​Oracle is releasing a new cloud native service: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Secure Desktops. This exciting development allows customers to deploy Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) easily and quickly, right out of their OCI tenancies.

OCI usage has expanded greatly. Organizations realize the value of keeping their data secure inside OCI. By implementing a zero-trust, security-first architecture, OCI Compute, Storage, and Networking services offer a trusted platform for deploying enterprise applications for global access.

Data security and how VDI can help

According to industry analysts, a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds. Combine that fact with the reality that company data makes its way onto laptops and desktops that travel through public places or sit in their employees’ homes. Even though technology is used to protect the data by encrypting local disks, enforcing data access permissions, and securing VPN access, all enforcing acceptable security levels, the risks can still be high. A few stolen or non-compliant machines can create data breaches for company data, or even worse, their customers’ data.

VDI technology has existed for many years, allowing employees to use their local machines to access desktop applications running on virtual client machines in the company’s data center, keeping data secure behind firewalls. VDI technology allows all compute and storage to reside inside the corporate intranet, while only desktop pixels are shown to the client user through their local machine’s display. The security risk of the client machine is now greatly reduced because sensitive data doesn’t leave the virtual client machine inside the company’s data center.

OCI Secure Desktops brings VDI technology to OCI in a simple and powerful way. The service is completely integrated with OCI Compute, Storage, and Networking services and provides the flexibility of creating Secure Desktops for your existing OCI tenancy and account by choosing among various Compute shapes and an option to provide dedicated storage space for each desktop user. The virtual desktops reside inside OCI, where all data remains secure while users access enterprise applications.

Administrators can deploy Secure Desktops in minutes. Search for “Secure Desktops” in the Oracle Cloud Console under Compute, and then create desktop pools running either Oracle Linux or Microsoft Windows. Users are added to Secure Desktops pools through OCI group policies, and their access also follows standard OCI practices for authentication, including federation of your company’s identity solution.

More importantly, because the Secure Desktops service resides at the edge, user access doesn’t require the use of a VPN as security policies are enforced through OCI Network services. Access is available through single URL on a web browser from any device or through a lightweight, installed client.

Conclusion

Secure Desktops service can greatly enhance the security of your data, while increasing the agility of on boarding remote employees, contractors, or temporary workers. It can provide the framework for secure environments in which developers can work with your most sensitive intellectual property, or where your support personnel can securely check their customers’ data. It can also be a core technology for implementation of data clean rooms.

Secure Desktops is now available on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure for deployments for as few as 10 users. Log in to your tenancy and start exploring the benefits of virtualized desktops and simplifying the management of your organization’s data security today.