Secure Remote Access for Financial Services With Citrix Cloud
For one of our financial services clients, keeping the IT environment secure has become paramount in the face of rising cybersecurity threats and unending data breaches. This is even more true as the industry shifts its reliance from on-premises data centers and business systems to cloud technologies, mobile platforms, and API-driven applications.
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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen extreme changes in remote access needs for the general workforce population. Enterprise organizations are more vulnerable than ever, with attackers capitalizing on increased attack surfaces and pandemic distractions. Scaling remote access to enable continued employee productivity is the number one concern for many businesses today.
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Their need for secure remote access capabilities is further highlighted by the rapidly growing remote workforce needing access to internal services with privileges traditionally managed with identity and access management (IAM) solutions. The rules have changed, the policies and controls are a constant work-in-progress. It’s a gap many companies are working to fill, especially in the face of ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.
Solutions to the Challenge of Securing Remote User Access Involve:
Clearly-articulated cybersecurity policies and related controls for remote workers
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems
Regular remote employee security training
In-transit, and at-rest encryption software
Other approaches tailored to the specifics of their technology stack, applications, and the overall operating environment
The Challenges of Moving to Cloud-Based Remote Access
Organizations that have mature system deployment workflows in place, along with multi-factor authentication and other standard defense procedures see that these systems work well within the confines of their on-premises infrastructures and applications. However, as they transform their business to allow their data to be stored, managed, and accessed through new cloud-based environments, they will face new requirements such as:
Add-on VPN connections
Growing BYOD remote workforce
Remote partner access
Vast endpoint network based on global customer usage
This financial services client turned to Burwood Group to help with the operational transition to the cloud and remote work. This transition also created a need for new processes and learning paths as their teams quickly realized the need to maintain, monitor, and protect their environment in new ways.
Selecting the Best Secure Remote Solutions for Business Continuity
Business continuity is vital. Not only is it a necessary investment to securely maintain day to day business, but this client, like most in the finance sector, are also bound to standards and regulations that require these investments.
The move to a remote workforce enabled through cloud technologies doesn’t remove this burden. In fact, it could heighten the need. But when addressed with the vigor appropriate for this type of transformation, selecting the right remote security solution will allow the organization to continue to excel in their ability to keep the company hitting top performance metrics while also creating tighter controls over the data than was previously possible.
An Example of Protecting Against Ransomware with a Secure Remote Access Solution
Because of the nature of their business, our client’s concern was keeping their business running in the face of constant ransomware threats. With locations worldwide and over 10,000 users, our client wanted the assurance that if an attack succeeded, they’d be able to pivot and spin up virtual resources so they could keep the wheels safely turning while getting their users back online with as little disruption to their financial services as possible. In their industry, time is money; no question about it.
The Burwood Group team helped evaluate the company’s needs and pointed them to a secure remote access solution with the intent to move away from traditional on-premise data deployment cycles to one that could leverage the cloud-first Microsoft Azure giving them the ability to bring virtual resources online quickly while providing comprehensive data backup and recovery options in line with their stringent business continuity plan.
Choosing Citrix Cloud as a Remote Security Solution
Citrix Cloud offered optimal control and operational efficiencies for the financial sector. Citrix Cloud, with Azure Virtual Desktops, let the Burwood Group team implement a collaborative approach with financial and IT SMEs that was customized for the company’s unique needs, compliance regulations, and customer service standards.
“Citrix Cloud, with Azure Virtual Desktops, let the Burwood Group team implement a collaborative approach with financial and IT SMEs that was customized for the company’s unique needs, compliance regulations, and customer service standards. ”
After the preliminary assessments and scope of work, our team received executive buy-in and went to work. We put the Citrix Cloud control pane in place and got the virtual resources secured in swift order—all while minimizing disruption to ongoing operations. We helped our client establish secure connections for end-users working remotely and ensured that devices at risk of remote compromise were isolated entirely from internal workloads and data without impairing the user experience.
Citrix Cloud for Remote Access
This financial services client can now leverage Citrix Cloud to dynamically provision workloads in public cloud spaces and react to and recover from threats more effectively.
Burwood Group helps many clients like this to determine the best solution for their unique situations. We also assist with rapid setup and deployment to ensure things are defined, developed, and implemented with a security-first mindset. We help our clients establish self-managed interfaces while streamlining the transition and speeding up deployment to keep operations running smoothly.
We’re proud of our trusted reputation, the growing number of partnerships we’ve established, and the plethora of advisory services we offer, all of which come together to create meaningful and feasible, roadmaps designed to take our customers’ current environments successfully transform them into secure, cloud-native, remote-ready operating environments.
Contact us today to learn how you can partner with Burwood Group to take advantage of robust solutions like Citrix Cloud.
December 17, 2021
