Websense Teams with Citrix on Web Security

Web security and filtering software vendor Websense is integrating its technology with Citrix System’s Presentation Server to give customers more granular access controls and Web site monitoring.

The integration of Websense Enterprise and Websense Web Security Suite version 6.3 with Citrix Presentation Server is available to channel partners immediately. Websense has a strategy to move all its business to the channel, and the company hopes this alliance with Citrix will provider partners another reason to work with Websense.

“We expect this to be very valuable to the channel,” said Arundhati Sampath, strategic alliance manager for the San Diego-based Websense.

Both vendors said the integration of the products give customers the opportunity to enhance their security and productivity as well as meet new compliance requirements for user monitoring.

MTM Technologies, the largest partner of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix, welcomed the integration. In the past, customers who used both solutions could not take full advantage of all the functions available, said Allen Allison, vice president of the solution provider’s information security practice.

For example, Web monitoring didn’t work when the two were used together, always showing the Citrix server as the only user accessing any Web site.

“If you had a user doing a lot of online shopping there was no way to track who that user was,” said Allison. “This fixes that problem.”

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A significant number of MTM Technologies customers use both technologies, and this integration will improve the monitoring capabilities at those customer sites, he said. In addition, MTM believes the integration will improve the up-sell opportunity.

“Websense has a granular approach to the way they perform their categories and reporting, and gives a lot of flexibility in assigning rights and permissions to users,” Allison said.

Websense augments Citrix Presentation Server by protecting virtualized applications accessing the Internet from threats such as spyware, malicious code, crimeware, phishing, bots and other fraud-based attacks, company officials said.

Websense is offering training and education programs for end users and VARs in conjunction with the release of the integration.