Credit: Citrix
CitriX has become the latest vendor to be awarded the Federal Government’s “protected” status, giving it the ability to handle classified and highly sensitive data.
The virtualisation vendor earned the protected certification for its Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service, which includes its Workspace platform, Citrix Gateway service for HDX Proxy and Citrix Identity.
The clearance follows an assessment under the Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) from the Australian Signals Directorate's (ASD).
As a result of the clearance, Citrix customer the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is looking to build on its hybrid IT strategy, as it already utilises its services, according to ABS CISO Julian Doak.
“By reducing the complexity and embracing the benefits of Citrix managed services, we have retained control of where and how we deploy our workloads both on premise and in the cloud," he said.
"This hybrid approach will be particularly important during Census, where Citrix Cloud will provide the agility needed to quickly scale up and down to suit fluctuating workloads."
Safi Obeidullah, field CTO of Asia Pacific and Japan at Citrix, said the certification comes amid Australian businesses embracing remote working.
“As remote working styles become more common and the needs of Australian workplaces shift, it is essential we keep pace with new developments and regulations in order to maintain the highest level of data and application security,” he said.
“This assessment is a reflection on Citrix’s continued commitment to provide partners and customers with the utmost transparency and accessibility. Businesses deserve safe and secure access to their most valuable assets, especially at a time of great economic and social uncertainty that has forced so many Australians to work remotely.
“This IRAP assessment represents the highest standard of protection for data available in Australia, and our partners and customers should feel more confident than ever.”
Citrix's protected level classification in IRAP comes months after the virtualisation vendor's Workspace product was selected by Microsoft in a multi-year agreement as its preferred digital workspace solution back in July.
Additionally, the agreement also saw Microsoft Azure being the preferred platform for on-premises Citrix customers into the cloud.
