Access Policy & Rules

Table of Contents

• Purpose
• Support Access Requirements
• Resetting Support PIN and Password
• Hosting Access Requirements
• Access Rules:
  • Credential Resets
  • Regular Access
  • Email Access
  • Application Administration Access

Purpose

Our GPowerHost Access Policy & Rules have been developed with the following objectives:

• To ensure uniform, consistent, reliable and timely support and service for all customers.
• To ensure that all accounts, servers and infrastructure are maintained at high levels of security to ensure a optimum grade of quality service for all.
• To clearly define what access requirement customers must grant us when they control some aspects of their hosting service management (hereafter "Hosting Service Semi-Management").
• To outline what things GPowerHost can do that might curtail or prevent Customers from accessing services and/or controls and why those restrictions might be implemented.

Support Access Requirements

To protect customer accounts, our equipment and network GPowerHost support is supplied only to valid customers. All support requests require the account or hosting service root password and a Support PIN. In addition, customers will also need to know their support area login credentials. Our security protocol does not allow any support request to proceed without customer identity verification. Additional security questions may be asked of those attempting to gain support from time-to-time. Failure to respond correctly may result in denial of a customer’s support request.

Resetting Support PIN and Password

In the event that a customer forgets their hosting account, server root password and/or support PIN, or does not have them handy, they will need to reset them prior to obtaining support with us. It is IMPOSSIBLE for us to see or give customers their passwords or PINs. They must always be reset.

• Resetting Support PIN

  This process requires the customer to know their support login credentials.

  • To reset a support PIN, customers should login to the GPowerHost Support Area, using their support credentials, then click on "Hello, [their name]" followed by "Edit Account Details" to change their Support PIN.

• Resetting Support Password

  This process requires the customer to have access to and know their support email address and to answer security questions.

  • To reset a support PIN, customers should go to the GPowerHost Homepage, click on "Account" followed by "Forgot Password?" and follow the instructions change their Support Password.

Hosting Access Requirements

We provide fully managed hosting service only and we setup and fully maintain your hosting and server environments. While most of our customers never access their control panels and/or their server interfaces some do want continuous or occasional access. All users including those that choose to self-configure certain services must agree to our access rules. These rules assure that all accounts and services remain functioning to our standards.

Access rules:

1. Credential Resets: GPowerHost may require the resetting of or reset any username or password at any time to ensure that services are not compromised, to thwart an attack, to recover from an attack or as a regular safeguard measure. If GPowerHost resets a username or password GPowerHost will make reasonable attempts to contact the Customer and relay any usernames or passwords that GPowerHost feels are likely to be needed, regularly or soon. If the Customer does not regularly use a service GPowerHost may reset, lock or otherwise prevent access to it and not notify the Customer, at all. This is often the case for control panel credentials (for those that don’t use their panels regularly or ever).

   Additionally, ftp, database and other internal service usernames and passwords are periodically reset. There are generally, no benefits to us relaying these details to the Customer–as we fully manage these services. If a Customer wants to be updated when these credentials are changed GPowerHost will notify the Customer when the credentials were reset. If a Customer wants to receive all of the new credentials, that can be arranged as well. Customers should contact their Account Manager to discuss credential reset notifications and protocols.

2. Regular Access: GPowerHost may access a Customer’s hosting service or server to read and review any logs, setup logging services, search for malware, update or determine the need for software and script updates and to perform any regular, scheduled, periodic or emergency action as needed to maintain Customer’s services in top working order–according to our high standards. GPowerHost does not, generally, notify the Customer of such access–as access can be as frequent as several times per day.

   If a Customer wants to be updated of some kinds of access GPowerHost can provide access to an internal ticket system attached to a Customer’s BitBucket account where all internal job tickets, including access occasions, are logged. In some cases, these logs can be setup to feed to a more convenient place for the customer to review, such as a slack channel on the customer’s slack team.

   Customers should contact their Account Manager to discuss the setting up of access to the internal tickets for their account and any feed arrangement they may require. The setup and maintenance of external feeds are billable as a Managed Extra Service–fees will apply. Additionally, not all internal ticket details may be passed to the Customer via feeds (the feed may just post that a note was made to an internal ticket or it just might reflect the ongoing status of a ticket. Customers would need to login to their BitBucket account to see all of the ticket details.

   While internal tickets are never meant to include credentials and other highly sensitive data nonetheless, the ticket archive will still contain sensitive data and GPowerHost can not be held responsible for any security and privacy implications such a setup may pose nor the integrity and security of outside accounts such as BitBucket and slack. Both of these kinds of services are internal groupware and Customer’s indemnify GPowerHost in the event of any breach or issue with them.

3. Email Access: In the course of regular, normal email server administration GPowerHost has access to and does occasionally view the content wrappers and email data streams coming into and out of your email accounts. An email wrapper commonly contains the email Subject field and all recipients addresses. While we don’t open your emails, regularly, there are occasions such as with email bounce-backs and complaints where the contents of the email are exposed to the administrator. This is normal to system administration. All of our administrators take their jobs seriously and while they would never read your normal emails it is possible that they can get a brief glance at one occasionally.

   Any Customers with overly sensitive communications should speak to their Account Managers about additional precautions that we can put in to place to curtail the possibility of accidental exposure. In these kinds of situations a manager directly supervises the email administrator while administering your account. A special logging system is setup and all administration activities are logged and an affidavit is made with each access detailing what information was revealed–if any. A debriefing event also occurs immediately following an exposure.

   Customers should contact their Account Managers to make any such protocol accommodations for overly sensitive communications and the setup and maintenance of these protocols are billable as a Managed Extra Service–fees will apply.

4. Application Administration Access: Unlike many other hosts GPowerHost takes responsibility for the approved applications that are installed on your hosting account as well as approved plugins. For the majority of our Customers, GPowerHost sets up and hardens (a security process) each application installed and handles updates and monitors the Customer’s plugins as well. Customers generally never need to perform upgrades as GPowerHost does this for them.

   While performing application and plugin maintenance an inventory is taken of what is presently installed. If a Customer has installed something that isn’t secure or isn’t properly able to function GPowerHost may uninstall/disable the application and notify the Customer, immediately. If the situation is not urgent GPowerHost will seek to contact the Customer to help them assess a better performing plugin before the plugin is disabled. At all times GPowerHost is concerned with keeping your site operating in a secure and continuous manner.

   When GPowerHost sets up an application they also setup their own administrative access. If a Customer disables that access GPowerHost can require that the Customer allow reinstatement.

This is a guideline, in the event of a conflict in statements, concepts, policies or rules the GPowerHost Terms of Service and AUP apply.