ABDO

The Algemene Beveiligingseisen voor Defensieopdrachten (ABDO, General Security Requirements for Defence Contracts) are the security requirements the Dutch Ministry of Defence imposes on companies that handle classified or otherwise sensitive defense information under a contract. The current edition, ABDO 2017, took effect June 1, 2017 and replaced ABDO 2006.

It is organized into requirement areas for governance and organization, personnel security, physical security of locations and rooms, and cyber security, the last of which is the largest chapter and was new in 2017.

The Bureau Industrieveiligheid (Industrial Security Bureau) of the military intelligence service MIVD authorizes contractors, inspects them, and can withdraw authorization; contract termination and, for serious breaches, prosecution are the sanctions.

A successor framework known as ABRO (Algemene Beveiligingseisen Rijksoverheidsopdrachten) is being introduced for wider central government contracts, so companies should check which set applies to a given tender.

In writing, an ABDO contractor needs an appointed security officer and deputy, a security plan approved by the Bureau, personnel security procedures tied to Dutch security clearances (VGB), classified information handling and registration procedures, physical security descriptions of the approved rooms and containers, an information security policy and controls for the systems that process the information, incident reporting procedures to the Bureau, and records of training and internal checks.