“Every year the results of F1 races depend more and more on technological innovation and the top teams are always looking for new ways to improve performance on the track. In 2017, after 10 years as a corporate customer, Citrix became an innovation partner from Red Bull Racing to help the team build the future of racing.”
You will not be surprised if I say that there is a lot of technology behind Formula 1. For many years now, Citrix has not only been an important financial sponsor, but also an important technological partner. The Red Bull Racing Team uses all of Citrix’s proven technologies, such as DaaS, NetScaler, and Content Collaboration. Max Verstappen has now managed to secure the world title for the second time. A super driver in a great car and we like to believe that Citrix has something to do with that!
The proof has been provided; Citrix is an A-class product. At the same time, we see that the market is changing. The published desktop is used differently and the requirements that are set change with it. We see that small and medium-sized businesses are the first to move away from published desktops and that users are increasingly working on laptops that have been rolled out with Intune (MEM). That is precisely why Citrix has started to innovate and focus on unlocking and securely offering both SaaS and legacy apps with Secure Private Access (SPA).
“Oracle Red Bull Racing’s “invisible driver”
Architecture based on ZTNA
Network and application security has become very complex. Citrix solutions make it easy. With Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), you can keep remote workers productive from anywhere without exposing your network or applications to Internet threats.
This solution is an ideal alternative to traditional VPN solutions. This network-centric security was adequate when employees were still coming to the office. Today, however, we work from many more different locations. We use networks and devices (BYOD) over which the IT department no longer has any control. This can lead to serious security issues.
Adaptive Authentication
Adaptive authentication is an effective method of verifying user identity and authorization levels based on factors such as location, device status, and end-user behavior. Using these contextual factors, adaptive authentication intelligently determines how and whether a user is authorized when launching a SaaS or legacy application. Because these factors can change during a user session, there must be an ongoing assessment of whether the security policy is still adhered to. Zero Trust is the basis for this new way of working and improves security.
The risk engine uses various factors for analytics, which determine whether a specific user session poses an increased risk. Then the authentication type is selected and what level of access may be granted based on preferences that have been set. In all low-risk activities, any changes and permissions are invisible to the individual user, so the experience is not interrupted.
There are several degrees of action that can be implemented depending on what the risk engine discovers in real-time. For example, if there is a perceived risk based on a user’s behavior, device type, or some other factor, the system can start monitoring activity. In the case of a higher risk, the user may be forced to confirm their identity through a multi-factor authentication (MFA) mechanism. If the risk score is high, the system will simply block access altogether.
Security Policies
With security policies, we can automate the process to continue scanning the location, device, or usage of the application the user is working with. For example, you can restrict the download of external content, prevent screen recordings, prevent copying/pasting, or place a watermark in the background of a document. This policy does not detect malware but prevents or restricts the user from interacting with an application in an insecure situation where malware attacks can easily occur.
Combined Forces
More and more projects are taking place in which laptops are rolled out with Intune (MEM) as a workplace. Sometimes companies still use traditional VPN clients. Using VPN works well and does what is needed, but it is not always user-friendly and needs configuration maintenance to let the users do their work remotely. With the use of Secure Private Access and the use of the Citrix Workspace App, the user experience is improved, and the endpoint is more secure with less maintenance. With the Citrix Workspace App, we provide the user with a consolidated portal where a user can launch SaaS and legacy applications at any place, anytime, anywhere with the security of ZTNA.
In addition, Citrix Secure Private Access can help consolidate Single Sign-on (SSO) across published applications, virtual apps, and desktops (CVAD). It protects malicious content such as keyloggers and screen capture malware, and browser isolation protects workspaces and networks from malicious content from the Internet.
Summary
The goal is to stay in the race. Not only for an F1 racing team but also you as an entrepreneur / IT manager. With the renewed Citrix Cloud Portal, you remain in control and can manage all aspects from one single point of entry.
Please get in touch with me or leave a comment, if you have any questions or want more information on this or other topics.