TIC 3.0 – Federal agency internet connections

Summary

The Trusted Internet Connections programme, launched in 2007 to reduce and monitor the internet access points of federal networks, was refocused by OMB memorandum M-19-26 of 2019 to help agencies move to cloud, mobile and zero trust. CISA's core guidance consists of five documents to be used together and in sequence: the programme guidebook (history, principles, security objectives and transition strategy), the reference architecture, the security capabilities catalog, the use case handbook and the overlay handbook for provider services. The use cases cover the traditional set-up, branch offices, remote users and the cloud. The programme shifts from uniform control requirements to a flexible perimeter, tailored to the risk of each scenario, without requiring all traffic to pass through TIC access points.

Information

Jurisdiction

United States

Issuing body

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

Type

Guideline / framework / standard

Available languages

English

Topics

• Digital public administration
• Cloud computing
• Telecommunications

Notes

The programme guidebook was published in draft in December 2019 and as version 1.0 in July 2020, after consultation; it was updated in July 2021 (version 1.1) and July 2025 (version 1.2, adding the Govern function of NIST CSF 2.0 and zero trust architecture). In September 2026 CISA republished all the core documents to reflect the agency's organisational changes, without technical changes. The TIC programme originated with OMB memorandum M-08-05 of 20 November 2007; CISA describes the cloud use case as the last one required by memorandum M-19-26.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). (2020). Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents. https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/trusted-internet-connections-tic-30-core-guidance-documents

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). "Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents." July 2020. https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/trusted-internet-connections-tic-30-core-guidance-documents.

@misc{us_cisa_tic_3_0_core_guidance_2020,
  author       = {{Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)}},
  title        = {{Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents}},
  year         = {2020},
  url          = {https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/trusted-internet-connections-tic-30-core-guidance-documents},
  urldate      = {2026-11-02}
}