Axe Monitor

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	Axe Monitor (formerly known as WorldSpace Comply) is a server-based accessibility analysis and management solution for performing enterprise-level accessibility audits. It scans web content and identifies violations of accessibility compliance and quality guidelines. This technology facilitates accessibility analysis, remediation, and management of an organization`s web and mobile assets to produce detailed, actionable reports, and summarized findings. This technology performs scheduled automated scans of web assets, or manually on-demand for accessibility against requirements mandated by Section 508 of the 1973 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 701), industry standards, or customized success criteria derived from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This technology does not contain a database. This technology provides support for mobile web browsers by emulating their behavior. This technology provides a testing platform for mobile devices. This entry covers the Desktop Edition of this technology and not any mobile versions. Please note that the implementation of mobile technology applications that operate on Mobile Operating Systems must be reviewed and approved by the Mobile Technology and Endpoint Security Engineering Team: http://vaww.eie.va.gov/SysDesign/CS/MT/default.aspx.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has not been assessed by the Section 508 Office. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v24.4
Decision Date:	04/02/2024 at 02:04:55 UTC
Aliases:	WorldSpace Sync; WorldSpace Comply
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	Deque Systems

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
5.0	01/01/2012
5.1	11/04/2013
5.2	05/20/2014
5.4	09/12/2016
6.x	12/02/2016
7.x

Current Decision Matrix (03/20/2024)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2017

CY2018

CY2019

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

5.0

Unapproved

5.1

Divest
[3]

Divest
[3, 4]

Divest
[4, 5]

Unapproved

5.2

Approved w/Constraints
[3]

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5]

Divest
[4, 5]

Divest
[4, 5, 6]

Divest
[4, 5]

Divest
[4, 5, 7]

Unapproved

5.4

Approved w/Constraints
[3]

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 7]

6.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 7]

7.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	This Technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population.

[2]	As of April 23, 2015, per the Deputy CIO of Architecture, Strategy and Design (ASD), all technologies in use by the VA require an assessment by the VA Section 508 office. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 is a federal law that sets the guidelines for technology accessibility. A VA Section 508 assessment of this technology has not been completed at the time of publication. Therefore, as of April 23, 2015 only users of this technology who have deployed the technology to the production environment, or have project design and implementation plans approved, may continue to operate this technology. In the case of a project that has implemented, or been approved for a specific site or number of users, and that project needs to expand operations to other sites or to an increased user base, it may do so as long as the project stays on the existing version of the technology that was approved or implemented as of April 22, 2015. Use of this technology in all other cases is prohibited.

[3]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[4]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[5]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[6]	1. The system user or administrator initiating Deque WorldSpace Comply must have robust authentication credentials, which includes Personal Identification Verification PIV-compliant two-factor authentication (2FA), to prevent unauthorized or casual execution of the application. 2. The user must ensure that provisions specified in VA Handbook 6500 SC-8: `Transmission Integrity` are met. Verify that if the hashing function option for creating and editing a scan is used, the hashing function is a Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant hashing algorithm, such as Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)-512. Refer to VA Handbook 6500 SC-13: `Use of Cryptography` for guidance. 3. The user must ensure that provisions specified in VA Handbook 6500 IA-5: `Authenticator Management` are enforced regarding password management. 4. Provisions Requirements of VA Handbook 6500 AC-20: `Use of External Information Systems`, VA Handbook 6500 AC-17: `Remote Access` and VA Directive 6513: `Secure External Connections` must be met. 5. Use of WorldSpace Comply entails installing the Mozilla Firefox browser. If Firefox is utilized, users MUST use the official enterprise version that Solution Delivery (SD) Desktop Technologies has packaged to sustain patching and management of the application. Users are prohibited from downloading and installing any other version. Strict version control/compliance is imperative in to maintain the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) settings ` as such, only use what the VA provides. The product must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. It is a requirement that VA sensitive data be properly protected in accordance with VA Handbook 6500, Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2. In accordance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-53 and SP 800-70, Information Security is an important business process that should be considered in all phases of the acquisition process to ensure data and information technology (IT) systems are adequately protected against risk of loss, misuse, and unauthorized access. In accordance with FISMA, government information or government IT systems require compliance with the agency IT Security Policy. All information technology acquisitions must meet the requirements outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 39.101 (d) policy ensuring the use of common security configuration checklists in the management of risk. Therefore, SD always advises further evaluation prior to any new technology or product considered for use within the VA infrastructure. If applicable, SD will test and monitor the technology within the lab environment to analyze security functionality and compliance with VA requirements. Then, if the new technology satisfies a need, a controlled pilot may be conducted to determine if organizational requirements of the VA are satisfied. Furthermore, systems that are in development (pilot, proof-of-concept, or prototype) should not be attached to VA networks without first being assessed and authorized. Should the pilot meet the security requirements of the VA, management may decide to approve the new technology for use within the VA Enterprise.

[7]	This technology`s older versions had a dependency on Redis open-source, only versions that do not use Redis open-source are approved for use.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 7.5 is the most current version, released 12/09/2023.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Collaboration and Electronic Workplace Productivity Software	Miscellaneous Productivity Tools and Utilities
Systems Management Systems Management Tools	Monitoring

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Microsoft Edge. - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server - (required for some configurations)
My Structured Query Language (MySQL) Database - Commercial Editions - (required for some configurations)
Safari - (required for some configurations)

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This may assist business and development teams to dynamically scan, monitor, and report on the accessibility status of the website.
This is a well-documented technology.
At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.
This technology may provide efficiencies to users tasked with accessibility auditing responsibilities.
This technology helps ensure users` large websites become accessible and remain accessible.
This technology reports demonstrate accessibility changes over time, at any level of detail which may provide efficiencies to users tasked with reporting, monitoring, and management responsibilities.

Adoption Risks

Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
This product can be configured with a MySQL Commercial Edition Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
Given the capacity for Deque axe Monitor to scan web content of the entire enterprise, the tool could have unrestricted access to personal, personnel, protected health, and other sensitive information throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Unauthorized access to logs, reports, and other data collected could provide PII/PHI/sensitive information about the VA organization and its infrastructure.
Deque axe Monitor uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) v1.2 for communication security between the application web server and the user’s browser, and TLS between the browser that scans websites and the website servers. However, the TLS version used here is governed by the scanned web server, which is outside of Deque axe Monitor application control. Further, the procedure outlined in the Deque axe Monitor User Manual for "Creating or Editing a Scan" identifies an option to utilize an undisclosed "built-in hash function" or use "JavaScript to produce content hash". There is no clear indication that these procedures incorporate Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption.
There is no clear indication that Deque axe Monitor adheres to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) password requirements regarding length, complexity, reuse, and expiration.
Deque axe Monitor is built on the axe-core engine, making it open-source.
This technology can integrate and alter database technologies.
There is no indication based on available vendor documentation that this technology is Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.

Architectural Benefits

This technology can use a VA-preferred database.
This technology is portable across multiple TRM-approved platforms.

Inside VA

Budget and Performance

Inside the Media Room

National Observances

Special Events

VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (03/20/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

CONNECT

VA HOME

QUICK LIST

RESOURCES

ADMINISTRATION

VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (03/20/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

EMAIL UPDATES