Overview

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published the updated version of the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Security Capabilities Catalog (SCC) version 3.2. This new release incorporates essential updates based on the latest National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) Version 2.0, ensuring that TIC continues to adapt to modern technologies.

The SCC provides a comprehensive set of deployable security controls, capabilities, and best practices to assist federal agencies in implementing secure network environments. With this update, the catalog enhances the guidance for the secure implementation of technology solutions and ensures agencies remain compliant with cybersecurity standards.

The TIC 3.0 SCC serves as a foundational guide for federal agencies, enabling them to meet stringent security requirements across various computing environments. It offers a thorough catalog of security capabilities designed to protect federal information and mitigate cyber risks. By leveraging the latest NIST CSF mappings, the catalog helps agencies strengthen their cybersecurity postures through a series of strategic and technical security measures.

One of the important aspects of the TIC 3.0 SCC Version 3.2 is its alignment with the NIST CSF, which is structured around the core functions of Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. This mapping ensures that the security controls and capabilities within the catalog are aligned with best practices in risk management, incident detection, and threat response.

The Role of the Security Capabilities Catalog

The SCC is an important resource that assists agencies in applying best practices and risk management principles to protect information in various computing scenarios. This includes guidance for different networking environments, such as cloud, mobile, and traditional on-premises infrastructure. As the federal government continues to transition to more decentralized and cloud-based environments, the TIC 3.0 SCC helps agencies ensure that they maintain security measures across their entire IT ecosystem.

Agencies are encouraged to apply guidance within the SCC to identify potential risks and implement compensating controls when necessary. These controls address potential gaps or residual risks that might remain after deploying the recommended security capabilities. Additionally, CISA emphasizes the importance of collaborating with vendors to ensure that security solutions are adequately implemented, configured, and maintained. This collaboration ensures that agencies can fulfill security requirements and remain protected.

Security Objectives of Security Capabilities Catalog TIC 3.0

The TIC program outlines a set of security objectives aimed at mitigating risks and securing federal data as it moves through various trust zones. As federal agencies increasingly leverage cloud and mobile services, TIC’s security objectives are designed to provide consistent and scalable protections regardless of where the data resides or how it is transmitted.

The objectives of TIC 3.0 include:

1. Manage Traffic: This objective focuses on observing and filtering data connections to ensure they align with authorized activities. It also applies the principle of least privilege and default-deny policies.
2. Protect Traffic Confidentiality: This ensures that only authorized parties can access data in transit, protecting the confidentiality of sensitive government communications.
3. Protect Traffic Integrity: The integrity of data during transmission is critical to prevent and detect any alterations that could indicate a cyberattack or data breach.
4. Ensure Service Resiliency: With cyber threats constantly evolving, the ability to ensure the continuous operation of critical services and applications is a central focus of TIC 3.0.
5. Ensure Effective Response: This objective encourages agencies to establish processes for timely responses to cybersecurity incidents, with a focus on adapting security policies as new threats emerge.

These objectives are designed to align with the functions of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, ensuring that TIC 3.0 offers a comprehensive approach to securing federal networks.

Universal and PEP Security Capabilities

The SCC is divided into two main sections: Universal Security Capabilities and PEP (Policy Enforcement Point) Security Capabilities. These capabilities are critical in securing federal networks and ensuring agencies can manage cybersecurity risks efficiently.

Universal Security Capabilities

Universal security capabilities are high-level principles that are applicable to all federal agencies, irrespective of their individual use cases. These capabilities help agencies implement broad cybersecurity measures that apply to enterprise-level risks. Some of the key universal security capabilities include:

• Backup and Recovery: Ensures data and configurations are backed up and can be quickly restored after an incident, failure, or corruption.
• Central Log Management with Analysis: This function collects, stores, and analyzes telemetry to support security analysis and detect malicious activity.
• Incident Response Planning and Handling: Helps agencies prepare for and respond to cyberattacks, ensuring that recovery and detection measures are in place.
• Least Privilege: Grants minimum resources and authorizations necessary for entities to perform their functions, reducing exposure to potential threats.
• Patch Management: Identifies, acquires, installs, and verifies patches to secure systems from known vulnerabilities.

These capabilities are mapped to the NIST CSF, providing a comprehensive set of actions for each area. This ensures that agencies can implement the appropriate security measures based on the severity of the risk.

PEP Security Capabilities

The PEP capabilities focus on specific technical implementations and are more granular in nature. These capabilities support the TIC 3.0 security objectives and are aligned with Zero Trust Architectures. For example, the following PEP security capabilities are critical in network environments:

• Anti-malware: Detects and quarantines malicious code that could compromise the integrity of the network.
• Network Segmentation: Divides networks to reduce attack surfaces and limit the potential spread of cyber threats.
• Multi-factor Authentication: Adds an additional layer of authentication, ensuring that only authorized users gain access to sensitive data.

These PEP capabilities can be adapted depending on the agency’s specific requirements, such as the use of cloud, email, web, or network security solutions.

Conclusion

As cybersecurity threats become increasingly sophisticated, the TIC 3.0 SCC will continue to adapt to new changes. The document is periodically updated to reflect new security practices and technologies. Agencies are encouraged to actively engage with CISA and vendors to ensure that their implementations remain effective.

The TIC 3.0 SCC version 3.2 is a crucial update in protecting federal networks. As agencies adopt more complex computing environments, the need for new and upgraded security measures like the Security Capabilities Catalog, Trusted Internet Connections, and TIC frameworks grows. This updated catalog equips agencies with the tools to understand these challenges, ensuring the protection of sensitive information while maintaining secure operations.

References

• https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/updated-tic-30-security-capabilities-catalog-scc-v32
• https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-11/TIC%203.0%20Security%20Capabilities%20Catalog508%20v3.2%20%28Volume%203%29.pdf
• https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA_TIC%203.0%20Vol.%202%20Reference%20Architecture.pdf#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20TIC%203.0%20Reference%20Architecture,cases.%20The%20Reference%20Architecture%20can%20be%20leveraged%20to%3A

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