OMB POLICY STATEMENTS
OMB To Sever Agencies Internet Connections
The Office of Management and Budget's Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) initiative is seeking to close off most Internet links at all government agencies. he new initiative requires agencies to implement real-time gateway monitoring, which has been a deficit in federal network protection. The TIC initiative mandates that officials develop plans for limiting the number of Internet connections into their departments and agencies. OMB officials want to reduce the number of gateways from the more than 1,000 to about 50, said Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for e-government and information technology. The initiative also asks chief information officers to develop a plan of action and milestones for participating in the Homeland Security Department's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team's Einstein initiative. The program offers agencies real-time gateway monitoring capabilities and helps them react more quickly to security incidents. About 13 agencies voluntarily participate in the Einstein program.