Security

Last updated: March 2026

Security is foundational to everything we build. As a platform handling sensitive compliance documents and regulatory assessments, we hold ourselves to the highest standards for protecting your data.

Our Security Commitment

AuditDSS (a product of QuestFeed Pty Ltd, ABN 58 632 013 855) processes confidential compliance documents and generates sensitive gap analysis reports. We recognize the critical importance of securing this data. Our architecture is designed with defense in depth, least privilege, and encryption by default at every layer.

TLS 1.3

In Transit Encryption

AES-256

At Rest Encryption

< 72h

Breach Notification

99.9%

Platform Uptime SLA

1. Infrastructure Security

AuditDSS runs on a fully serverless architecture with no persistent servers to compromise. Every component is designed for isolation, immutability, and automated recovery.

Serverless Compute

AWS Lambda — no SSH, no persistent OS, no patch management. Functions execute in ephemeral, isolated containers that are destroyed after each invocation.

Immutable Deployments

All infrastructure deployed via versioned scripts with no manual access to production. Every deployment is a fresh, versioned artifact — never patched in place.

Tenant Isolation

Each customer's assessment data is stored in logically isolated environments. No cross-account data access is possible at the infrastructure level.

Infrastructure as Code

All cloud resources defined declaratively in version-controlled Terraform templates. No manual configuration, no configuration drift, full auditability.

Zero Standing Access: No engineer has persistent access to production systems. All access is just-in-time, audited, and automatically revoked after the session ends.

2. Data Protection

All data is protected with industry-standard encryption at every stage of its lifecycle.

Encryption Layers

TLS 1.3

In Transit

All communications between clients and our APIs use TLS 1.3 with forward secrecy.

AES-256

At Rest

All stored data — assessment results, uploaded documents, user data, and backups — encrypted with AES-256 via AWS KMS.

Isolated

In Processing

Document processing operates in ephemeral Lambda containers. Data is processed in memory and containers are destroyed after each invocation.

Data Classification

Classification Examples Protection
Critical API keys, passwords, JWT secrets Encrypted, vault-stored, never logged
Confidential Uploaded documents, assessment results, compliance reports Encrypted at rest, tenant-isolated, access-controlled
Internal Usage analytics, system metrics, audit logs Encrypted at rest, access-controlled
Public Regulatory text, marketing content, pricing Integrity-verified, CDN-cached

3. Authentication & Access Control

Password Security

Passwords hashed with bcrypt (work factor 12). We never store plaintext passwords. Password strength requirements enforced at registration.

Session Management

JWT-based authentication with secure tokens. Sessions automatically expire after inactivity. Tokens are cryptographically signed and validated on every request.

API Security

All API endpoints require authentication. Rate limiting enforced per user. CORS policies restrict cross-origin requests to authorized domains only.

Role-Based Access

Internal systems use RBAC with the principle of least privilege. Production database access requires explicit authorization and is fully audited.

4. Network Security

Multiple layers of network protection shield the platform from external threats.

DDoS Protection

Cloudflare DDoS mitigation with automatic traffic scrubbing. 330+ edge locations absorb volumetric attacks before they reach our infrastructure.

Web Application Firewall

Cloudflare WAF blocks SQL injection, XSS, and other OWASP Top 10 attacks. Rules updated continuously against emerging threats.

Rate Limiting

Intelligent rate limiting at the edge and application level prevents abuse and brute-force attacks. Per-IP and per-user limits with automatic throttling.

HTTPS OnlyHSTS EnforcedCSP HeadersX-Frame-OptionsX-Content-TypeReferrer-Policy

5. Document Security

Your compliance documents receive special handling throughout the assessment lifecycle:

Upload Security

Documents are uploaded over TLS 1.3 directly to encrypted storage. File type and size validation prevents malicious uploads.

Processing Isolation

Each document is processed in an isolated Lambda invocation. No document data persists in the processing environment after completion.

AI & LLM Data Privacy

Assessment analysis is powered by enterprise-grade large language models via API. Your document data is never used for model training. Our LLM provider (xAI) automatically deletes all API inputs and outputs within 30 days — retained only for safety monitoring during that period. Only document text is sent — never your account information or other assessment data. See our DPA for full details.

Retention & Deletion

Uploaded documents are retained only for the duration needed for assessment. You can delete documents at any time via your account. All copies (including backups) are purged within 30 days of deletion.

6. Application Security

Input Validation

All user inputs are validated and sanitized at the API boundary. Parameterized queries prevent SQL injection. Output encoding prevents XSS.

Dependency Management

Automated dependency scanning identifies vulnerable packages. Critical vulnerabilities are patched within 24 hours of disclosure.

Code Review

All code changes go through review before deployment. Automated security linting catches common vulnerability patterns.

Error Handling

Errors are logged internally with full context for debugging. User-facing error messages never expose internal system details, stack traces, or database structure.

7. Incident Response

We maintain a documented incident response plan with clear escalation procedures:

Detection

< 1 hour

Automated monitoring and alerting detects anomalies across all platform components.

Containment

< 4 hours

Immediate isolation of affected systems. Revocation of compromised credentials. Preservation of forensic evidence.

Notification

< 72 hours

Affected users notified within 72 hours per GDPR and Australian Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requirements.

Recovery

As needed

Root cause analysis, system restoration, and implementation of preventive measures.

8. Business Continuity

Automated Backups

Database backups run daily with 35-day retention. Point-in-time recovery available to the second for the last 7 days.

Multi-AZ Deployment

Database deployed across multiple availability zones. Automatic failover in case of AZ-level outage.

Edge Caching

Static assets and the landing page served from Cloudflare's global edge network (330+ locations). Available even during origin outages.

Disaster Recovery

Documented recovery procedures with defined RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) targets.

9. Compliance & Standards

Our platform and practices align with the following frameworks and regulations:

Privacy Act 1988

Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)

GDPR

EU General Data Protection Regulation

CCPA

California Consumer Privacy Act

NDB Scheme

Australian Notifiable Data Breaches

OWASP Top 10

Web application security standards

PCI-DSS (via Stripe)

Payment security (Level 1 certified processor)

10. Responsible Disclosure

We welcome responsible security research. If you discover a vulnerability in our platform:

Report To

hello@auditdss.com

What to Include

  • — Description of the vulnerability and its potential impact
  • — Steps to reproduce (proof of concept if possible)
  • — Any tools, scripts, or screenshots used

Our Commitments

  • — Acknowledge receipt within 2 business days
  • — Provide an initial assessment within 5 business days
  • — No legal action against good-faith security researchers
  • — Credit in our security acknowledgements (if desired)

Please do NOT: Access or modify other users' data, perform denial-of-service testing, use automated vulnerability scanners without prior authorization, or publicly disclose vulnerabilities before we have had a reasonable opportunity to address them.

Security Contact

For security concerns, vulnerability reports, or questions about our security practices:

QuestFeed Pty Ltd

Document Version: 1.0 | Effective: March 2026