In the rapidly evolving business landscape across all verticals, remote work has become the new normal, and no longer the exception. One of the major challenges for C-level executives and business owners is the protection of their organization’s data while ensuring the necessary regulatory compliance. Compliance, particularly as we dive into specific industries, can feel like a hard to contain many-tentacled beast. Let’s take a look at the key concerns and talk about some ways we’re helping our customers address them with simplicity and security.
First let’s look at four key topics to increase security & compliance and decrease complexity for employees at the same time: ISO 27001, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and, for certain industries, data clearance & compliance.
ISO 27001
ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for managing information security. It includes procedures for identifying potential security risks and designing systems to monitor and manage risks[1] with solutions like Citrix Analytics for Security. Remote work involves accessing corporate systems and data from various locations, which inherently increases the risk of breaches. Thus, compliance with ISO 27001 can provide a structured approach to managing and mitigating these risks.
GDPR
The GDPR is an EU regulation that requires organizations to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens[2]. Any U.S. company that deals with EU citizens’ data must comply with this regulation, irrespective of the company’s physical location. GDPR applies similarly to European-based companies, highlighting the need for a comprehensive data protection framework.
Compliance with GDPR is important as it can spare you unnecessary fines and fees. An excerpt from GDPR-info.eu on this topic states, “For especially severe violations, listed in Art. 83(5) GDPR, the fine framework can be up to 20 million euros, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 4% of their total global turnover of the preceding fiscal year, whichever is higher.” Recent cases, which are publicly available, regularly list fines ranging from EUR 25,000 – 50,000, while a few cases from telecommunications industry with fines as high as 1m up to 7m can be found.
PII
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to any data that could potentially identify a specific individual[3]. Remote work extends the boundaries of where this data is accessed and processed, making its security a priority for organizations. Data clearance refers to the process of ensuring that no sensitive data remains on a storage medium after it’s no longer needed[4]. In a world where data, apps and web have connected more than ever before, tracking and monitoring clipboard and file down- & upload activity has become a crucial component and should be part of any security concept.
With Citrix Analytics for Security, customers are better positioned to identify issues such as credential sharing, the use of unapproved, consumer-grade VPN solutions, or unauthorized “workation” (Work-from-Vacation). Out-of-the-box Risk Indicators and Custom Risk Indicators allow you to tailor and define what a threat and its associated severity could look like in your organization. Policies allow defining actions to trigger, based on single or combined risks.
This allows IT & SOC teams to take proactive actions, shorten time to resolution and allows them to review the incident timeline any time later. Citrix Analytics at the same time is sharing these events and risks details with SIEM & monitoring solutions already in place today allowing you to decrease the implementation efforts to a minimum.
Data Protection Challenges
As business leaders contemplate different remote work use cases, they need to evaluate the related data protection challenges. For example, teleworkers accessing company systems from their homes may pose the least risk if they are adequately trained in secure data handling practices and provided with secure, company-approved devices.
Call centers and customer support personnel often handle sensitive customer data, making these roles an underestimated high-risk profile. Therefore, robust data protection training and stringent monitoring of data handling practices is crucial. Citrix Session Recording can dynamically start recording when certain events or anomalies are detected by Citrix Analytics, while a policy-driven engine can trigger recording for specific users or applications at any time.
These and many other consumption patterns of desktops, apps and data are available at your fingertips in Citrix Analytics and are ready for processing in supported data export destinations such as Splunk, Sentinel, or ElasticSearch too.
The case for remote accounting roles might be more complex. Accounting professionals handle highly sensitive financial data. However, given the right controls – such as secure data transmission, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict access controls – these personas and their applications can be individually enhanced with Citrix App Protection.
The shift to remote work is inevitable.
The future of work is constantly changing, and everyone seems to agree that remote work is going to stay for a good portion of employees. It is crucial for organizations to understand the regulatory requirements and to implement technical solutions addressing these needs.
Citrix offers solutions which in addition help to improve the user experience and security at the same time.
All capabilities and features of Citrix Analytics, Session Recording and App Protection discussed up to this point in the blog enhance productivity, reduce IT complexity, and boost security, delivering an optimal work-from-home experience. These components mentioned are all part of Citrix DaaS Premium Plus.
With Citrix Analytics[5], organizations and IT teams are able to make data-driven decisions and reviews, no longer relying on subjective experiences or guesswork.
Security adapts to the user’s behavior, becoming more flexible, while organizations can simultaneously provide the seamless logon experience that you and your users look for.
Once onboarded, both Citrix Analytics for Security and Performance, make use of the same data sources and events. Citrix Analytics for Performance will allow you to achieve the best possible End-User-Computing Experience (EUCx) with the most efficient deployment – on any device, at any location, at any time.
To learn more about Citrix Analytics, or see it live in action, get in contact with your Citrix Partner or local Citrix account team.
If you would like to test drive it today with your Citrix On-Premises or Citrix Cloud environment, have a closer look at our PoC guide and start a free 30-day trial on citrix.cloud.com.
Footnotes
- “ISO/IEC 27001 Information security management,” ISO, Link
- “General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” European Commission, Link
- “Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information (PII),” NIST, Link
- “Guidelines for Media Sanitization,” NIST, Link
- “The Business Value of Citrix Analytics for Performance,” IDC, Link
