Glossary A–ZLetter I
IT baseline protection (IT-Grundschutz)
IT-Grundschutz (IT baseline protection) is a methodology of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) that organisations use to build up and review their information security systematically.
It consists of several BSI standards in the 200 series and the IT-Grundschutz Compendium with its modules.
For typical components such as clients, servers, networks, applications and rooms, the Compendium describes the threats and the requirements that counter them. A screen network can be mapped onto it: players as connected devices, the management software as an application on a server, the connection as a separate network segment. Public authorities and many companies use it as a reference, and certification to ISO 27001 is possible on this basis.
For private companies, IT-Grundschutz is generally not a legal obligation, but public contracting authorities may refer to it in tenders. The approach is extensive, and smaller operators tend to use it as a checklist. It describes what should be secured, not with which product. For individual connected devices, the BSI also publishes shorter recommendations that can be applied to players.