorily software/ service provider against procurement must conform to the following addressing the various issues especially outlined relevant sections yardsticks: and points of (i) The specifications in terms of quality, type etc., in Annexure‐I of these as also quantity of goods to be procured, should Guidelines. Specifically for Annexure‐I of these Guidelines be clearly spelt out keeping in view the specific fairness it must be needs of the procuring organisations. The ensured that the e‐ specifications so worked out should meet the procurement system
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basic needs of the organisation without including supports all legitimate superfluous and non‐essential features, which processes and may result in unwarranted expenditure. Care methodologies for should also be taken to avoid purchasing inviting bids in a quantities in excess of requirement to avoid transparent manner, and under no circumstances inventory carrying costs; (ii) Offers should be invited following a fair, should the confidentiality of the bid be transparent and reasonable procedure; (iii) The procuring authority should be satisfied compromised before the that the selected offer adequately meets the Online Public Tender Opening Event. requirement in all respects; (iv) The procuring authority should satisfy itself Importantly, a properly that the price of the selected offer is reasonable conducted Public Tender and consistent with the quality required; Opening Event is the (v) At each stage of procurement the concerned backbone of transparency procuring authority must place on record, in in public procurement. precise terms, the considerations which weighed The e‐procurement system must have a very with it while taking the procurement decision. transparent and comprehensive Online Public Tender Opening Event. For accountability, there should be a comprehensive Hierarchy and Role Authorization of officers with detailed Audit Trails as outlined in Annexure‐I of these Guidelines. Where required, functionality of the e‐ procurement system should be supplemented with Procurement Policy & Procedures internal to the Buyer organization. e‐procurement System 138 Authorities competent to purchase goods: An authority which is competent to incur should have functionality contingent expenditure may sanction the for Requisition purchase of goods required for use in public Management (ie Indent service in accordance with Schedule V of the Management) with digital Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 1978, signatures. following the general procedure contained in the following rules. 139 Procurement of goods required on mobilisation: Procurement Policy & Procurement of goods required on mobilisation Procedures internal to and/ or during the continuance of Military the Buyer organization operations shall be regulated by special rules and orders issued by the Government on this behalf Note: Generally no from time to time. specific requirements for e‐procurement.

Functionality Verification/Testing & Audit

Process Audit

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Procurement Policy & 140 Powers for procurement of goods: The Ministries or Departments have been Procedures internal to delegated full powers to make their own the Buyer organization arrangements for procurement of goods. In case however, a Ministry or Department does not have Note: Generally no the required expertise, it may project its indent to specific requirements for the Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) e‐procurement. with the approval of competent authority. The indent form to be utilised for this purpose will be as per the standard form evolved by the Central Purchase Organisation. Procurement Policy & 141 Rate contract: The Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) Procedures internal to shall conclude rate contracts with the registered the Buyer organization suppliers, for goods and items of standard types, which are identified as common user items and Note: Generally no are needed on recurring basis by various Central specific requirements for Government Ministries or Departments. e‐procurement. Definition of Registered suppliers is given in Rule 142 below. The Central Purchase Organisation will furnish and update all the relevant details of the rate contracts in its web site. The Ministries or Departments shall follow those rate contracts to the maximum extent possible. 142 Registration of suppliers: Procurement Policy & With a view to establishing reliable sources for Procedures internal to procurement of goods commonly required for the Buyer organization Government use, the Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) will prepare and Note: Generally no maintain item‐wise lists of eligible and capable specific requirements for suppliers. Such approved suppliers will be known e‐procurement. as "Registered Suppliers". All Ministries or Departments may utilise these lists as and when necessary. Such registered suppliers are prima facie eligible for consideration for procurement of goods through Limited Tender Enquiry. They are also ordinarily exempted from furnishing bid security along with their bids. A Head of Department may also register suppliers of goods which are specifically required by that Department or Office. (ii) Credentials, manufacturing capability, quality control systems, past performance, after‐sales service, financial background etc. of the supplier(s) should be carefully verified before registration. (iii) The supplier(s) will be registered for a fixed period (between 1 to 3 years) depending on the nature of the goods. At the end of this period, the registered supplier(s) willing to continue with registration are to apply afresh for renewal of registration. New supplier(s) may also be

Process Audit

Process Audit

Process Audit Functionality Verification/Testing

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considered for registration at any time, provided they fulfil all the required conditions. (iv) Performance and conduct of every registered supplier is to be watched by the concerned Ministry or Department. The registered supplier(s) are liable to be removed from the list of approved suppliers if they fail to abide by the terms and conditions of the registration or fail to supply the goods on time or supply substandard goods or make any false declaration to any Government agency or for any ground which, in the opinion of the Government, is not in public interest. Functionality e‐procurement System 143 Enlistment of Indian agents: As per the Compulsory Enlistment Scheme of the should have feature for Verification/Testing Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, bidder (Indian Agent) to & Audit it is compulsory for Indian agents, who desire to be able to furnish details quote directly on behalf of their foreign of their enlisting with the principals, to get themselves enlisted with the concerned Central Central Purchase Organisation (eg. DGS&D). Purchase Organization in However, such enlistment is not equivalent to the bid. registration of suppliers as mentioned under Rule 142 above. 144 Reserved items: e‐procurement System Functionality The Central Government, through administrative should have feature for Verification/ instructions, has reserved all items of handspun Tender Notice to highlight Testing and handwoven textiles (khadi goods) for such special reservations. exclusive purchase from Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC). It has also reserved all items of handloom textiles required by Central Government departments for exclusive purchase from KVIC and/or the notified handloom units of ACASH (Association of Corporations and Apex Societies of Handlooms). The Central Government has also reserved some items for purchase from registered Small Scale Industrial Units. The Central Departments or Ministries are to make their purchases for such reserved goods and items from such units as per the instructions issued by the Central Government in this regard. Process Audit 145 Purchase of goods without quotation (Upto Procurement Policy & Procedures internal to Rs.15,000/‐): Purchase of goods upto the value of Rs. 15,000/‐ the Buyer organization (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) only on each occasion may be made without inviting quotations or bids Note: Generally no on the basis of a certificate to be recorded by the specific requirements for e‐procurement. competent authority in the following format. "I, ___________________, am personally satisfied that these goods purchased are of the requisite quality and specification and have been purchased from a reliable supplier at a reasonable price."
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146 Purchase of goods by purchase committee Procurement Policy & (Above Rs.15,000/‐ & upto Rs.1,00,000/‐): Procedures internal to Purchase of goods costing above Rs. 15,000/‐ the Buyer organization (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) only and upto Rs. 1,00,000/‐ (Rupees One lakh) only on each Note: Generally no occasion may be made on the recommendations specific requirements for of a duly constituted Local Purchase Committee e‐procurement. consisting of three members of an appropriate level as decided by the Head of the Department. The committee will survey the market to ascertain the reasonableness of rate, quality and specifications and identify the appropriate supplier. Before recommending placement of the purchase order, the members of the committee will jointly record a certificate as under. "Certified that we _____________________, members of the purchase committee are jointly and individually satisfied that the goods recommended for purchase are of the requisite specification and quality, priced at the prevailing market rate and the supplier recommended is reliable and competent to supply the goods in question." 147 Purchase of goods directly under rate contract: Procurement Policy & (1) In case a Ministry or Department directly Procedures internal to procures Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. the Buyer organization DGS&D) rate contracted goods from suppliers, the prices to be paid for such goods shall not Note: Generally no exceed those stipulated in the rate contract and specific requirements for the other salient terms and conditions of the e‐procurement. purchase should be in line with those specified in the rate contract. The Ministry or Department shall make its own arrangement for inspection and testing of such goods where required. (2) The Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) should host the specifications, prices and other salient details of different rate contracted items, appropriately updated, on the web site for use by the procuring Ministry or Department. 148 A demand for goods should not be divided into Procurement Policy & small quantities to make piece meal purchases to Procedures internal to avoid the necessity of obtaining the sanction of the Buyer organization higher authority required with reference to the estimated value of the total demand. Note: Generally no specific requirements for e‐procurement. Procurement Policy & 149 Purchase of goods by obtaining bids: Except in cases covered under Rule 145, 146 and Procedures 147(1), Ministries or Departments shall procure goods under the powers referred to in Rule 140 e‐procurement system above by following the standard method of should have functionality obtaining bids in: for creating and

