diff --git a/imageio/imageio-batik/pom.xml b/imageio/imageio-batik/pom.xml
index 385f6660..8e162958 100644
--- a/imageio/imageio-batik/pom.xml
+++ b/imageio/imageio-batik/pom.xml
@@ -88,6 +88,6 @@
     </dependencies>
 
     <properties>
-        <batik.version>1.9</batik.version>
+        <batik.version>1.12</batik.version>
     </properties>
 </project>
diff --git a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReader.java b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReader.java
index c55012de..5b776f14 100755
--- a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReader.java
+++ b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReader.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
  */
 public class SVGImageReader extends ImageReaderBase {
     private Rasterizer rasterizer;
+    private boolean allowExternalResources;
 
     /**
      * Creates an {@code SVGImageReader}.
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ public class SVGImageReader extends ImageReaderBase {
      */
     public SVGImageReader(final ImageReaderSpi pProvider) {
         super(pProvider);
+        allowExternalResources = true;
     }
 
     protected void resetMembers() {
@@ -116,6 +118,9 @@ public class SVGImageReader extends ImageReaderBase {
         if (pParam instanceof SVGReadParam) {
             SVGReadParam svgParam = (SVGReadParam) pParam;
 
+            // set the external-resource-resolution preference
+            allowExternalResources = svgParam.shouldAllowExternalResources();
+
             // Get the base URI
             // This must be done before converting the params to hints
             String baseURI = svgParam.getBaseURI();
@@ -641,6 +646,14 @@ public class SVGImageReader extends ImageReaderBase {
             public void displayMessage(String message) {
                 processWarningOccurred(message.replaceAll("[\\r\\n]+", " "));
             }
+
+            @Override
+            public ExternalResourceSecurity getExternalResourceSecurity(ParsedURL resourceURL, ParsedURL docURL) {
+                if (allowExternalResources) {
+                    return super.getExternalResourceSecurity(resourceURL, docURL);
+                }
+                return new NoLoadExternalResourceSecurity();
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGReadParam.java b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGReadParam.java
index 2d5ad4dd..12ec7899 100755
--- a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGReadParam.java
+++ b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/main/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGReadParam.java
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ import java.awt.*;
 public class SVGReadParam extends ImageReadParam {
     private Paint background;
     private String baseURI;
+    private boolean allowExternalResources;
+
+    public SVGReadParam() {
+        super();
+        allowExternalResources = true;
+    }
 
     public Paint getBackgroundColor() {
         return background;
@@ -58,6 +64,14 @@ public class SVGReadParam extends ImageReadParam {
         baseURI = pBaseURI;
     }
 
+    public void allowExternalResources(boolean bAllow) {
+        allowExternalResources = bAllow;
+    }
+
+    public boolean shouldAllowExternalResources() {
+        return allowExternalResources;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public boolean canSetSourceRenderSize() {
         return true;
diff --git a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/test/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReaderTest.java b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/test/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReaderTest.java
index 21c30f3b..9a2c8863 100755
--- a/imageio/imageio-batik/src/test/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReaderTest.java
+++ b/imageio/imageio-batik/src/test/java/com/twelvemonkeys/imageio/plugins/svg/SVGImageReaderTest.java
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
-import java.nio.Buffer;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -67,6 +66,7 @@ import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
  * @version $Id: SVGImageReaderTest.java,v 1.0 Apr 1, 2008 10:39:17 PM haraldk Exp$
  */
 public class SVGImageReaderTest extends ImageReaderAbstractTest<SVGImageReader> {
+
     private SVGImageReaderSpi provider = new SVGImageReaderSpi();
 
     protected List<TestData> getTestData() {
@@ -306,4 +306,26 @@ public class SVGImageReaderTest extends ImageReaderAbstractTest<SVGImageReader>
             reader.dispose();
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    @Test(expected = SecurityException.class)
+    public void testDisallowedExternalResources() throws URISyntaxException, IOException {
+        URL resource = getClassLoaderResource("/svg/barChart.svg");
+
+        SVGImageReader reader = createReader();
+
+        TestData data = new TestData(resource, (Dimension) null);
+        try (ImageInputStream stream = data.getInputStream()) {
+            reader.setInput(stream);
+
+            SVGReadParam param = reader.getDefaultReadParam();
+            param.setBaseURI(resource.toURI().toASCIIString());
+            param.allowExternalResources(false);
+            // `reader.read` for `/svg/barChart.svg` should raise
+            // a SecurityException when External Resources are blocked
+            reader.read(0, param);
+        }
+        finally {
+            reader.dispose();
+        }
+    }
+}