The healthcare industry has long been overburdened by slow-moving innovation due to the complexity of the medical ecosystem. Healthcare IT will tell you that healthcare is one of the most traditional industries and is averse to change. After all, it’s a highly regulated industry where a simple mishap with availability, security, or compliance can turn into a costly lawsuit.

Just imagine the potential disruption to a hospital’s operations. If any system stops working, chaos can ensue, from patient check-ins to MRI scans. This could lead to critical life-and-death scenarios in many healthcare environments.

Given the circumstances, it is understandable that healthcare providers are conservative with changes and require infrastructure and software suppliers to abide by requirements around performance, security, and availability.

The good news is that the healthcare industry is, without doubt, experiencing a phenomenal innovation and technology transformation. From new artificial hearts to electronic aspirin and nanobots, the healthcare industry is evolving to become more agile, efficient, and cost-effective.

However, the cybersecurity pandemic has directly affected healthcare providers, which now also need to deal with a growing ransomware threat and take immediate precautions against attacks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights keep an active list with cases currently under investigation.

Healthcare and Zero Trust with Citrix

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops offers an additional layer of protection by making sure information is never on the device used to access patient-sensitive data. Beyond that, mobile access also enables healthcare professionals to take their devices from room to room with them, resulting in a more fluid, versatile approach to in-patient care.

While Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops provides secure access to EMR systems such as Epic and Cerner through virtualization, many healthcare applications may not require the virtualization approach but still need to be securely accessed and comply with HIPAA, HITECH, PII and PHI regulations. That is the case with private or even SaaS applications.

An organization’s security approach today must shift from unconditional confidence in users to zero trust fundamentals. Instead of assuming everything behind the firewall is safe, the zero trust model assumes a breach and verifies each request as though it originates from an open network. Regardless of where the request originates or what resource it accesses, zero trust teaches us to “never trust, always verify.”

A zero trust model relies on contextual awareness to adaptively grant access to authorized users using patterns based on identity, time, geolocation, and device posture. This tightens the reins on access security while giving your doctors and nurses their choice of devices and location flexibility.

Zero Trust goes beyond networking, users, devices, networks, applications, and even how people work. It’s designed to adhere to the NIST’s zero trust tenets. It encompasses all resources and communication being secured. Access is granted on a per-session basis and is continuously enforced dynamically. Authentication is required to access any resource, and infrastructure and resources are constantly monitored.

Citrix Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Zero trust network access (ZTNA) is a component of the broader zero trust security strategy and abstracts and centralizes access mechanisms granting appropriate access based on the user identity, devices, and context such as time, geolocation, and device posture. The result is a more secure and resilient environment, with improved flexibility and better monitoring. The key ZTNA attributes applicable to healthcare providers are:

  • The access is brokered at the app layer, preventing network-level threats
  • The access is allowed only after verifying trust and authentication
  • The solution is continuously monitored and adaptively enforced
  • Since it is a cloud service, it works across geos and enables autoscaling
  • It provides the best user experience, eliminating backhauling and privacy concerns

Citrix Secure Workspace Access

Citrix Secure Workspace Access provides a zero trust approach to accessing healthcare applications and services securely. With advanced security controls for managed, unmanaged, and BYO devices, it’s ideal for healthcare IT and medical care professionals alike.

Citrix Secure Workspace Access also includes the capability to secure managed and unmanaged devices by scrambling keystrokes and returning screenshots as blank screens, protecting PHI and PII data from keyloggers or screenshot malware. The anti-screenshot and anti-keylogger capabilities work natively with Citrix Workspace, enabling BYO programs without introducing risk.

Finally, browsing the internet poses another risk to healthcare providers, exposing them to vulnerabilities in websites, browsers, and browser plug-ins. Malware that might live on devices can also pose a serious risk to healthcare resources. Citrix Secure Workspace Access includes a secure embedded browser capable of applying security policies. Whenever security policies are enabled, the embedded browser is used.

But suppose the user is using a native browser, not Citrix Workspace. Here, a more secure mechanism is required. Citrix Secure Browser enables users to securely navigate the web and apps without introducing risk to the provider’s environment. Threats that may be introduced by visiting malicious websites are isolated from the provider’s network and devices. The browser is stateless and discarded at the end of each session, ensuring that any malicious software encountered while browsing the web never reaches the provider’s infrastructure.

Get Started Today

Citrix Secure Workspace Access is a cloud-native solution and an integral part of Citrix’s zero trust framework. Learn more about zero trust network access in the Gartner 2020 Market Guide for Zero Trust Network Access and schedule a one-on-one session led by a Citrix expert.