Organisations today are faced with the challenge of administering and controlling secure access policies for a growing population of internal and external users who need to be able to access a wide range of applications, systems and information resources.
Integrated single sign-on enterprise solutions assist in increasing IT security by enabling the deployment and migration to strong multi-factor authentication without requiring application changes. Such systems also address regulatory compliance requirements for greater accountability and controls on who can access private information.
Chris Norton, Country Manager of Citrix Systems SA, defines user authentication as a business requirement for organisations to ensure the security of important company information and intellectual property. Norton believes that while user authentication is beneficial to companies in an effort to protect information, it has become a burden for the end-user.
In everyday life, people have passwords to enter into various applications and devices, whether it is a PC, a bank account with online access or even to operate a mobile device such as a cellphone or PDA. For the user of all these applications and devices, it can become a cumbersome and confusing task to remember all the different passwords. For these people, single sign-on solutions like Citrix`s Password Manager will simplify the access process.
A key component of Citrix`s MetaFrame Access Suite, Citrix MetaFrame Password Manager is built on the principle that an access infrastructure should be secure by design. With Citrix`s Secure by Design capability, secure access is provided as an architectural necessity, rather than an afterthought.
"For companies who don`t have an authentication process built into its systems, it is something that should be considered in order to assure that information is not vulnerable and open to breaches," comments Norton.
Within Citrix`s MetaFrame Access Suite, applications are centralised on Citrix servers, placing access control completely in the hands of the IT administrative staff, while policy-based controls allow organisations to easily restrict who, within the organisation, gets access to what information and when. The information is virtualised and encrypted for transmission, enabling secure use of untrusted networks.
To pose an example of the above called Smart Access, employees working in an office environment and accessing information via the local area network (LAN) on a trusted corporate device, are able to access and make changes to documents. However, if information is being accessed from elsewhere on a non-corporate or untrusted device, limited access is granted based on corporate defined parameters in order to ensure the security of information and integrity of data.
Finally, Citrix efficiently guards the front door of any resource through effective and efficient management of the authentication process delivered through a range of access gateways. Altogether, this approach to security provides the right degree of protection for organisations that want to ensure extended access without compromising security.
"With Citrix MetaFrame Password Manager, our customers are given the tools they need to better protect sensitive data and applications by centralising password management and maintenance within their current access and security infrastructure," concludes Norton.
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