The General Services Administration will automatically enforce a communications protocol in modern web browsers for newly-established executive branch .gov domains and subdomains in a push to help agencies achieve secure communications.
GSA’s Marina Fox and Eric Mill wrote in a post published Thursday the dotgov.gov program will submit newly registered executive branch domains to web browsers for preloading and browsers will strictly implement Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure for the new domains and subdomains when preloading takes effect.
The report noted that GSA plans to implement the new HTTPS preloading process in the Spring of 2017 and DotGov domain owners will receive notifications via email 30 days prior to the launch of the changes.
Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott issued guidance for agencies to transition all public-facing federal websites and web services to HTTPS in September 2015 in support of efforts to secure connections.
The agency offers guidance to agencies on HTTPS deployment via the https.cio.gov website and encourages .gov domain owners to utilize general public-trusted free certificates.