Process Audit

Process Audit

Process Audit

Process Audit Functionality Verification/Testing of related
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managing Tender Notices, ‘features’ and ‘explanations’ Corrigenda, Tender given by the e‐ Documents, Addenda; floating Open Tenders, as procurement/ e‐ well as, Limited Tenders tendering (Single Tenders being a software/ service special case of Limited provider against Tenders); relevant sections and functionality for and points of other associated Annexure‐I processes 150 Advertised tender enquiry: e‐procurement System Functionality (i) Subject to exceptions incorporated under should have functionality Verification/Testing of related Rules 151 and 154, invitation to tenders by for creating and advertisement should be used for procurement of managing Tender Notices, ‘features’ and goods of estimated value Rs. 25 lakh (Rupees Corrigenda, Tender ‘explanations’ Twenty Five Lakh) and above. Advertisement in Documents, Addenda; given by the e‐ such case should be given in the Indian Trade floating Open Tenders procurement/ e‐ Journal (ITJ), published by the Director General of with functionality for tendering software/ service Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Kolkata other associated and at least in one national daily having wide processes. Cost of priced provider against relevant sections Tender Documents circulation. (ii) An organisation having its own web site should should be payable online and points of Annexure‐I. also publish all its advertised tender enquiries on at the time of the web site and provide a link with NIC web site. downloading tender In addition, audit of It should also give its web site address in the documents, or payable the Procurement offline parallel to the advertisements in ITJ and newspapers. Policy & (iii) The organisation should also post the online bid‐submission complete bidding document in its web site and before the bid‐submission Procedures of the concerned Buyer permit prospective bidders to make use of the deadline. In the latter document downloaded from the web site. If such case, provision should be organization can be a downloaded bidding document is priced, there there to take the offline carried out. should be clear instructions for the bidder to pay payment on record during the amount by demand draft etc. along with the the Public TOE. bid. (iv) Where the Ministry or Department feels that In addition, the the goods of the required quality, specifications concerned Buyer etc., may not be available in the country and it is organization should have necessary to also look for suitable competitive Procurement Policy & offers from abroad, the Ministry or Department Procedures to implement may send copies of the tender notice to the the other requirements Indian embassies abroad as well as to the foreign embassies in India. The selection of the embassies will depend on the possibility of availability of the required goods in such countries. (v) Ordinarily, the minimum time to be allowed for submission of bids should be three weeks from the date of publication of the tender notice or availability of the bidding document for sale, whichever is later. Where the department also contemplates obtaining bids from abroad, the minimum period should be kept as four weeks for (i) Advertised Tender Enquiry; (ii) Limited Tender Enquiry; (iii) Single Tender Enquiry.
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both domestic and foreign bidders. 151 Limited tender enquiry: e‐procurement System Functionality (i) This method may be adopted when estimated should have functionality Verification/Testing value of the goods to be procured is up to Rupees for inviting Limited of related Twenty‐five Lakhs. Copies of the bidding Tenders (Domestic, as ‘features’ and document should be sent directly by speed post/ well as, Global) with all ‘explanations’ registered post/courier/ e‐mail to firms which are related features such as ‐‐ given by the e‐ borne on the list of registered suppliers for the creating and managing procurement/ e‐ tendering goods in question as referred under Rule 142 Tender Notices, Corrigenda, Tender software/ service above. provider against The number of supplier firms in Limited Tender Documents, Addenda, Enquiry should be more than three. Further, web sending Invitation Letters, relevant sections and points of based publicity should be given for limited etc. Relevant Supplier tenders. Efforts should be made to identify a organizations registered Annexure‐I. higher number of approved suppliers to obtain by the Buyer under Rule 142 should be sent In addition, audit of more responsive bids on competitive basis. the Procurement (ii) Purchase through Limited Tender Enquiry may Invitation Letters. be adopted even where the estimated value of For web‐publicity Tender Policy & the procurement is more than Rupees twenty five Notices of such Limited Procedures of the Lakhs, in the following circumstances. Tenders (or Short‐Term concerned Buyer (a) The competent authority in the Ministry or tenders) should be posted organization can be carried out. Department certifies that the demand is urgent on the e‐procurement and any additional expenditure involved by not website for general procuring through advertised tender enquiry is publicity. This is also a justified in view of urgency. The Ministry or CVC requirement. Department should also put on record the nature of the urgency and reasons why the procurement In addition, the concerned Buyer could not be anticipated. (b) There are sufficient reasons, to be recorded in organization should have writing by the competent authority, indicating Procurement Policy & that it will not be in public interest to procure the Procedures to implement the other requirements goods through advertised tender enquiry. (c) The sources of supply are definitely known and possibility of fresh source(s) beyond those being tapped is remote. (iii) Sufficient time should be allowed for submission of bids in Limited Tender Enquiry cases. 152 Two bid system: Functionality e‐procurement System For purchasing high value plant, machinery etc. of should have functionality Verification/Testing a complex and technical nature, bids may be for inviting ‘Single Stage of related obtained in two parts as under :‐ Two Envelope’ tenders or ‘features’ and (a) Technical bid consisting of all technical details Two‐Stage tenders (as ‘explanations’ alongwith commercial terms and conditions; and mentioned in CVC given by the e‐ (b) Financial bid indicating item‐wise price for the guidelines), with secure procurement/ e‐ items mentioned in the technical bid. methodology for sealing tendering The technical bid and the financial bid should be bids (ie data encryption of software/ service provider against sealed by the bidder in separate covers duly both the ‘Technical’, as relevant sections superscribed and both these sealed covers are to well as, ‘Financial’ bid and points of be put in a bigger cover which should also be parts by the bidder Annexure‐I. sealed and duly superscribed. The technical bids himself before bid‐ are to be opened by the purchasing Ministry or submission. In addition,
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Department at the first instance and evaluated by there should be a competent committee or authority. At the functionality for opening second stage financial bids of only the technically only the technical bids acceptable offers should be opened for further first; functionality for evaluation and ranking before awarding the creating a short‐list of contract. technically responsive bidders; functionality for a second tender opening event for opening the financial bids of the technically responsive bidders e‐procurement System 153 Late bids: In the case of advertised tender enquiry or should have functionality limited tender enquiry, late bids (i.e. bids for ‘Not Accepting Late received after the specified date and time for Bids’ receipt of bids) should not be considered. e‐procurement System 154 Single tender enquiry: Procurement from a single source may be should have functionality resorted to in the following circumstances: for inviting bid from only (i) It is in the knowledge of the user department one specified Supplier that only a particular firm is the manufacturer of organization with all the required goods. features applicable for (ii) In a case of emergency, the required goods are Limited Tenders as necessarily to be purchased from a particular highlighted above. source and the reason for such decision is to be recorded and approval of competent authority In addition, the concerned Buyer obtained. (iii) For standardisation of machinery or spare organization should have parts to be compatible to the existing sets of Procurement Policy & equipment (on the advice of a competent Procedures to implement technical expert and approved by the competent the other requirements authority), the required item is to be purchased only from a selected firm. Note: Proprietary Article Certificate in the following form is to be provided by the Ministry / Department before procuring the goods from a single source under the provision of sub Rule 154 (i) and 154 (iii) as applicable. (i) The indented goods are manufactured by M/s……..……………….. (ii) No other make or model is acceptable for the following reasons: ………………………. (iii) Concurrence of finance wing to the proposal vide: ……………….. (iv) Approval of the competent authority vide: ……………………… ________________________ (Signature with date and designation of the procuring officer)' 155 Contents of bidding document: e‐procurement System All the terms, conditions, stipulations and should have functionality

Functionality Verification/Testing

Functionality Verification/Testing In addition, audit of the Procurement Policy & Procedures of the concerned Buyer organization can be carried out.

