From July 23, Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; Head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naoki Adachi) will launch sales of "SMARTICS-PKI". This is an IC card compatible with application virtualization solution Citrix XenApp(TM)(*1) (XenApp) and desktop virtualization solution Citrix XenDesktop(TM) 3.0 FP1(*2) (XenDesktop) from Citrix Systems Japan K.K. (hereafter Citrix; Head office Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President: Michael King).
The SMARTICS-PKI is an IC card compatible with PKI (*3), a system for authentication through a public key cryptosystem. It has acquired Microsoft’s WHQL (*4) accreditation. It is the first WHQL accredited IC card in Japan to be compatible with XenDesktop.
Toppan Printing plans to strengthen links between SMARTICS-PKI and XenApp and XenDesktop, and provide a solution for employee and worker ID cards.
Taking compatibility with XenDesktop as an opportunity, Toppan Printing has joined Citrix’s alliance partner program. Together with Citrix, Toppan Printing will develop collaborative solutions and businesses, advance promotion in various markets and sales channels, and work for the improvement of security for IT environments.

Background
In recent years, with the introduction of various working styles such as working at home and mobile work, and a focus on business continuity in times of disaster such as pandemic or earthquake, the IT environment for businesses is changing. Coinciding with this, people are using the internet to access in-company systems from outside with increasing frequency and the introduction of more robust security is required. Recently, security measures such as internal control and data security have become essential for businesses, and IT management costs are increasing.
XenDesktop is a desktop virtualization product that centralizes the desktop on the server side and sends a desktop image to the client. By supporting profile management and smart cards, XenDesktop enables both a decrease in desktop management costs and robust security.
In response to demand to be able to use XenApp and XenDesktop in a more secure environment, Toppan Printing will begin sales of SMARTICS-PKI as a compatible product.


The features of the XenDesktop compatible SMARTICS-PKI
- Compatible with XenDesktop functions "smart card logon" and "roaming"
It is compatible with XenApp’s "smart card pass through authentication" and roaming", as well as with "smart card logon" to a virtual desktop using XenDesktop. It is also compatible with double-hop connection(*5) and "roaming" using "smart card pass through authentication" in a XenApp or XenDesktop environment.
- Acquired Microsoft WHQL accreditation and compliant with Minidriver standards
Since it has acquired Microsoft WHQL accreditation, it can be used safely with Microsoft operating systems such as Windows XP and Windows VISTA. Since it is also compliant with Minidriver standards(*6), smart card log-on and PKI functions such as SSL(*7) and S/MIME(*8) can be used.
- Use as an employee ID card
Toppan Printing has proposed employee ID cards which are hybrid cards with contact and contactless functions, and these have been used by a large number of companies and organizations. Offering SMARTICS-PKI as a hybrid card, Toppan Printing will respond to needs for employee and worker cards for companies and organizations that combine into a single card "employee ID" and "entrance/exit gate card" functions as well as security card functions for XenApp and XenDesktop.


Overview of use of SMARTICS-PKI

Copyright 2009 Citrix Systems, Inc. - All rights reserved.

Sales target
Toppan Printing is targeting sales of around 100 million yen in the 2 years from fiscal 2009.


Comment from Michael King, President of Citrix Systems Japan K.K.
Citrix Systems Japan K.K. welcomes the release of Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.’s SMARTICS-PKI. In addition to smart card authentication in a XenApp(TM) environment, an application virtualization product that has been adopted by around 16,000 companies in Japan, with Japan’s first IC card to be compatible with XenDesktop3.0 FP1, the latest version of the XenDesktop(TM) desktop virtualization product that sends a desktop image to the client, users will be able to logon with a smart card when using XenDesktop, and it has become possible for users to move between terminals connected to different smart card readers. Through the tie-up with Toppan Printing’s SMARTICS-PKI, I anticipate that Citrix’s XenApp and XenDesktop will be able to provide companies with a computing environment that has even stronger security and usability.
With Toppan Printing having joined our alliance partner program, we will cooperate more closely in the future, and work towards providing solutions that enable our customers to enjoy safe and comfortable IT environments.


*1: Citrix XenApp
This is an application virtualization product that centralizes applications on the server side and only sends and receives screen images and keyboard/mouse signals to and from the client.
*2: Citrix XenDesktop 3.0 FP1
This is a desktop virtualization product that centralizes a desktop on the server side and sends a desktop image to the client. With the latest version, XenDesktop 3.0 FP1, in addition to support for smart cards, roaming between different clients has become possible.
*3: PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)
This is a technology for safe network transmission and personal authentication using electronic certificates issued by a certification authority through an infrastructure on a network using a public key cryptosystem.
*4: WHQL accreditation
WHQL is an organization run by Microsoft for verifying whether or not hardware such as peripheral devices for personal computers is suitable as a Windows compatible product.
*5: Double-hop connection
This is a method for connecting to a virtual desktop from an endpoint device using XenDesktop and connecting to applications displayed on the virtual desktop using XenApp. Verification was performed in this case with XenApp Plugin (Formerly Program Neighborhood Agent). (For smart card pass through authentication used for a double-hop connection, only XenApp Plugin is subject to support from Citrix.)
*6: Minidriver standards
These are the specifications for the IC card (smart card) driver used from Windows VISTA. WHQL accreditation started from the Minidriver.
*7: SSL
A protocol for encrypting transmissions between a web browser and a web server and exchanging data safely.
*8: S/MIME
This is a typical encryption scheme for internet based electronic mail and is an international standard related to the encryption of electronic mail and electronic signatures. It has a function for performing message encryption and electronic signatures.


* Microsoft, Windows, Windows XP, and Windows Vista are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Citrix, Citrix XenDesktop and Citrix XenApp are registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems,Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.