|Documentation

Security and SSL

HTTPS encryption

Your portal only opens over HTTPS, at https://your-name.lizpack.com. An address typed with http:// is redirected to https://. Traffic between your visitors and the portal is therefore encrypted, maps and credentials included.

The certificate is issued by Let's Encrypt when the instance is deployed, then renewed by us before it expires. You have nothing to install or monitor.

Connections to databases

QGIS Desktop, pgAdmin or psql connect directly to the database, without going through the portal. The database server accepts encryption: request it in your software by choosing the SSL mode require. The connection settings are on the instance page for the instance database, and on the Databases page for a dedicated database.

A database certificate is issued by LizPack, not by a public authority. Stay in require mode: the verify-ca and verify-full modes, which check the authority, will refuse the connection.

Data security

The security of your data is shared between what we handle and what you decide. Here is each side.

What we handle

  • Each instance has its own services: its database, its file space, its QGIS Server. Nothing is shared with other customers' instances.
  • Traffic to your portals and to the client area is encrypted.
  • The password of your LizPack account is never stored in readable form: we only keep a fingerprint of it, from which it cannot be recovered.
  • Bank card numbers are entered at Stripe, our payment provider. They do not pass through our servers.
  • A suspended instance keeps its projects, files and database for 60 days. Before any permanent deletion, three emails warn you: 30 days, 7 days and the day before.

What is up to you

  • Changing the Lizmap administration password as soon as you go live: the initial one is the same for every instance.
  • Turning on two-factor authentication on your account.
  • Keeping your own copy of your QGIS projects and a regular export of your databases. The client area does not offer restoration.
  • Giving each member of the team only the permissions they need, and removing those who have left the project.
  • Deciding what is public on your portal, map by map, from the Lizmap administration.
An instance's database can be reached from the Internet, on its own port: this is what lets QGIS Desktop connect to it. Its password is its only protection. Do not put it in a publicly shared project, nor in a message.

Two-factor authentication

Once two-factor authentication is on, your password is no longer enough to enter the client area: each sign-in also asks for a 6-digit code, sent to your account's address. Someone who had your password stays outside.

  1. Open Settings, then the Security & privacy card.
  2. In the Two-factor authentication box, click Enable two-factor authentication. A code is sent to your address.
  3. Enter it in Verification code, then click Confirm. The badge switches to Enabled.

Signing in

After your address and password, the Two-step verification screen tells you which address the code was sent to. Type or paste the code: the form submits itself at the sixth digit. The code is valid for 10 minutes and allows 5 attempts. Beyond that, or if it does not arrive, Send a new code sends a new one, one minute after the previous; the old one then stops working.

Turning it off

On the same page, Deactivate asks for your Current password, then Confirm disabling. Signing in becomes possible with the password alone again.

The code only arrives by email. If you lose access to your mailbox, you will no longer be able to sign in: write to support from another address.

Activity log

The activity log keeps track of what was done from your account. Open your account menu, top right, then My activity. The same menu shows the latest actions under Recent activity, and See all leads to the full log.

The activity log: each action with its result, the originating IP address and its date.

Each line gives the action, its result, the IP address it came from and its date. You will find actions on your instances (deployment, start, stop, update, deletion), file uploads and deletions, subscription and invoices, licences, the team, dedicated databases, password and profile changes, as well as the pages viewed.

The search covers the action and the IP address. All, Success and Errors sort by result: an error is an action that was refused or did not complete. Show sets how many recent actions are loaded, from 100 to 10,000; they are read in pages of 20.

The log only shows your own actions. Each member of your team has their own: what they do on your account appears in their log, not in yours. Entries are not erased over time.

An action you do not recognise, or an unknown IP address: change your password, turn on two-factor authentication and alert support.