Functionality Verification/Testing
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for – General Terms and Conditions, Special Terms In addition, audit of and Conditions, Detailed the Procurement Tender Documents and Policy & Procedures of the Electronic Form (for Technical details) and concerned Buyer Electronic Form (for organization can be Financial details). carried out. In addition, the concerned Buyer organization should have Procurement Policy & Procedures to implement the other requirements Functionality e‐procurement System 156 Maintenance contract: Depending on the cost and nature of the goods to should have functionality Verification/Testing be purchased, it may also be necessary to enter for inviting bids for such into maintenance contract(s) of suitable period Maintenance contracts. In addition, audit of the Procurement either with the supplier of the goods or with any Policy & other competent firm, not necessarily the In addition, the Procedures of the supplier of the subject goods. Such maintenance concerned Buyer contracts are especially needed for sophisticated organization should have concerned Buyer and costly equipment and machinery. It may Procurement Policy & organization can be however be kept in mind that the equipment or Procedures to implement carried out. machinery is maintained free of charge by the the other requirements supplier during its warranty period or such other extended periods as the contract terms may provide and the paid maintenance should commence only thereafter. Functionality 157 Bid security: e‐procurement System (i) To safeguard against a bidder’s withdrawing or should have functionality Verification/Testing altering its bid during the bid validity period in the for payment of Bid In addition, audit of case of advertised or limited tender enquiry, Bid Security (ie Earnest the Procurement Security (also known as Earnest Money) is to be Money Deposit) as per obtained from the bidders except those who are instructions of the Buyer, Policy & registered with the Central Purchase either online at the time Procedures of the Organisation, National Small Industries of online bid‐submission concerned Buyer Corporation (NSIC) or the concerned Ministry or (subject to the payment organization can be Department. The bidders should be asked to limits of the Payment carried out. furnish bid security along with their bids. Amount Gateway), or payable of bid security should ordinarily range between offline parallel to the two percent to five percent of the estimated online bid‐submission value of the goods to be procured. The exact before the bid‐submission amount of bid security should be determined deadline. In the latter accordingly by the Ministry or Department and case, provision should be indicated in the bidding documents. The bid there to take the offline security may be accepted in the form of Account payment on record during Payee Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt, the Public TOE. Banker's Cheque or Bank Guarantee from any of the commercial banks in an acceptable form, In addition, the safeguarding the purchaser's interest in all concerned Buyer information to be incorporated in the bidding document are to be shown in the appropriate chapters as below: Chapter–1: Instructions to Bidders. Chapter–2: Conditions of Contract. Chapter–3: Schedule of Requirements. Chapter–4: Specifications and allied Technical Details. Chapter–5: Price Schedule (to be utilised by the bidders for quoting their prices). Chapter–6: Contract Form. Chapter–7: Other Standard Forms, if any, to be utilised by the purchaser and the bidders.
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respects. The bid security is normally to remain organization should have valid for a period of forty‐five days beyond the Procurement Policy & final bid validity period. Procedures to implement (ii) Bid securities of the unsuccessful bidders the other requirements should be returned to them at the earliest after expiry of the final bid validity and latest on or before the 30th day after the award of the contract. e‐procurement System 158 Performance security: (i) To ensure due performance of the contract, should have functionality Performance Security is to be obtained from the for recording important successful bidder awarded the contract. milestones of Contract Performance Security is to be obtained from Execution which would every successful bidder irrespective of its include submission of registration status etc. Performance Security Performance Security by should be for an amount of five to ten per cent. of the successful bidder(s) the value of the contract. Performance Security may be furnished in the form of an Account payee In addition, the Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt from a concerned Buyer Commercial bank, Bank Guarantee from a organization should have Commercial bank in an acceptable form Procurement Policy & safeguarding the purchasers’ interest in all Procedures to implement the other requirements respects. (ii) Performance Security should remain valid for a period of sixty days beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations of the supplier including warranty obligations. (iii) Bid security should be refunded to the successful bidder on receipt of Performance Security. 159 (1) Advance payment to supplier: Ordinarily, e‐procurement System payments for services rendered or supplies made should have functionality should be released only after the services have for recording important been rendered or supplies made. However, it may milestones of Contract become necessary to make advance payments in Execution which would the following types of cases: include Advance (i) Advance payment demanded by firms holding Payments and other maintenance contracts for servicing of Air‐ payments made to the conditioners, computers, other costly equipment, successful bidder(s)/ suppliers. etc. (ii) Advance payment demanded by firms against In addition, the fabrication contracts, turn‐key contracts etc. Such advance payments should not exceed the concerned Buyer organization should have following limits: (i) Thirty per cent. of the contract value to private Procurement Policy & Procedures to implement firms; (ii) Forty per cent. of the contract value to a State the other requirements or Central Government agency or a Public Sector Undertaking; or (iii) In case of maintenance contract, the amount should not exceed the amount payable for six months under the contract.

Functionality Verification/Testing In addition, audit of the Procurement Policy & Procedures of the concerned Buyer organization can be carried out.

Functionality Verification/Testing In addition, audit of the Procurement Policy & Procedures of the concerned Buyer organization can be carried out.

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Ministries or Departments of the Central Government may relax, in consultation with their Financial Advisers concerned, the ceilings (including percentage laid down for advance payment for private firms) mentioned above. While making any advance payment as above, adequate safeguards in the form of bank guarantee etc. should be obtained from the firm. (2) Part payment to suppliers: Depending on the terms of delivery incorporated in a contract, part payment to the supplier may be released after it dispatches the goods from its premises in terms of the contract. 160 Transparency, competition, fairness and e‐procurement System Functionality elimination of arbitrariness in the procurement should have functionality Verification/Testing process: to ensure transparency, All government purchases should be made in a accountability, fairness In addition, Audit transparent, competitive and fair manner, to and elimination of of the Procurement secure best value for money. This will also enable arbitrariness in the Policy & the prospective bidders to formulate and send procurement process. Procedures of the their competitive bids with confidence. Some of This should be ensured by concerned Buyer the measures for ensuring the above are as e‐procurement system organization can be strictly and satisfactorily carried out. follows: (i) The text of the bidding document should be addressing the various self‐contained and comprehensive without any issues especially outlined ambiguities. All essential information, which a in Annexure‐I of these bidder needs for sending responsive bid, should Guidelines. Specifically for be clearly spelt out in the bidding document in fairness it must be simple language. The bidding document should ensured that the e‐ contain, inter alia; procurement system (a) The criteria for eligibility and qualifications supports all legitimate to be met by the bidders such as minimum processes and level of experience, past performance, methodologies for technical capability, manufacturing facilities inviting bids in a and financial position etc.; transparent manner, and (b) Eligibility criteria for goods indicating any under no circumstances legal restrictions or conditions about the origin should the confidentiality of goods etc. which may be required to be met of the bid be compromised before the by the successful bidder; (c) The procedure as well as date, time and Online Public Tender Opening Event. place for sending the bids; (d) Date, time and place of opening of the bid; Importantly, a properly conducted Public Tender (e) Terms of delivery; Opening Event is the (f) Special terms affecting performance, if any. (ii) Suitable provision should be kept in the backbone of transparency bidding document to enable a bidder to question in public procurement. the bidding conditions, bidding process and/ or The e‐procurement rejection of its bid. system must have a very (iii) Suitable provision for settlement of disputes, transparent and if any, emanating from the resultant contract, comprehensive Online should be kept in the bidding document. Public Tender Opening (iv) The bidding document should indicate clearly Event with simultaneous
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that the resultant contract will be interpreted online presence of under Indian Laws. authorized (v) The bidders should be given reasonable time representatives of to send their bids. bidders, and to eliminate (vi) The bids should be opened in public and arbitrariness each opened authorised representatives of the bidders should bid should be be permitted to attend the bid opening. countersigned by the (vii) The specifications of the required goods TOE‐officers in the should be clearly stated without any ambiguity so simultaneous online that the prospective bidders can send meaningful presence of the bids. In order to attract sufficient number of authorized bidders. bidders, the specification should be broad based to the extent feasible. Efforts should also be In addition, authorized made to use standard specifications which are representatives of bidders may also be widely known to the industry. (viii) Pre‐bid conference: In case of turn‐key present offline during a contract(s) or contract(s) of special nature for TOE. However, to procurement of sophisticated and costly eliminate any equipment, a suitable provision is to be kept in arbitrariness and any the bidding documents for a pre‐bid conference doubt about tampering, for clarifying issues and clearing doubts, if any, the simultaneous online about the specifications and other allied technical presence of bidders details of the plant, equipment and machinery during TOE is important. projected in the bidding document. The date, Bidders may have doubts time and place of pre‐bid conference should be about the transparency of indicated in the bidding document. This date the process if the bids are should be sufficiently ahead of bid opening date. opened by the Buyer (ix) Criteria for determining responsiveness of independently in the bids, criteria as well as factors to be taken into backend (ie without the account for evaluating the bids on a common simultaneous online platform and the criteria for awarding the presence of bidders), and contract to the responsive lowest bidder should then subsequently be clearly indicated in the bidding documents. displayed to the bidders. (x) Bids received should be evaluated in terms of For comparison, this the conditions already incorporated in the would tantamount to bids bidding documents; no new condition which was being opened by the not incorporated in the bidding documents Buyer in another room should be brought in for evaluation of the bids. (where the bidders are Determination of a bid's responsiveness should not present), and then be based on the contents of the bid itself without brought to a second room where the bidders are recourse to extrinsic evidence. (xi) Bidders should not be permitted to alter or waiting. This is obviously modify their bids after expiry of the deadline for not a transparent public receipt of bids. opening, and so it is not (xii) Negotiation with bidders after bid opening acceptable. must be severely discouraged. However, in exceptional circumstances where price Furthermore, e‐ negotiation against an ad‐hoc procurement is procurement system necessary due to some unavoidable should allow submission circumstances, the same may be resorted to only of Modification/ with the lowest evaluated responsive bidder. Substitution/ Withdrawal (xiii) In the rate contract system, where a number of bids only till the bid‐
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of firms are brought on rate contract for the same submission deadline. item, negotiation as well as counter offering of rates are permitted with the bidders in view and To further eliminate for this purpose special permission has been arbitrariness, the e‐ given to the Directorate General of Supplies and procurement system Disposals (DGS&D). should have (xiv) Contract should ordinarily be awarded to the comprehensive lowest evaluated bidder whose bid has been electronic‐forms for found to be responsive and who is eligible and capturing specific data qualified to perform the contract satisfactorily as requirements of each per the terms and conditions incorporated in the tender, and detailed corresponding bidding document. However, response from each where the lowest acceptable bidder against ad‐ bidder to General Terms hoc requirement is not in a position to supply the & Conditions (GTC) and full quantity required, the remaining quantity, as Special Terms & far as possible, be ordered from the next higher Conditions (STC). responsive bidder at the rates offered by the Where required, lowest responsive bidder. (xv) The name of the successful bidder awarded functionality of the e‐ the contract should be mentioned in the procurement system Ministries or Departments notice board or should be supplemented with Procurement Policy bulletin or web site & Procedures internal to the Buyer organization. 161 Efficiency, Economy and Accountability in public For accountability, e‐ procurement system: procurement system Public procurement procedure is also to ensure should have a efficiency, economy and accountability in the comprehensive Hierarchy system. To achieve the same, the following keys and Role Authorization of areas should be addressed: officers with detailed (i) To reduce delay, appropriate time frame for Audit Trails as outlined in each stage of procurement should be prescribed Annexure‐I of these by the Ministry or Department. Such a time frame Guidelines. will also make the concerned purchase officials Where required, more alert. (ii) To minimise the time needed for decision functionality of the e‐ making and placement of contract, every procurement system Ministry/ Department, with the approval of the should be supplemented competent authority, may delegate, wherever with Procurement Policy necessary, appropriate purchasing powers to the & Procedures internal to lower functionaries. the Buyer organization. (iii) The Ministries or Departments should ensure placement of contract within the original validity of the bids. Extension of bid validity must be discouraged and resorted to only in exceptional circumstances. (iv) The Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) should bring into the rate contract system more and more common user items which are frequently needed in bulk by various Central Government departments. The Central Purchase Organisation (e.g. DGS&D) should also ensure

