COMETH Winter School 2021

Data Privacy and Security FAQ 

 What Data Security measures are taken during the training ?

Since data is transferred to our server located at German Bioinformatics Network (de.NBI), a wide array of security measures are in force:

• The complete interaction with the server is secured with HTTPS.

• User can delete input data from COMETH servers at any time.

• We offer a secured storage service retated to the COMETH training

• We will only check that the format of your data is correct.  

Who has access ?

To upload and download data, users must register with a unique e-mail address and strong password on the COMETH web application 

• Each user can only analyse and download results for samples that they have themselves uploaded.

• No other COMETH web application users will be able to access your data.

 What security practice or firewalls protect access?

A wide array of security measures are in force on the analysis servers:

• SSH login to the servers is restricted to systems administrators only.

• Direct login via SSH is not allowed from the public Internet.

 The public-facing side of the servers sits behind the de.NBI virtual firewall instance where a default-deny policy is used on inbound traffic; only explicitly allowed TCP ports are passed.

• The administrators continuously monitor important services in order to repel attacks and avoid abuse. The responsible administrators are immediately informed about irregularities in the systems and are therefore able to investigate incidents and to rectify problems.

• The administrators regularly publishes information about significant security flaws and provides appropriate recommendations.

• The administrators work with a dedicated  Data Protection department that deals with all concerns related to data protection at de.NBI.

 Are the data encrypted  while the data are in use ?

As stated in the data analysis consent form, the participant will not share personal data or data that can be used for individual identification. Therefore the data will not be encrypted while stored on the secured system.