How Did Blancco Achieve BSI Certification in Germany?

With its BSI certification, Blancco continues to demonstrate its commitment to providing secure data erasure solutions for both enterprises and the public sector with policies that meet the most stringent data security regulations around the world.

Richard Stiennon Security executive Richard Stiennon has previously held roles such as Chief Strategy Officer of Blancco Technology Group from 2016-2017 and Vice President of Research at Gartner Inc. from 2000 to 2004. Currently, Richard is a cyber security lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Australia and a strategic advisory member of the International Data Sanitization Consortium. His book, There Will Be Cyberwar, was named a Washington Post bestseller in April 2016. Richard is regularly featured in news publications such as Forbes, Dark Reading, Infosecurity Magazine, Network World and BetaNews, where he comments on data governance, data management, and cyber security.

Blancco’s BSI Approval for Drive Erasure

The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), also known as the German Information Security Agency (GISA), aims to promote IT security across the country. The BSI is first and foremost central IT security provider for the Germany Federal Government.As the country’s national cyber security authority, the BSI shapes information security in digitization through prevention, detection and reaction for government, business and society. Part of this goal involves certifying security products through BSI Certification.

In 2013, Blancco Version 5.1.1 software was approved  by the BSI, achieving Technical Guideline TL-03423 which is referred to in TL-03420. This approval is based on the drive erasure descriptions explained in the Technical Guideline “BSI Technische Leitline” TL 03423, which outlines the erasure of classified documents from physical drives. The Approval runs through 2018, at which time Blancco will go through the process again.

The approved Blancco 5.1.1 BSI-Version features a specific erasure method and other specialties which were required to achieve BSI approval. This version was approved by BSI for drive erasure for specific security level “Verschlussache – Nur für den Dienstgebrauch,” which is the German equivalent of the security classification “Restricted.”

Blancco software 5.1.1. is the only software granted BSI Z-VSA-0111-2013 approval for use by public agencies and the BSI. The software went through a multi-year review process in which both globally applicable Common Criteria conditions and the requirements from the Federal Office in Bonn were considered. The certification process was audited by TÜViT, an internationally recognized third-party IT testing organization. The entire project lasted several years, showing Blancco’s commitment to meet the requirements stipulated by BSI.

With its BSI certification, Blancco continues to demonstrate its commitment to providing secure data erasure solutions for both enterprises and the public sector with policies that meet the most stringent data security regulations around the world. BSI is one of the most stringent InfoSec departments in the world and set the bar very high for our software. Our software has continued to mature since 2013, becoming the most tested, approved and certified data erasure product on the market. No other vendor has had its erasure software independently verified by multiple government and private agencies.

For a full list of Blancco’s global data erasure certifications, visit https://www.blancco.com/about-us/our-certifications/.

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