Virtual Desktop Compliance

Stronger HIPAA, PCI, GLBA and FISMA compliance using virtual desktops



The Problem
Organizations that are responsible for handling and storing customer information have increasing obligations to protect personal data, including health records and financial information. In the United States and abroad, regulatory statutes such as the HIPAA, PCI, GLBA and FISMA have been established to define responsibilities and practices, and increasingly are backed up by financial penalties for public or private organizations that fail to comply, or where personal data is actually breached. The use of personal computers, including company issued laptops, office desktops, and at home workstations, as a means to access sensitive systems makes the goal of protecting protected sensitive data, and complying with the associated regulations, extremely difficult. The more remote and unmanaged the personal machines are, the greater the challenges.

Many organizations are now considering virtual desktops as an alternative to physical desktops. This is often considered for the financial savings related to reduced hardware costs, reduced software licenses (including anti-virus, host-firewall solutions, etc), reduced energy costs and reduced IT administration (including patching, backups, role access, etc) costs. Virtual desktops, however, also can provide a number of significant advantages in protecting private data and achieving broader HIPAA, PCI, GLBA and FISMA compliance more easily. vmSight, with its patented Connector ID technology for user tracking, provides continuous monitoring that allows virtual desktops to deliver stronger and more sustainable regulatory compliance, along with extensive alerting, reporting and attestation features to reduce audit activities.

vmSight Monitors All user access from virtual desktops to sensitive systems Channels used to access sensitive systems Automated assessment activity on virtual desktops Unapproved applications running on virtual desktops vmSight Alerts Unauthorized activity from virtual desktops Unidentified desktops and users Insecure channels used to access sensitive systems

vmSight Reports HIPAA, PCI, GLBA, & FISMA compliance Compliance scorecards Security auditor review records Sensitive system access records Validation of compliance procedures Validation of secure desktop configuration Identification of potential malicious code vmSight supports virtualization using VMware® ESX or VMware Server and is compatible with VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). vmSight is a VMware Technology Alliance Partner and is a member of the VDI Alliance and VMsafe Program.