Citrix introduces Project Alcatraz
With the explosion of mobile devices entering the market and the critical importance of accessing corporate data securely, IT is struggling to keep up with their mobile user’s needs. We recently announced the availability of Project GoldenGate which is a MicroApp enabling email, calendaring and contacts to be managed in the enterprise datacentre. We are now pleased to announce the next instalment of Project San Francisco with the availability of the Project Alcatraz Technology Concept Release.
Project Alcatraz is intended to address the following:
- Enable rapid application reconnect
- Improve the user experience as users move from one network to another
- Enable enterprise control by enforcing the use of PINs on XenApp delivered applications
To address the scenario when a connected device may be unattended, lost, or stolen and used by a malicious 3rd party, Alcatraz allows a Citrix XenApp administrator who is delivering applications to mobile devices running the Citrix Receiver to enhance session security by adding an enterprise controlled PIN keypad lock which will become active after application inactivity, very much like the phone lock that mobile users are familiar with.
Additionally, one of the key benefits of Alcatraz is that it requires no modification to existing applications deployed in the corporate datacentre. By installing Alcatraz and making a slight modification to the application publishing settings within XenApp, any application can have the added security of a passcode keypad – ensuring that any phone or tablet that is left unattended or lost will not have an enterprise application left open for all to use.
As this is a new capability for Citrix, we have chosen to assess market interest and opportunity via a Technology Concept Release. As such the feature has been limited to highlight the key needs of the mobile space, additional capabilities have been designed, and these will be introduced based on your feedback. As yet, no decisions have been made around commercialization of this technology.