The COVID-19 outbreak has required companies from all sectors to rapidly migrate to a completely online workplace, exposing many to a varied trove of cybersecurity threats and attacks. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported a 400% increase in the number of cyberattack complaints. Citrix, a software company specializing in designing tools to facilitate remote workplaces, has launched two new secure access offerings to help companies secure their online workspaces and streamline digital work processes.

Two New Launches

“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. Citrix aims to provide a unified toolbox for clients to be able to manage all their remote working needs and cybersecurity challenges.

To help companies adapt to their growing digital needs, they’ve launched two new secure access technologies: Citrix Secure Internet Access and Citrix Secure Workspace Access.

Citrix Secure Internet Access delivers an all-in-one cloud-based security stack. The technology allows employees to access applications safely with the backing of tools such as secure web gateway, next-generation firewall, cloud access security broker (CASB), DLP, sandboxing and AI-driven attack detection.

Citrix Secure Workspace Access creates zero trust accessibility to corporate applications that avoids the use of VPNs and traditional SSO measures.

With these new technologies, Citrix offers companies a unified approach to cybersecurity and managing their remote workspaces. The technologies are also integrated into existing network techframes, as they are compatible with third-party SD-WAN infrastructure, although Citrix offers its own SD-WAN for ease and functionality.

The Road to Secure Access Services Edge (SASE)

SASE, or Secure Access Services Edge, is a term coined by Gartner in its 2019 The Future of Technologies in the Cloud report. It describes “a network architecture that combines WAN capabilities with cloud-native security functions like secure web gateways, cloud access security brokers, firewalls, and zero-trust network access.”

According to the report, Gartner projects that “by 2024, at least 40% of enterprises will have explicit strategies to adopt SASE, up from less than 1% at year-end 2018.” SASE has become the new standard for companies as they move toward an increasingly all-virtual operation.

With this new launch, Citrix is putting companies on the path of integrating SASE into their systems while also preserving usability. Sriram Sitaraman, Chief Information Officer of Synopsys, spoke to the significance of optimizing employee experience with Citrix’s new offerings: “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.”

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Lydia You is a computer scientist from Princeton University living in New York City. She is a Tech Innovation Fellow at Identity Review covering the intersection of technology, internet culture and the future of digital media.