Incognito mode must be disabled.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-221578	SRG-APP-000080	DTBC-0030	SV-221578r960864_rule	2024-08-22	2

Description
Incognito mode allows the user to browse the Internet without recording their browsing history/activity. From a forensics perspective, this is unacceptable. Best practice requires that browser history is retained. The "IncognitoModeAvailability" setting controls whether the user may utilize Incognito mode in Google Chrome. If 'Enabled' is selected or the policy is left unset, pages may be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Disabled' is selected, pages may not be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Forced' is selected, pages may be opened ONLY in Incognito mode. 0 = Incognito mode available. 1 = Incognito mode disabled. 2 = Incognito mode forced.

Description

Incognito mode allows the user to browse the Internet without recording their browsing history/activity. From a forensics perspective, this is unacceptable. Best practice requires that browser history is retained. The "IncognitoModeAvailability" setting controls whether the user may utilize Incognito mode in Google Chrome. If 'Enabled' is selected or the policy is left unset, pages may be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Disabled' is selected, pages may not be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Forced' is selected, pages may be opened ONLY in Incognito mode. 0 = Incognito mode available. 1 = Incognito mode disabled. 2 = Incognito mode forced.

ℹ️ Check
Universal method: 1. In the omnibox (address bar) type chrome://policy 2. If IncognitoModeAvailability is not displayed under the Policy Name column or it is not set to 1 under the Policy Value column, then this is a finding. Windows method: 1. Start regedit 2. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ 3. If the IncognitoModeAvailability value name does not exist or its value data is not set to 1, then this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Universal method: 1. In the omnibox (address bar) type chrome://policy 2. If IncognitoModeAvailability is not displayed under the Policy Name column or it is not set to 1 under the Policy Value column, then this is a finding. Windows method: 1. Start regedit 2. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ 3. If the IncognitoModeAvailability value name does not exist or its value data is not set to 1, then this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Windows group policy: 1. Open the group policy editor tool with gpedit.msc 2. Navigate to Policy Path: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Google\Google Chrome\ Policy Name: Incognito mode availability Policy State: Enabled Policy Value: Incognito mode disabled