Trusted Internet Connections (TIC)

Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) is a mandate from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reduce the number of Internet gateways on the federal government network and ensure that all external connections are routed through a government agency that has been designated as an approved TIC Access Provider.

The goal of Trusted Internet Connections is to document existing public Internet connections on government networks and create plans to limit the number of public Internet access points so data coming in and out can be monitored and analyzed more effectively. The initiative is intended to make implementation of Einstein, an intrusion detection system (IDS), easier by reducing the number of gateways from 1,000 to 50. Those 50 gateways will become the perimeter of the federal government network.

Learn more:

OMB's administrator for e-government and IT clarifies the goals of the Trusted Internet Connections initiative.

Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, issued an update to the Update on the Trusted Internet Connections Initiative in September 2009.

Michael Cobb answers the question: "Is security improved when the number of Internet gateways is reduced?"