Partner Article

Citrix virtual desktop poses valuable opportunity to cybercriminals

Citrix virtual desktop has left companies vulnerable to malware attacks and like many applications, Citrix struggles to address this threat, according to Tom Lysemose Hansen, founder of Promon.

Malware, ‘Man in the app’ and other security concerns are proliferating through networks, where they sit inside the application – or on the device – corrupting the app and threatening the integrity of the app and therefore the business. Companies using Citrix thus need to put in place additional countermeasures to provide a safe user experience, even on devices that have been compromised or have vulnerabilities caused by the user. A proactive approach to security is needed that is able to deal with difficulties as they arise rather than after the attack takes place.

The security challenge for Citrix virtual desktop is compounded because it can operate cross-platform, thereby increasing the complexity of any solution providing protection against these cyber threats.

Tom Lysemose Hansen explains:

“Many people look at the cloud and applications as the number one source of threat, so virtual desktops can seem a surprising weakness as they have been a standard piece of technology for a number of years. However, hackers are able to quite easily access a user’s computer and then compromise their login details. After that, it is very straightforward to access the entire system. Most companies approach this problem by putting in place whole device protections. Unfortunately, it is very hard to keep remote devices secure all of the time because once the IT department has issued them, they are difficult to track and keep updated. Either that, or the device belongs to the user as part of a BYOD scheme. Therefore organisations need to work out how to stop malware from accessing employee devices, allowing safe access even when the device being used may already be compromised.”

“Unfortunately, there are still significant threats posed by malware that sits on the users remote device waiting for the opportunity to enter the wider IT network when the user signs in. The number of devices that employees use is increasing and IT leaders need to be alert to this issue,” Hansen concluded.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gordon Young .