Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-10-20
Buyer: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 48000000 | 72200000 | 72600000
Estimated value: 985000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-11-24
Award criteria: The most economic tender
EU fund: ESF

Technical requirements: The Council has multiple lines of defence when it comes to security; a number of endpoint products are due for contract renewal within the next 12 months. The Council's IT Services is undergoing a rationalisation programme to streamline the number of contracts with multiple suppliers. As a result, a number of services have been pulled together to create a Cyber Security Suite which includes Endpoint antivirus, Email Protection, Password Solutions, Policy Management, Vulnerability Scanning, Phishing Simulation and Consultancy.
There are newly introduced Government standards that the Council would like to comply with going forward, these are based around e-mail security and encryption, specifically DMARC and SPF, there is a requirement that the encryption used should be a minimum of TLS 1.2. Guidance on Government secure e-mails can be found here.
We would like to utilise the solution to replace the current encrypted e-mail solution and GCSX (Government Secure Intranet) secure e-mail solution that we have in place for secure e-mail exchange between both government partners and external non-government parties. Additionally, the council has a noncore requirement for replacement of a hosted secure e-mail solution that is used to generate invoices and mail these securely to customers. If an API or similar integration method is offered for the encrypted e-mail solution then this could also be used to replace this system in addition.
We would foresee that the e-mail filtering and encryption products could be via a single interface or product. There is a requirement for a secure portal or web based access to allow non-Government or non-technical users to be able to utilise the secure e-mail functionality.
We would like to use this opportunity, to make sure we are in a position for GDPR compliance, so want to make use of DLP policies on the device and some form of protective monitoring of e-mails, both within the content body and attachments.
**Please note this lot compromises of 2 elements Secure Email and Email Filtering. Secure Email contract start date will be 1.4.2018 and Email Filtering start date will be 19.5.2018.**.
In addition to signature based end point security, we would like to incorporate the use of behavioural based threat protection, which will involve consistently monitoring for abnormal behaviour patterns across our entire corporate network, but primarily on the endpoint devices.
The Council is looking to increase the security of the password policies whilst looking to make the process easier for the end user.
The Council would expect to see features like blocking of dictionary passwords, blocks on reuse of similar passwords, self-reset and some kind of password strength tool to show users how secure / insecure a password is.
The password solution will need to work with Active Directory as this is our one source for Single Sign On within various products used across the corporate estate.
We would like to implement a password reward system, whereby users who use stronger passwords are rewarded with a longer expiry period, if this is possible.
We currently have a password reset tool and are hoping to replace this and build upon the functionality offered by a replacement product.
The Council are looking to be able to rapidly distribute policy changes, updates and news to users across our corporate estate. This is to enable better policy understanding and compliance across the organisation.
The Council would be looking for an easy to use and understand management interface that would allow us to audit policy, and target updates or tests at specific user groups.
The Council are aiming to complete proactive scanning throughout the year on a regular cycle and make changes to secure any issues that have been identified. The Council view this as taking a proactive approach to security by blocking loopholes before they are exploited by the new generation of ransomware.


Award value: 985000