Germany to mandate minimum security standards for web browsers in government

guest · Aug 15, 2022

Less celebrated browsers and deprecated applications like Internet Explorer will be browsers non-grata
August 15, 2022

Germany is mandating the use of secure, modern web browsers across government networks with a proposal for minimum standards currently open to consultation.

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) released a draft set of minimum standards in July. The agency hopes that the standards will bolster governmental cyber-resilience and better protect sensitive data. Leading browsers incorporate multiple features that block or mitigate a variety of common web-based attacks.

The proposed standard covers both desktop and mobile browsers, whereas previous security guidance only applied to desktop browsers on government PCs and workstations.
Click to expand...

‘Very encouraging’
“The minimum standards being put forward by the BSI are very encouraging,” Simon Backwell, information security manager at Benefex and a member of the ISACA Emerging Trends Working Group, told The Daily Swig.

“Many of these standards are already what companies look for in software, so to extend them to browsers too ensures that organizations, especially government agencies or private sector companies within Germany, consider all aspects of their working environments. Most, if not all, modern browsers meet the standards, so there should be limited impact for organizations running these.”
“In general, browsers have been at the forefront of making secure connections, and implementing security features such as sandboxing.”
Click to expand...

Interested parties in Germany have until 19 August to respond to the consultation.
Click to expand...

Germany: BSI requests comments on revised minimum standard for web browsers

The Federal Office for Information Security ('BSI') announced, on 12 July 2022, that it had released a draft version of its revised minimum standard for web browsers, requesting comments on the same. In particular, the BSI explained that when using a web browser, data is usually also loaded from untrustworthy sources. As such, the BSI outlined that this data may contain harmful code which may lead to loss of availability, confidentiality, and integrity of sensitive data. In light of this, the BSI noted that the use of web browsers represents a risk, which should be minimised by implementing and complying with the draft minimum standard.

Further, the BSI clarified that the minimum standard describes the security requirements for web browsers used on federal administration workstations, which must be met in order to achieve a minimum level of information security. Notably, the BSI highlighted that the draft minimum standard, for which it is seeking comments, also covers web browsers on mobile platforms.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Germany to mandate minimum security standards for web browsers in government

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Germany to mandate minimum security standards for web browsers in government

guest Guest

Useful Searches