Functionality Verification/Testing In addition, Audit of the Procurement Policy & Procedures of the concerned Buyer organization can be carried out.

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162

163

164

165

166

167

that the rate contracts remain available without any break. e‐procurement System Buy‐back offer: When it is decided with the approval of the should have functionality competent authority to replace an existing old where ‘Buy Back Price’ item(s) with a new and better version, the should also be captured department may trade the existing old item while in the Financial‐Bid and purchasing the new one. For this purpose, a provision should be there suitable clause is to be incorporated in the for ‘Net Procurement bidding document so that the prospective and Price’ after taking into interested bidders formulate their bids account the ‘Buy Back accordingly. Depending on the value and Price’ condition of the old item to be traded, the time as well as the mode of handing over the old item to the successful bidder should be decided and relevant details in this regard suitably incorporated in the bidding document. Further, suitable provision should also be kept in the bidding document to enable the purchaser either to trade or not to trade the item while purchasing the new one. B) Procurement of Services Rule 163 to 177 The Ministries or Departments may hire external Procurement Policy & professionals, consultancy firms or consultants Procedures internal to the for a specific job, which is well defined in terms Buyer organization of content and time frame for its completion or Note: Generally no specific outsource certain services. requirements for e‐ procurement. This chapter contains the fundamental principles ‐ applicable to all Ministries or Departments regarding engagement of consultant(s) and outsourcing of services. Identification of Work/ Services required to be e‐procurement System should functionality for performed by Consultants: Engagement of consultants may be resorted to obtaining approval of an in situations requiring high quality services for Indent or Requisition Note which the concerned Ministry/ Department does for engagement of not have requisite expertise. Approval of the consultants with provision competent authority should be obtained before for recording relevant engaging consultant(s). justification. Preparation of scope of the required work/ e‐procurement System service: should functionality for The Ministries/ Departments should prepare in obtaining approval of an simple and concise language the requirement, Indent or Requisition Note objectives and the scope of the assignment. The for engagement of eligibility and pre‐qualification criteria to be met consultants with provision by the consultants should also be clearly for recording relevant identified at this stage. justification. Estimating reasonable expenditure: e‐procurement System Ministry or Department proposing to engage should functionality for

Functionality Verification/Testing

Process Audit

‐

Functionality Verification/Testing

Functionality Verification/Testing

Functionality Verification/Testing
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consultant(s) should estimate reasonable obtaining approval of an expenditure for the same by ascertaining the Indent or Requisition Note prevalent market conditions and consulting for engagement of other organisations engaged in similar activities. consultants with provision for recording relevant justification with estimated expenditure. e‐procurement System Functionality 168 Identification of likely sources: (i) Where the estimated cost of the work or should have functionality Verification/Testing service is upto Rupees twenty‐five lakhs, for inviting ‘Expression of of related ‘features’ and preparation of a long list of potential consultants Interest (EOI)’ through may be done on the basis of formal or informal Limited or Open Invitation, ‘explanations’ enquiries from other Ministries or Departments with other functionality as given by the e‐ or Organisations involved in similar activities, applicable for Limited and procurement/ e‐ Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Association Open Tenders. This could tendering software/ service be done through first of consultancy firms etc. provider against (ii) Where the estimated cost of the work or Inviting Applications for service is above Rupees twenty‐five lakhs, in Pre‐qualification followed relevant sections and points of addition to (i) above, an enquiry for seeking by Bidding, or directly ‘Expression of Interest’ from consultants should inviting Bids in one or two Annexure‐I. be published in at least one national daily and envelopes. In addition, Audit the Ministry's web site. The web site address of the Procurement should also be given in the advertisements. Where required, Policy & Enquiry for seeking Expression of Interest should functionality of the e‐ include in brief, the broad scope of work or procurement system Procedures of the service, inputs to be provided by the Ministry or should be supplemented concerned Buyer Department, eligibility and the pre‐qualification with Procurement Policy & organization can be criteria to be met by the consultant(s) and Procedures internal to the carried out. consultant’s past experience in similar work or Buyer organization. service. The consultants may also be asked to send their comments on the objectives and scope of the work or service projected in the enquiry. Adequate time should be allowed for getting responses from interested consultants Functionality e‐procurement System 169 Short listing of consultants: On the basis of responses received from the should have functionality Verification/Testing interested parties as per Rule 168 above, for short listing consultants consultants meeting the requirements should be who have been found to In addition, Audit of the Procurement short listed for further consideration. The be eligible after the first number of short listed consultants should not be round/ pre‐qualification. Policy & Procedures of the less than three. concerned Buyer Where required, functionality of the e‐ organization can be procurement system carried out. should be supplemented with Procurement Policy & Procedures internal to the Buyer organization. Functionality e‐procurement System 170 Preparation of Terms of Reference (TOR): should have functionality Verification/Testing The TOR should include: for including in the 1. Precise statement of objectives; Request for Proposal (RFP) 2. Outline of the tasks to be carried out;
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documents, the detailed 3. Schedule for completion of tasks; 4. The support or inputs to be provided by the Terms of Reference (TOR) Ministry or Department to facilitate the consultancy; 5. The final outputs that will be required of the Consultant. Functionality 171 Preparation and issue of Request for Proposal e‐procurement System should have functionality Verification/Testing (RFP): of related RFP is the document to be used by the Ministry/ for creating detailed Department for obtaining offers from the Request for Proposal (RFP) ‘features’ and consultants for the required work/ service. The and posting this on the e‐ ‘explanations’ given by the e‐ RFP should be issued to the shortlisted procurement system procurement/ e‐ consultants to seek their technical and financial website with allied tendering functionality for proposals. Corrigenda and Addenda software/ service The RFP should contain: to RFP. The functionality provider against 1. A letter of Invitation relevant sections 2. Information to Consultants regarding the should also include and points of creation of Electronic procedure for submission of proposal Forms to capture precise Annexure‐I. 3. Terms of Reference (TOR) 4. Eligibility and pre‐qualification criteria in data in the application/ bid In addition, Audit case the same has not been ascertained submitted by each of the Procurement through Enquiry for Expression of Interest consultant. Policy & (EOI) 5. List of key position whose CV and experience Where required, Procedures of the functionality of the e‐ concerned Buyer would be evaluated organization can be 6. Bid evaluation criteria and selection procurement system procedure should be supplemented carried out. 7. Standard formats for technical and financial with Procurement Policy & proposal Procedures internal to the 8. Proposed contract terms Buyer organization. 9. Procedure proposed to be followed for midterm review of the progress of the work and review of the final draft report Functionality 172 Receipt and opening of proposals: e‐procurement System Proposals should ordinarily be asked for from should have functionality Verification/Testing consultants in ‘Two‐bid’ system with technical for inviting ‘Single Stage of related and financial bids sealed separately. The bidder Two Envelope’ tenders, or ‘features’ and should put these two sealed envelopes in a Two‐Stage tenders (as ‘explanations’ bigger envelop duly sealed and submit the same mentioned in CVC given by the e‐ to the Ministry or Department by the specified guidelines), with secure procurement/ e‐ tendering date and time at the specified place. On receipt, methodology for sealing the technical proposals should be opened first bids (ie data encryption of software/ service provider against by the Ministry or Department at the specified both the ‘Technical’, as date, time and place. well as, ‘Financial’ bid parts relevant sections and points of by the bidder himself before bid‐submission. In Annexure‐I. addition, there should be functionality for opening only the technical bids first; functionality for creating a short‐list of technically responsive
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173

