OMB seeks agency plans for fewer gateways

OMB provided guidance published April 7 for agencies concerning the information they must submit to propose their own solutions and their level of technical and business model capabilities to become a Trusted Internet Connection Access Provider. In November, OMB directed agencies to decrease the number of external connections to better protect agency data. OMB plans to limit agencies to a targeted total of 50 gateway connections from more than 1,000 currently, or to two or three each. Agencies, which have a target date of June 30 to consolidate and reduce the number of connections, can re-direct connections through a smaller set of portals. “It will improve the federal government’s incident response capability through the reduction of external connections and centralized gateway monitoring at a select group of TIC Access Providers,” said Karen Evans, OMB administrator for e-government and information technology. The Trusted Internet Connection is part of OMB’s Information System Security Line of Business initiative. The agency Statement of Capability is to be treated as sensitive but unclassified information, so it should be password-protected, said OMB. That agency, along with the ISS LOB Program Management Office, will review the submissions and follow up with agencies. Meeting the April 15 deadline for the agency statement of capability and plan of action and milestones to consolidate external connections will be included in agency performance measurements. OMB will include them in agencies’ fiscal 2008 third-quarter President’s Management Agenda score card for April 1 through June 30. By May 1, agencies agencies also must justify to OMB their targeted number of trusted Internet connections.