German Government Guides Consumers and Businesses on Security

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the government’s IT security service provider, issued guidelines with the purpose of educating both individuals and companies on the safety measures they should implement to make sure their digital assets are protected.

Their recommendations address only Windows users advising them on all the aspects of online security starting from operating system, antivirus software, backup, ISP and e-mail to applications, ID cards, firewalls and encryption.

For everyday users BSI recommends the use of antivirus solutions that come with a child protection filter, a feature that monitors browser and e-mail activity in search for malicious components, and advanced behavior-based software.

Companies, besides these extensions, should utilize DNA-protective filters and DNS protection filters.

In terms of browsers, they don’t recommend the use of Firefox anymore, instead they prefer the protection offered by Google Chrome because of its sandbox technologies.

Security updates, protection measures applied to online banking sessions and communication systems, along with the use of strong passwords are all aspects that should be taken into consideration by consumers, but especially by companies handling sensitive data.

BSI also provides emergency measures and advice on how to properly dispose of a computer once it’s considered to be obsolete. They recommend the physical destruction of the hard drive or the removal of the data using more serious methods than a simple delete initiated from the operating system.

Finally, consumers should always “exercise a healthy suspicion” when it comes to activities on social media networks to avoid falling for scams and other malicious plots.

TechEye informs that this is not the first time when BSI issues advisories, in the past all their recommendations being taken very seriously by German Internet users.

For instance, two years ago they advised users to ditch Internet Explorer in favor of Mozilla Firefox which led to IE losing its dominance in Europe.