174

175

176

177

bidders; functionality for a second tender opening event for opening the financial bids of the technically responsive bidders Late bids: e‐procurement System Late bids i.e. bids received after the specified should have functionality date and time of receipt should not be for ‘Not Accepting Late considered. Bids’ In the e‐procurement Evaluation of technical bids: Technical bids should be analysed and evaluated System after the TOE in by a Consultancy Evaluation Committee (CEC) which the Technical‐Bids constituted by the Ministry or Department. The are opened, functionality CEC shall record in detail the reasons for should exist for members acceptance or rejection of the technical of Consultancy Evaluation proposals analysed and evaluated by it. Committee (CEC) to access the Technical‐Bids for evaluation with provision to record recommendations. Evaluation of financial bids of the technically In the e‐procurement System after the TOE in qualified bidders: The Ministry or Department shall open the which the Financial‐Bids of financial bids of only those bidders who have the technically qualified been declared technically qualified by the bidders are opened, functionality should exist Consultancy Evaluation 69 Committee as per Rule 174 above for further for members of analysis or evaluation and ranking and selecting Consultancy Evaluation the successful bidder for placement of the Committee (CEC) to access the Financial‐Bids for consultancy contract. evaluation with provision to record recommendations. Consultancy by nomination: Procurement Policy & Under some special circumstances, it may Procedures internal to the become necessary to select a particular Buyer organization consultant where adequate justification is available for such single‐source selection in the Note: Generally no specific context of the overall interest of the Ministry or requirements for e‐ Department. Full justification for single source procurement. selection should be recorded in the file and approval of the competent authority obtained before resorting to such single‐source selection. e‐procurement System Monitoring the contract: The Ministry/ Department should be involved should have functionality throughout in the conduct of consultancy, for monitoring preferably by taking a task force approach and performance of a continuously monitoring the performance of the consultant, which would consultant(s) so that the output of the include recording of consultancy is in line with the Ministry important parameters/

Functionality Verification/ Testing Functionality Verification/ Testing

Functionality Verification/ Testing

Process Audit

Functionality Verification/Testing In addition, audit of the Procurement Policy & Procedures of the
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/Department’s objectives.

concerned Buyer mile‐stones relating the consultant’s performance. organization can be carried out. In addition, the concerned Buyer organization should have Procurement Policy & Procedures to implement the other requirements

C) Outsourcing of Services: Rule 178 to 185 Procurement Policy & Process 178 Outsourcing of Services: A Ministry or Department may outsource certain Procedures internal to the Audit services in the interest of economy and Buyer organization efficiency and it may prescribe detailed instructions and procedures for this purpose Note: Generally no without, however, contravening the following specific requirements for basic guidelines. e‐procurement. Functionality e‐procurement System 179 Identification of likely contractors: The Ministry or Department should prepare a list should have functionality Verification/Testing of likely and potential contractors on the basis of for creating Classified Lists formal or informal enquiries from other of likely and potential Ministries or Departments and Organisations contractors. Also involved in similar activities, scrutiny of ‘Yellow functionality should exist pages’, and trade journals, if available, web site for a Buyer organization etc. to Create/ Manage Contractor organizations under different Heads and Grades Functionality e‐procurement System 180 Preparation of Tender enquiry: Ministry or Department should prepare a tender should have functionality Verification/Testing for creating and managing of related ‘features’ enquiry containing, inter alia : and ‘explanations’ (i) The details of the work or service to be Tender Notices, given by the e‐ Corrigenda, Tender performed by the contractor; procurement/ e‐ (ii) The facilities and the inputs which will be Documents, Addenda; provided to the contractor by the Ministry or floating Open Tenders, as tendering software/ Department; well as, Limited Tenders; service provider (iii) Eligibility and qualification criteria to be met and functionality for other against relevant sections and points by the contractor for performing the required associated processes of Annexure‐I work / service; and (iv) The statutory and contractual obligations to In addition, the concerned be complied with by the contractor. Buyer organization should In addition, Audit of have Procurement Policy the Procurement & Procedures to Policy & Procedures implement the other of the concerned requirements Buyer organization can be carried out. e‐procurement System Functionality 181 Invitation of Bids: (a) For estimated value of the work or service should have functionality Verification/Testing for creating and managing of related ‘features’ upto Rupees ten lakhs or less: and ‘explanations’ The Ministry or Department should scrutinise Tender Notices, given by the e‐ the preliminary list of likely contractors as Corrigenda, Tender procurement/ e‐ identified as per Rule 179 above, decide the Documents, Addenda;
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183

184

185

prima facie eligible and capable contractors and floating Open Tenders, as tendering software/ issue limited tender enquiry to them asking for well as, Limited Tenders; service provider their offers by a specified date and time etc. as and functionality for other against relevant sections and points per standard practice. The number of the associated processes of Annexure‐I contractors so identified for issuing limited tender enquiry should not be less than six. In addition, the concerned (b) For estimated value of the work or service Buyer organization should In addition, Audit of have Procurement Policy the Procurement above Rupees ten lakhs: Policy & Procedures The Ministry or Department should issue & Procedures to of the concerned advertised tender enquiry asking for the offers implement the other by a specified date and time etc. in at least one requirements Buyer organization popular largely circulated national newspaper can be carried out. and web site of the Ministry or Department. Functionality e‐procurement System Late Bids: Late bids i.e. bids received after the specified should have functionality Verification/Testing date and time of receipt should not be for ‘Not Accepting Late Bids’ considered. In the e‐procurement Evaluation of Bids Received: Functionality The Ministry or Department should evaluate, System after the TOE in Verification/ Testing segregate, rank the responsive bids and select which the Bids are the successful bidder for placement of the opened, functionality should exist for members contract. of the Evaluation Committee (EC) to access the Bids for evaluation with provision to record recommendations. Testing & Audit Procurement Policy & Outsourcing by Choice: Should it become necessary, in an exceptional Procedures internal to the situation to outsource a job to a specifically Buyer organization chosen contractor, the Competent Authority in the Ministry or Department may do so in Note: Generally no consultation with the Financial Adviser. In such specific requirements for cases the detailed justification, the e‐procurement. circumstances leading to the outsourcing by choice and the special interest or purpose it shall serve shall form an integral part of the proposal. e‐procurement System Functionality Monitoring the Contract: The Ministry or Department should be involved should have functionality Verification/Testing throughout in the conduct of the contract and for recording important In addition, audit of continuously monitor the performance of the milestones of Contract Execution. the Procurement contractor. Policy & Procedures In addition, the concerned of the concerned Buyer organization should Buyer organization have Procurement Policy can be carried out. & Procedures to implement the other requirements

