by Helen Kruger, Troye CEO

CIOs must shift their security approach from unconditional confidence in users to zero-trust fundamentals. A zero-trust model relies on contextual awareness to adaptively grant access to authorised users using patterns based on identity, time and device posture.

This approach tightens the reins on access security while giving users a choice of devices and apps. At the same time, they need to protect their users, apps and data with end-to-end contextual access. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021. Accenture points to internal attacks from malicious insiders as the most common attacks.

CIOs are now responsible for managing a larger attack surface than ever, thanks to end users relying on personal devices for work, and accessing cloud apps and corporate resources from remote locations. But how can they deliver the access their employees need to do their best work while protecting the business from internal attacks?

Reduce the attack surface

Too often, businesses get stuck in an endless cycle of adding point products like SSL VPN, single sign-on, and endpoint management to address new security use cases. This not only increases complexity, but also creates a fractured experience for end users.

Forrester reports that organisations pursuing zero trust can see significant benefits from choosing a single vendor. Citrix Workspace offers an end-to-end solution to implement zero trust principles, avoiding the gaps left from relying on assorted point solutions. Instead of trying to protect data and resources around the user, Citrix Workspace reduces your attack surface by protecting the user and the apps inside the workspace, where work actually gets done.

Enable remote access without VPN

Remote users need easy access to web applications, but relying on traditional VPN solutions can create significant security risks. If bad actors can gain access through the SSL VPN, they have free reign over an entire network. Businesses therefore need a contextual security solution to meet zero trust requirements while enabling BYOD and access to apps deployed in a cloud.

Citrix Workspace provides a secure space to work by enabling users to remotely access web applications deployed on premises using any device - without needing to access the entire network.

Total security

One small user mistake can cost millions. In fact, on average, a single data breach can total nearly $4-million. This makes it vital for a security strategy to address threats like malicious URLs being accessed, keyloggers, or screen-capturing malware for both managed and unmanaged devices.

A zero-trust approach requires more than strict enrolment policies for employee devices. Citrix Workspace with Citrix secure workspace access goes beyond traditional single sign-on and multi-factor authentication to provide advanced, contextual access management tools for IT.

This includes the ability to disable printing, copying, and pasting in certain scenarios, while Citrix secure browser isolates web traffic from the corporate network. Additionally, Citrix endpoint management keeps BYO, corporate and other managed devices secure by isolating and protecting apps and content accessed in the workspace.

Expand cloud security

Citrix Workspace equips IT with proactive app protection and security policies that let users access all their SaaS and business apps through the Citrix Workspace app. To further protect branch users, Citrix SD-WAN combines comprehensive, cloud-delivered security to provide employees with a great experience, using any app or device.

This masks users and infrastructure from cyber-surveillance and encrypts all branch-to-branch egress traffic to prevent interception. By adding this architecture to the full-stack security of Citrix Workspace, one enables multi-layer security from a centralised location to all branches.

This is a simpler and lower cost solution than installing multiple firewalls across the entire organisation.