OIS · Organisation of Information Security
OIS-06 Contact with Relevant Government Agencies and Interest Groups
Changed since C5:2020 · formerly OIS-05
Basic criterion
Removed former basic criterion. Instead, the former additional criterion was turned into a basic criterion to focus OIS-06 on cloud services used by public sector organisations.
Additional criterion
Additional criterion turned into basic criterion.
Wording in C5:2020
Basic criterion
The Cloud Service Provider leverages relevant authorities and interest groups in order to stay informed about current threats and vulnerabilities. The information flows into the procedures for handling risks (cf. OIS-06) and vulnerabilities (cf. OPS-19).
Additional criterion
If the cloud service is used by public sector organisations in Germany, the Cloud Service Provider leverages contacts with the National IT Situation Centre and the CERT Association of the BSI.
Basic criterion
If the cloud service is used by public sector organisations in Germany, the cloud service provider establishes and maintains contacts with the National IT Situation Centre and the CERT Association of the BSI as appropriate.
Supplementary information
Public sector organisations in Germany are e.g. ministries and authorities. If the cloud service provider does not have customers in the public sector, this criterion is not applicable.
As appropriate means that contacts are established when there is an actual need to do so. For instance, establishing contact with CERT typically involves the reporting of security incidents to CERT and following CERT's communication channels to stay informed about current threats, vulnerabilities and security guidance. Maintaining contact in the sense of OIS-06.01B does in this instance not require the cloud service provider to proactively communicate with CERT unprompted.
For KRITIS (critical infrastructure), as defined in section 2(10) of the BSI Act (BSIG), similar requirements to maintain contact with government agencies and stakeholders may apply under German national law.
BSI text from C5:2026 and its changelog: © Federal Office for Information Security 2026, reproduced unchanged under CC BY-ND 4.0. Unofficial site, not affiliated with BSI. Licence and sources