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Annexure‐IV ‐ Checklist for Compliance with IT ACT (IT ACT 2000 and Amendment 2008) Sl. Issues to be Checked IT ACT Means of Checking No. Reference 1 Electronic Signature Implementation: 3, 3A, 5, 6, Verification of i) ESC (Electronic Signature Certificate) used for 15, 42, Ch‐ Implementation/ the e‐Procurement System by the users are VI; Functionality and Issued by CC(Certifying Authority) recognized Sch‐2, 13 the ESC used. by Govt. of India CCA(Controller of Certifying Authority). ii) The private key or the signature creation data should not be stored in the e‐Procurement System or kept under the control of the e‐ Procurement Service Provider. iii) By the use of a public key of the subscriber/ signer, it should be possible to verify the electronic record. This may be read in conjunction with Sch‐2, 13 85B(2)(b) “except in the case of a secure electronic record or a secure digital signature, nothing in this section shall create any presumption relating to authenticity and integrity of the electronic record or any digital signature”. (Explanation: This implies that important electronic records of an e‐procurement application, like – Tender Notice, Corrigenda, Tender Documents, Addenda, Clarifications to Tender Documents, Bids, etc should not only be electronically signed, there should also be provision in the e‐procurement application to verify the electronic signatures). iv) Every subscriber shall exercise reasonable care to retain control of the private key corresponding to the public key listed in his Digital Signature Certificate and take all steps to prevent its disclosure (Explanation: There should be no limitation in the functionality of the e‐procurement system which may necessitate for the tendering processes to continue uninterrupted that the private key of any officer be handed over to anybody else (who may be absent or unavailable), or where a private key is shared by multiple users due to any reason such as – absence of detailed hierarchy within a user organization, or multiple users of a group using a common key. v) Similarly, functionality of the e‐procurement system should cover other aspects outlined in various sections (specified in the adjacent
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2

3

4

column) of the IT Act. Electronic Document & Record Control: Suitable controls are established for electronic documents /records generated, processed, stored, disposed of by the e‐Procurement System to comply i) The information contained in e‐ Documents/e‐Records remains accessible/usable for subsequent reference; ii) The e‐Records are retained in the original format, it was generated, to accurately demonstrate how it was generated/sent/received. iii) The e‐Records should be maintained with identification of origin, destination, date and time of dispatch or receipt. iv) The retention period of the e‐Records should be compliant with the legal and contractual requirements. Data Protection: i) Adequate and reasonable security practices and procedures are in place to protect confidentiality and integrity of the users data and credentials ii) The e‐procurement system has to satisfactorily address the above) through suitable functionality built into the e‐ procurement application. Where, in addition, some issues are being further addressed through organizational procedures, these should be explicitly defined with satisfactory explanations. The reasonable security practices and procedures followed should be documented in line with the international standard ISO/IEC 27001. Due diligence exercise: i) The Service Provider shall publish the terms and conditions of use of its e‐Procurement System, user agreement, privacy policy etc. ii) The Service Provider shall notify users not to use, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update, share or store any information that: (a) belongs to another person; (b) is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, blasphemous, objectionable, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, pedophilic, libelous,

7

Verification of policies, procedures, mechanisms and relevant records, and functionality of the e‐procurement system.

43A, Draft rule under Section 43A

Verification of policies, procedures, mechanisms and relevant records, and functionality of the e‐procurement system. (Some checks are covered in Annexure‐I, II and III)

79, Draft rule under Section 79

Verification of the terms and conditions of use of the e‐Procurement System, user agreement, privacy policy, and other notifications as mentioned.

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iii)

iv)

v)

invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever; (c) harm minors in any way; (d) infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights; (e) violates any law for the time being in force; (f) discloses sensitive personal information of other person or to which the user does not have any right to; (g) causes annoyance or inconvenience or deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of such messages or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature; (h) impersonate another person; (i) contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource; (j) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation. The Service Provider shall not itself host or publish or edit or store any information or shall not initiate the transmission, select the receiver of transmission, and select or modify the information contained in the transmission as specified in (ii) above. The Service Provider shall inform its users that in case of non‐compliance with terms of use of the services and privacy policy provided by the Service Provider, it has the right to immediately terminate the access rights of the users to the e‐Procurement System. The Service Provider shall publish on the e‐ Procurement website about the designated agent to receive notification of claimed infringements.

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Reference Documents

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Reference Document – 1 eTendering Processes e‐tendering portal  an e‐tendering portal, or an e‐tendering website, refers to an internet‐based portal on which an e‐tendering application software is hosted in a secure manner. One or more Government organizations register on the portal (as Buyer organizations). Various vendors also register on the portal (as Supplier organizations). A Buyer organization floats (i.e. invites) a tender on the portal, and Supplier organizations respond to such tenders. Depending on the functionality offered by an e‐tendering portal, all the tendering related activities, from ‘Indent Management (or Requisition Management)’ to ‘Award of Contract’ can be carried out ‘Online’ over the Internet by a Buyer organization, and related activities by Supplier organizations. Non‐negotiable founding principles of Public Procurement like transparency, encouraging competitiveness and fair treatment to all etc.  Switchover from manual system of tendering to electronic tendering or e‐tendering is major change. Some ‘process re‐engineering’ (i.e. change or improvement in the methodology of conducting various activities) becomes inevitable when changeover is made to a new technology, or a new method of working is adopted. However, while switching over to e‐tendering, no compromise should be made by the Government organization on `Security and Transparency’ related aspects of the Government Tendering Policy and Rules on the pretext of re‐engineering.  While switching over to e‐tendering, a Government organization (in the role of a Buyer) which urges its Suppliers/Vendors to changeover to e‐tendering, should ensure that the e‐tendering portal also takes care of the Supplier organizations needs for security and transparency, and that suppliers are given reasonable time to change‐over in a phased manner. core activities related to tendering  From a Buyer’s perspective, `core activities related to tendering’ refers to activities like‐ raising indents (or requisitions) for procuring some item or service, approving such requisitions, configuring the e‐tendering system to act as per that organisation’s tendering policy, creating a hierarchy of officers with specific authorizations to manage and control activities related to e‐tendering for various tenders, configuring the e‐ tendering system to act as per specific rules for a given tender, creating a list of bidders to be invited for a `limited tender’, creating a tender notice, approving a tender notice, authorizing issue of corrigenda , creating corrigenda, approving tender documents, authorizing issue of addenda, approving addenda, furnishing clarifications to tender documents, conducing online public tender opening event(s) and sharing salient points of each bid with all participating bidders, counter‐signing each opened bid during tender opening event, evaluating the bids which have been opened, creating a list of bidders for the next stage (where applicable). From a Supplier’s (or Vendor’s perspective), `core tendering activities’ or `core activities related to tendering’ refers to activities relating to responding to various tenders. These include‐creating a hierarchy of executives with specific authorizations to manage and control activities related to e‐tendering for various tenders, procuring tender documents for a tender, seeking clarifications to tender documents, preparing a bid in multiple parts(as required by the Buyer) and required), attending online public tender opening event(s).
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Operating Models for e‐Tendering A variety of `Operating Models’ have emerged through which e‐tendering services are currently being offered. Some prominent models are ‐ `Dedicated e‐Tendering Portals’ (also referred to as Captive e‐Tendering Portals), `Shared e‐Tendering Portals’ [ where services are offered in ASP (Application Service Provider) mode/SaaS (Software as a Service) mode, and different types of `Outsourcing Models’. Also, it is important to differentiate between the concepts of the portal. In view of the emphasis on Security and Transparency in Public‐Procurement, the acceptability of these models varies. Guidelines are as follows: A) (Dedicated e‐Tendering Portals)‐ where the Government organization wishing to do e‐tendering, owns and controls the portal infrastructure, and also controls all the core tendering activities carried out on the portal.  A Government organization wishing to set up a dedicated e‐tendering portal for its tendering requirements should float an `Open Tender’ for selecting a suitable vendor. It should not resort to by‐passing of the tendering process on the grounds, that as a Buyer organization it has been offered the service free of charge or at nominal charge, and only Suppliers or Vendors have to pay to the Service Provider or the Supplier of the e‐tendering software, as the case may be. In situations like this, as in the case of infrastructure projects, the total revenue which accrues to the Service provider of the e‐tendering portal should be considered, viz revenue from the Buyer organization(s), revenue from registration of Supplier organizations which will register on the portal at the behest of that Buyer organization, and any other sources of revenue. B) (Use of a Shared e‐Tendering Portal)‐ where the Government organization wishing to do e‐tendering controls all the core tendering activities of its organization carried out on the portal, but where ownership and control of the portal infrastructure is with the Service Provider.  A Government organization wishing to use an existing e‐tendering portal on shared basis for its tendering requirements may float a tender for the purpose of selecting a suitable Service Provider. In such situations, the nomination route may be used if both the following conditions are satisfied. i) The total annual revenue which accrues to the Service Provider from that Government organization and its Suppliers who register specifically at the behest of that Government organization is less than Rs. Five/ten lakhs a year. (Note: Limit to be defined by the appropriate Govt body keeping in view Finance Ministry’s current limit of Rs. Ten lakhs for consultancy service through the nomination route). For this purpose, revenue should include registration and portal usage charges of the Buyer organization, registration charges of supplier organizations which register at the behest of that buyer organization, and portal‐usage charges of the aforesaid supplier organizations specifically in respect of responding to tenders of that Buyer organization. ii) The arrangement of that Government organization with the Service Provider is on a `non‐exclusive’ basis.
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C)

(Outsourcing Model‐1): The Government organization outsources its tendering activities to a Service Provider. The control of all or most of the core tendering activities is in the hands of the Service Provider. The Service Provider also owns and controls the portal infrastructure.

