Citrix Sets New Standard for Digital Workspace Security

The rapid move to the cloud and remote work prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic are creating dynamic work environments that promise to drive new levels of productivity and innovation. But they have also opened the door to a host of new security and reliability concerns and sparked a significant increase in cyberattacks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported a 400% increase in the number of cyberattack complaints since the pandemic began and more workers have had to access corporate resources remotely. To help companies defend themselves, Citrix® Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is introducing two new workspace security solutions designed to secure access and protect applications wherever work needs to get done.

“Organizations are struggling with solutions designed for defending static perimeters in today’s dynamic enterprise environments, and there is a critical need for a new approach,” said John Grady, cybersecurity analyst at independent research firm ESG. “Organizations expect improved security, performance, and efficiency through solutions that provide centralized management and distributed enforcement across the entire environment.”

A Unified Approach

Citrix delivers on this through an application-centric approach that starts with the digital workspace. In a single solution, Citrix combines a full cloud-delivered security stack integrated with identity-aware Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and an application-aware SD-WAN that allows companies to deliver cloud and Internet-based applications securely with high performance and reliability across work environments.

With the two new secure access offerings announced today, companies can accelerate their journey to a Secure Access Services Edge (SASE) and future proof their security investments:

Citrix Secure Internet Access - A comprehensive, global cloud security service that addresses the security requirements of modern enterprises. This includes secure web gateway, next-generation firewall, cloud access security broker (CASB), DLP, sandboxing and AI-driven attack detection.

Citrix Secure Workspace Access – A VPN-less solution that delivers zero trust access to corporate web and SaaS applications accessed from managed and BYO devices.

Complemented by Citrix SD-WAN, the solutions – which can be purchased and used separately or together - also plug and play with third-party SD-WAN infrastructure, enabling companies to maximize their existing investments.

“Modern enterprises require an intelligent approach to workspace security that protects employees, following the Zero Trust model, without getting in the way of their experience,” said Fermin Serna, Chief Information Security Office, Citrix. “And that is what Citrix digital workspace security solutions are uniquely designed to deliver.”

A recent survey of IT decision makers conducted by Pulse and Citrix, confirms this notion. Of 100 executives and managers polled in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region, polled, 97 percent cited employee experience as a key influence on their security strategy. And 75 percent said they are looking to improve the user experience through their design and execution.

In embracing Citrix’s approach to security, companies can:

• Enhance security and productivity through identity-aware, zero trust access to all cloud and internet-based applications and virtual desktops.
• Leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide real-time insights into user behavior and automate the process of preventing cybersecurity breaches - all while maintaining a reliable digital workspace experience for employees.
• Identify specific security incidents, atypical activity and policy violations using built-in forensics and detailed search into all traffic and user behavior.
• Protect against all threats, everywhere leveraging more than 100 global points-of-presence, powered by over 10 threat intelligence engines.
• Provide full coverage for all popular Cloud and SaaS properties, devices and operating systems, leaving no gap for access security coverage.
• Deliver consistently fast application performance regardless of network availability with built-in SD-WAN, application optimization and peering with thousands of SaaS services.

And many are on the path to doing so.

“We are adopting more of the public cloud (IaaS, SaaS and hosted Apps), and we need resilient and secure channels that allow us to access them in an innovative and integrated way and ensure a consistent user experience,” said Sriram Sitaraman, Chief Information Officer, Synopsys. “With Citrix® Workspace™, we have started to move beyond traditional VPN solutions and now provide our employees and partners with zero trust and secure access to their infrastructure on corporate managed or BYO devices. And we can do it all within a single pane of glass, while maintaining a superior employee experience, which is very appealing.”