MTS will organize two-factor authentication for an input in network of staff of the company

The Softline company implemented the unique project for MTS - the safe, failsafe system of remote access to business applications using the mechanism of two-factor authentication on the basis of the solution NetScaler is constructed, the press service of integrator reported on August 16, 2013.

Project Background

The solution will serve as the platform for further transfer of all staff of the company to infrastructure of virtual desktops on the basis of the solution Citrix XenDesktop.

The company defined a problem of creation of safe and effective infrastructure of access for remote users to the business applications working on a terminal system. At the same time it is necessary to provide quick, reliable and secure external access to resources from the user devices, high availability of business applications, at the same time - to differentiate access rights to them.

Project Progress

Based on the tender the Softline company acted as the contractor of the project.

The analysis of an assigned task led to making decision on creation of a system of terminal access and infrastructure on the basis of solutions of Citrix. The product NetScaler helps to use effectively information resources of servers and network, provides protection of web applications, important for business, against different types of the attacks.

Project duration was 9 months.

Project Steps

During the first stage complex audit of infrastructure of MTS is booked, the set of the project documentation with recommendations is developed, the project plan of implementation - taking into account the required performance, fault tolerance, availability and security is prepared. At specially created test stand repeating infrastructure of MTS project components, including fault tolerance and the organization of secure access are tested.

The second stage included the main works on system deployment. In network infrastructure of MTS two Citrix NetScaler devices are implemented, basic tuning of functions of enciphering is performed. Along with the modules GSLB, balancing of loading, enciphering, caching, compression and others, remote secure access by means of the module Access Gateway Enterprise Edition is provided.

Security is increased using two-factor authentication. For less critical business applications access for the user using the login and the password is organized. To the applications containing confidential information, financial and personal data authentication using tokens and certificates is implemented.

At the final stage employees of the contractor held testing of the created solution.

"Deep solution integration of Citrix Netscaler with the customer's IT infrastructure is made. The software and the equipment is set up with a possibility of further scaling. Now a system provides simultaneous access for 5 thousand users with a possibility of further increase up to 20 thousand", - Denis Shvets, the head of group on virtualization of Softline company told. - The feature of the project consists in use as the mechanism of fault tolerance of the module GSLB which allows to get access to applications of MTS even in case of failure of one server. Netscaler devices were placed in two DPCs with geographically distributed parts of a terminal farm that allowed to provide automatic uniform distribution of user queries on available capacities".

Valery Kansuzyan, the director of the department of development of IT of MTS, noted: "Virtualization of corporate resources – an effective innovation method of business process optimization, first of all, for the companies with geographically remote branches and also for retail for which employees remote access to the general information base is necessary. The solution developed by a command of Softline especially for MTS allowed us to construct the non-standard system of external access to corporate business applications protected by the mechanism of double authentication. At the same time the Citrix Netscaler platform was deeply integrated into IT infrastructure of MTS. As a result we received the reliable and effective mechanism of work of our retail allowing sellers to service in salons clients most qualitatively. Besides, the solution technically integrated retail of MTS and operator business. Created for the retail network IT system became a starting point for transfer of staff of MTS to infrastructure of virtual desktops based on the solution Citrix XenDesktop. We transfer more than 90% of jobs of staff of MTS to "cloud" - on servers in DPCs in all macroregions. By 2017 we assume to pass completely to virtual work places".