(Outsourcing Model 2): The government organization procures and owns partially or fully the portal infrastructure, but does not manage it. Furthermore, the Government organization outsources the management and control of its tendering activities to a Service Provider. It is important to note that `Outsourcing’ as outlines above is substantively distinct from `Use of a Shared e‐Tendering Portal’ as outlined in (ii) B above. In case of the `Shared e‐Tendering Portal, the Government organization wishing to so e‐tendering controls all the core tendering activities of its organization carried out on the portal. In case of `outsourcing’ since `complete control is in the hands of a third party Service Provider’, number of `legal’ and `security’ related issues arise. Some of these issues are: i) `Tendering’ is a sensitive activity, where integrity and transparency of the procurement process is on paramount importance. Can such a sensitive activity be outsourced to a third party Service Provider (who in turn may be a public sector entity, or a private entity) where `complete control is in the hands of the third party Service Provider’? ii) In case of a Government organization, the officers authorized for `tendering’ are legally accountable under the official Secrets Act’. Certain Standards of propriety, integrity and confidentiality are expected of Government officers and Government departments. How will this be ensured from personnel of a third party private Service Provider, who would gain complete control of the tendering activities under the outsourcing‐contract? iii)  Access shall be provided to the general public for viewing `tendering opportunities’ (i.e. Tender Notices) posted on the e‐tendering portal for all `Open Tenders’, as well as `Limited Tenders’ (the exception in case of Limited Tenders is where due to reasons of national security it is expedient not to do so). Access shall imply‐viewing a Tender Notice, searching a Tender Notice with its reference number, or name of the Buyer organization. Access shall be provided to the general public for accessing any other `Public Information’ sections of the e‐tendering portal, such as – Information pertaining to forthcoming Tendering Opportunities, Information pertaining to `Award of Contracts i.e. Purchase Orders’. Guidelines pertaining Access to the e‐Tendering Portal:



iv) Guidelines pertaining use of Digital Signatures, IT Act 2000 and Phased Approach:  Any e‐tendering portal to be used by a Government organization must allow the users of the portal to use any one Digital Certificate (Digital Signature) issued by any Certifying Authority licensed by the CCA subject to other conditions of the Digital Certificate issuing authority.
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



 



The Digital Signature (i.e. Private Key) cannot be handed over by the owner of that key to any other person. (It has been observed that in some e‐tendering portals, the private digital keys of the authorized officers are handed over to the staff of the service provider, or the keys are freely exchanged amongst the users. This practice should be stopped forthwith). No technology should be forced on the users suddenly. A phased approach must be adopted. Specifically in case of e‐tendering, unless a large number of users are comfortable with use of Digital Signatures, there is no point forcing them to deal with more sophisticated features like online bid‐submission involving encryption of bids etc. (It has been observed that in some e‐tendering portals that the staff of the Service Provider have been encrypting bids on behalf of the bidders and conducting the Tender Opening Events on behalf of the authorized Government officers. All Digital Signature Certificates should be PKI based and issued by a Certifying Authority duly licensed by the CCA. Compliance with IT Act 2000: Vendors of e‐tendering portals, or‐ tendering software, should be specifically instructed to keep in view s‐ 42 (1), and s‐85B2(b) of the IT Act 2000 while giving a `confirmation of compliance with the IT Act 2000’. To avoid compromise of security (i.e. compromise of private key in this context), users of an e‐tendering portal should not obtain `pre‐ prepared’ digital certificates’ through the service provider or any other source. The digital certificate should be generated by the concerned user (i.e. the applicant of the digital certificate) himself, preferably on his own computer, and securely stored under a password

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Reference Document – 2 Electronic Tendering Glossary

Information Entity Definition Goods The supply of Goods with minimal Labour Invitation to Tender A request by procuring entity to contractors of commercial offer for the entity to appoint a contractor to execute the works Open Tender All interested suppliers may submit a tender Opening of tenders Tenders shall be opened under procedures and conditions guaranteeing the regularity of the openings Optional Contract Procuring entity identifies a tenderer who has suitable assets, repute and ability and then contracts with it as its discretion Registration A system to ensure that tenders are sought only from contracts whom the procuring entity has already established as having the requisite resources and experience to perform the intended work satisfactorily. Public Invitation An invitation to participate in intended procurement published by procuring entities. The notice shall be published in the appropriate publication Selective Tender Suppliers invited to do so by the procuring entity may submit a tender Services The supply of Services, mainly Intellectually based Labour Tender The letter of Tender and all other documents which the Contractor submitted with the Letter of Tender, as included in the Contract. Tender Documents Documents which should be issued by the procuring entity to those firms who have been selected to tender, or who wish to tender in case of an Open tender Tenderer Firm answering an invitation to tender Tender Result Procuring entity creates tender result notice, issues it to tenders Notice Contract Award Procuring entity publishes the contract award Publication Qualification Procuring entity verifies tender participation qualification of tenders Works The supply of Labour, Materials and associated Plant.

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 Reference Document – 3 OWASP(Open Web Application Security Project) Top 10 Application Security Risks‐2010

A1‐Injection Injection flaws, such as SQL, OS, and LDAP injection, occur when untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. The attacker’s hostile data can trick the interpreter into executing unintended commands or accessing unauthorized data.

XSS flaws occur whenever an application takes untrusted data and sends it A2‐Cross Site Scripting to a web browser without proper validation and escaping. XSS allows (XSS) attackers to execute scripts in the victim’s browser which can hijack user sessions, deface web sites, or redirect the user to malicious sites. Application functions related to authentication and session management A3‐Broken are often not implemented correctly, allowing attackers to compromise Authentication and passwords, keys, session tokens, or exploit other implementation flaws to Session Management assume other users’ identities. A4‐Insecure Direct Object References A direct object reference occurs when a developer exposes a reference to an internal implementation object, such as a file, directory, or database key. Without an access control check or other protection, attackers can manipulate these references to access unauthorized data.

A CSRF attack forces a logged‐on victim’s browser to send a forged HTTP request, including the victim’s session cookie and any other automatically A5‐Cross Site Request included authentication information, to a vulnerable web application. This Forgery (CSRF) allows the attacker to force the victim’s browser to generate requests the vulnerable application thinks are legitimate requests from the victim. Good security requires having a secure configuration defined and deployed for the application, frameworks, application server, web server, database server, and platform. All these settings should be defined, implemented, and maintained as many are not shipped with secure defaults. This includes keeping all software up to date, including all code libraries used by the application.

A6‐Security Misconfiguration

Many web applications do not properly protect sensitive data, such as A7‐Insecure credit cards, SSNs, and authentication credentials, with appropriate Cryptographic Storage encryption or hashing. Attackers may steal or modify such weakly protected data to conduct identity theft, credit card fraud, or other crimes. Many web applications check URL access rights before rendering protected A8‐Failure to Restrict links and buttons. However, applications need to perform similar access URL Access control checks each time these pages are accessed, or attackers will be able to forge URLs to access these hidden pages anyway. A9‐Insufficient Transport Layer Protection A10‐Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards Applications frequently fail to authenticate, encrypt, and protect the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive network traffic. When they do, they sometimes support weak algorithms, use expired or invalid certificates, or do not use them correctly. Web applications frequently redirect and forward users to other pages and websites, and use untrusted data to determine the destination pages. Without proper validation, attackers can redirect victims to phishing or malware sites, or use forwards to access unauthorized pages.

