The Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities was formed in April 2019 from the Security Consulting Unit for the Federal Government and has since also been available to the Information Security Officers (ISBs) from state and municipal administrations for all questions relating to information security.

Sections 3(1) no. 13a and 3(2) of the Federal Office for Information Security Act (BSIG) provide the legal basis on which the BSI supports state governments in Germany in their efforts to secure their information technology systems.

Here, the Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities focuses on the key topics of information security management, security design and IT-Grundschutz (BSI-Standards, IT-Grundschutz Compendium, IT-Grundschutz profiles etc.). For more specific enquiries (regarding secure mobile communication or the cloud, for example), the relevant specialist departments are brought in to work with the unit’s security consulting team on delivering answers.

Services for state governments

The Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities takes a complementary and cooperative approach to advising and supporting state government departments on all questions of information security.

As a rule, it tailors its consulting to the specific needs of each respective authority. The support provided to these departments may range from specific aspects of baseline security to quality assurance for security models and the establishment or restructuring of an information security management system (ISMS) to suit new, authority-specific circumstances.

The unit's consulting activities are based on signed memoranda of understanding and cooperation agreements in which specific areas of cooperation are defined between theBSIand the respective state.

The legal basis for this cooperation with state governments is provided by BSIG sections 3(1), no. 13a and 3(2)BSI Act. Consulting services are offered on the basis of the BSI Cost Ordinance, in cases where a state grants the Federal Government only a limited exemption from fees (or none at all).

Services for municipalities

Individual support is not available for municipalities on account of their sheer number.

Such assistance is, however, provided by a large number of influential stakeholders at the municipal level. Flyers and recommendations on a wide variety of topics are also available.

In addition, practical and scalable materials such as subject-specific backgrounders and guidance documents help management staff improve information security within their systems and networks. Ideally, this results in the establishment of ongoing processes and measures over time.

These include. IT-Grundschutz profiles that are developed and made available in cooperation with representatives from states and municipalities. Information security templates like these are an effective way for more users to assess security levels in their organisations.

Strong networking makes for strong authorities

By participating in various state-level bodies such as the Information Security Working Group (AG InfoSic) the IT Planning Council (IT-PLR) and the ICT Security Commission (KomSi), the Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities cooperates closely with state representatives and obtains constant insights into related requirements, as well as the information security situation at large.

Meanwhile, work on expanding federal and state cooperation is being carried out with the BSI’s National Connectivity unit. Further information is available here.

As a special service, the Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities has set up an internal area that provides helpful information and guidance on information security and IT-Grundschutz. Weitere Informationen und den Antrag zum internen Bereich finden Sie hier.

Contact

Federal Office for Information Security
Office BL 12, Information Security Consulting Unit for States and Municipalities
P.O. Box 200363
53133 Bonn, Germany

Availability for public administration departments from states and municipalities:

Sicherheitsberatung-regional@bsi.bund.de

In the interests of efficiency, only requests with a clear signature and a verifiable mail address will be processed.

You can also send your e-mail in a format withS/MIMEencryption.
To do so, you will need the following certificates:

• Zertifikat Postfach sicherheitsberatung-regional@bsi.bund.de
• Certificate body certificate "CA IVBB Deutsche Telekom AG 18"
• Root certificate "PCA-1-Verwaltung-15"

Download the certificates by right-clicking on them and selecting 'Save As', then integrate them into your e-mail client.