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Reference document – 4 Business requirements specification‐ cross industry e‐Tendering process (Source CWA 15666)

To attain the objective of interoperability and compatibility of various solutions, both at buyer and supplier end it is required that processes and information entities shall be standardized across industrial electronic tendering. Following are the business requirements for the same. Business Process Elaboration  E‐Tendering  Registration  Public Invitation  Tender/Opening of Tenders  Publication of Award Business Information Flow Definition  Submit Registration Application  Issue Examination Result Notification  Publish prior information notice  Publish invitation to tender  Submit pre‐qualification application  Issue letter of invitation to tender  Request Tender Information  Issue tender information  Issue tender guaranty  Submit the response of tender guaranty  Submit tender  Submit qualification and application  Issue qualification result notice  Issue tender result notice Following are the process details: Registration Preconditions None Begins When Tenderers apply for registration Definitions Tenderers apply for registration Procuring entity receives registration application Procuring entity examines registration application Procuring entity notifies tenderers of examination result Tenderers receive examination result Public Invitation Preconditions Procuring entity has a tendering subject release invitation to tender Begins When Procuring entity establishes project strategy Definition Procuring entity establishes project strategy Procuring entity publishes invitation to tender If necessary, tenderers should be pre‐qualified If necessary,procuring entity selects tenders
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Ends When Exceptions

Post conditions Tender/Opening of Tenders Preconditions Targeted tendering subject is within submission period of tenders Tenderers receive detailed information of the tendering subject Begins When Tenderers submit tenders Definitions Tenderers submit tenders Procuring entity receives tenders Procuring entity opens tenders If necessary, procuring entity verifies qualification of the tenderer Procuring entity notifies tender result Tenders receive tender result Ends When Tenderers receive tender result Exceptions Procuring entity does not receive tenders from tenderers Tenderers do not receive tender result from procuring entity Post conditions Tenderers get details of tender result. Publication of Award Preconditions Procuring entity notifies tender result to tenderers Begins when Procuring entity publishes tender result Definitions Procuring entity publishes tender result Note: This definitions are example of executing business collaborations within this business process Ends When Procuring entity publishes tender result Exceptions None Postconditions Procuring entity proves that the tender has been performed without injustice.

When tenderers have intention to submit tenders  Tenderers request detailed information of the tendering subject  Procuring entity receives request for detailed information of the tendering subject  Procuring entity issues detailed information of the tendering subject to tenders  Tenders receive detailed information of the tendering subject Tenderers receive detailed information of the tendering subject Procuring entity does not receive request for detailed information of the tendering subject by tenderers Tenderers do not receive detailed information of the tendering subject from procuring entity Tenderers have no intention to participate in tender Tenderers get detailed information of the tendering subject

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 Templates & Forms
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Template 1 : Defining Usability Requirement Specifications of the Software Product

USABILITY REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATIONS OF SOFTWARE PRODUCT Note: This is an illustration only. Applicant shall specify the parameters like files size(MB), time(second and bandwidth for each item). Only applicable clauses of this template should be used. 1. NAME AND PURPOSE OF THE PRODUCT : is a web based eGovernance solution designed and developed for complete automation of the tendering/ procurement of materials, components, contracts, works and services. This specification defines the Usability requirements for software application 2. CONTEXT OF USE has the capability to support the complete tendering process which includes placing of on‐line technical bids, commercial bids, facility for e‐payment and secure opening of vendor bids with provision for interface to e‐payment gateways and incorporating PKI enabled digital signatures. Fine details of tendering like creation of vendor database, tender announcement and corrigendum; tender offer processing, opening, negotiation, dynamic pricing mechanism, automatic generation of comparative statement of bids received tender awarding and management of tender contract operation and re‐tendering are supported in a real time interactive environment. This system enables both procurers and vendors to interact with each other and transact business. a. Specification of users: Based on the analysis of the product, the main classes of users are  Department users (ie Buyers or Purchasers)  Portal/ e‐Procurement Application Administrators (for Dedicated Portal of a Buyer)  Registered suppliers/ contractors/vendors  Portal/ e‐Procurement Application Administrators (for Service Providers) Registered suppliers/ contractors/vendors i. Skills & knowledge –  Should be computer literate and in the habit of surfing the net  Should have Knowledge about tendering process ii. Training on the usage of software mandatory iii. Product Experience – Nil iv. Organizational experience – Nil v. Physical attributes – Normal Department Users (ie Buyers or Purchasers) i. Skills & knowledge –  Should be computer literate and in the habit of surfing the net  Should have Knowledge about tendering process ii. Training on the usage of software mandatory iii. Product Experience – Nil
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iv. v.

Organizational experience – Required Physical attributes ‐ Normal

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 b. Broad Specification of tasks The major work flows analysed in terms of severity, criticality and frequency of use for the respective users are as given below : Department Users 1. Vendor Registration specific to a particular Buyer/ Department‐ Any person who wants to bid for any tender of that Buyer/ Department, has first to register with the department (after having registered on the portal) . Where required, Department Administrator can create vendors a. They receive filled in application with credentials of the vendors , and then register them for a particular classification and grade 2. The Tendering Creation : Creation ,Uploading of tender and Authorizing the tender 3. Tender Opening ‐ Tender Opening in the simultaneous online presence of authorized bidder representatives with additional optional offline presence, EMD Authorisation , countersigning of each opened bid in the simultaneous online presence of authorized bidder representatives, Downloading of submitted vendor documents , Disqualification of a vendor (i.e. archiving a bid unopened) and Comparative statement generation Sub activities: verification of documents and EMD/Bank Guarantee Suppliers/ contractors/vendors a. Self Registration on the e‐procurement by the first user of an organization, and submission his Public Key Sub activities: i. Where required, registration by an authorized user for particular Department/ Buyer for a particular classification of trade, region and vendor class for a particular duration ii. Attachment of supporting documents required for the registration b. PKI based login and Request/ Procurement of tender documents c. Pre‐qualification based on projects/tenders d. Download tender documents/ addenda e. Upload filled tender documents (ie bids, in envelopes and stages as instructed in the tender documents) Sub activities: i. Attachment of supporting documents required for the tender ii. Submission c. Specification of environment As this application is generally used in an office environment , testing can be done in an office ambience . So the Usability Lab at can be used for carrying out the user tests . 3. SPECIFICATION OF MEASURES OF USABILITY FOR PARTICULAR CONTEXTS Department Users 1. Vendor Registration a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness): All Vendor Registrations have been completed successfully .
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b. Efficiency: Registration to be completed by the user within . c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the vendor registration procedures. 2. Generation of a tender‐ Creation a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness); All Tenders have been completed correctly and successfully . b. Efficiency: Tender Creation to be completed by the user within 10 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the tender generation process. 3. Uploading of tender a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness): All tenders have been uploaded successfully. b. Efficiency: Uploading to be completed by the user within 3 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the uploading procedures. 4. Opening of Tenders a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness): The opening of all tenders have been completed successfully . b. Efficiency: Opening of tenders to be completed by the user within 5 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the tender opening procedures. 5. EMD Authorisation , a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness): The EMD Authorisation of all tenders has been completed successfully. b. Efficiency: EMD Authorisation to be completed by the user within 1 minute c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the EMD Authorisation procedures. 6. Downloading of submitted vendor documents , a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) : The downloading of all submitted tenders have been completed successfully. b. Efficiency: Downloading of submitted vendor documents to be completed by the user within 5 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the Downloading procedures. 7. Disqualification of one vendor a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) Vendor Disqualification has been completed successfully. b. Efficiency: Disqualification of one vendor to be completed by the user within 3 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the disqualification procedures.
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8. Comparative statement generation a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) Generation of Comparative statement has been completed successfully . b. Efficiency: Comparative statement generation to be completed by the user within 2 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the Comparative statement procedures. Suppliers/ contractors/vendors 1. Self Registration with PKI a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) Self Registration with PKI has been completed successfully. b. Efficiency: Registration to be completed by the user within 12 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the PKI registration procedures. 2. PKI based login and Request for tender documentation a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) All Vendor requests have been completed successfully . b. Efficiency: Tender request to be completed by the user within 5 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the Tender request procedures. 3. Downloading of tender documents a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) All the tender documents have been downloaded successfully . b. Efficiency: Downloading of tender documents to be completed by the user within 3 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the downloading procedures. 4. Upload filled tender documents, Supporting documents and Submission of tender a. Effectiveness (Accuracy & Completeness) All the tender documents have been uploaded and submitted successfully . b. Efficiency: Tender Submission to be completed by the user within 15 minutes. c. Satisfaction: Less than 10% of users report dissatisfaction with the whole tender submission procedures. 4. Usability objective : Overall usability 1. Effectiveness measures a. Percentage of goals achieved ‐ 100% b. Percentage of users successfully completing task‐ 100% 2. Efficiency measures a. Average time to complete a task ‐ less than 40 mts b. Average no of tasks completed per unit time ‐ 0ne per 10 mts 3. Satisfaction measures a. Rating scale for satisfaction ‐ more than 90% b. No of complaints ‐ less than 10%

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Template 2: ‐ Defining Performance Specifications
To be provided by developer/user  The application  The data model  The technology