SKB and Naver Cloud Jointly Developed 'Cloud Desktop' Obtains CSAP Certification

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] SK Broadband announced on the 23rd that it will officially enter the public Desktop as a Service (DaaS) market.

SK Broadband and Naver Cloud jointly developed the public DaaS product ‘Cloud Desktop.’ On the 21st, Naver Cloud obtained the ‘Cloud Security Assurance Program (CSAP)’ certification from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) for 110 items across 14 DaaS categories. CSAP is a government system that verifies the stability and security of cloud services and is an essential requirement to qualify for entry into the public sector cloud service market.

Accessing the 'Cloud Desktop' user portal
[Photo by SK Broadband]

Market research firm Gartner forecasts that domestic DaaS user spending will grow from approximately 42.9 billion KRW this year to about 64.8 billion KRW by 2026. Among public cloud services, the DaaS sector is expected to show the highest growth. The government is also promoting a project to convert all public institution internet networks to DaaS by 2025.

‘Cloud Desktop’ is a DaaS product that combines SK Broadband’s independently developed open-source-based cloud PC solution ‘Cloud X’ with Naver Cloud’s strengths in top-tier public cloud infrastructure environment and operational capabilities in Korea.

SK Broadband’s cloud PC solution ‘Cloud X,’ which forms the foundation of ‘Cloud Desktop,’ holds the National Intelligence Service’s security function verification certificate that meets all the latest revised security requirements for national and public institutions. Additionally, security functions from the cloud service perspective, such as organizational and operational systems, access control, and incident response and prevention processes, which are additionally required in this DaaS certification, have been further strengthened.

In July last year, SK Broadband, Naver Cloud, AhnLab, TmaxOS, and Hancom signed a strategic business agreement to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic cloud services against foreign products and to promote ultra-collaboration in the domestic DaaS business. From the perspective of securing domestic leadership, ‘Cloud Desktop’ supports an optimal virtual PC environment applying Gureum OS in connection with government ON-BOK projects and open operating system (OS) activation policies.

In particular, the authentication system does not rely on the foreign Microsoft Active Directory (AD) but allows the selection of an authentication system based on open-source specialized design, enabling application tailored to various customer situations.

The virtual PC environment applied with ‘Cloud X’ also guarantees superior user-perceived performance. On February 9, SK Broadband held an official evaluation meeting of ‘Cloud X’ for customers considering expanding DaaS adoption. In performance comparison tests with foreign products, measuring client (viewer) launch and reboot times, file copy-paste, and large document file execution times in seconds, it was confirmed to be on average 35% faster than competitors.

Not only users but also administrators’ convenience was considered. Through a user portal with a user-friendly UX environment, easy application, creation, and management of ‘Cloud Desktop’ is possible. A dedicated administrator portal is provided to enhance security and simplify operation for each logically partitioned DaaS environment by customer.

The range of choices has been expanded by offering both standard products with full security and optional products that can provide security solutions according to the IT environment of the adopting institution.

Lee Bang-yeol, Head of SK Broadband Connect Infrastructure CO, stated, “By combining SK Broadband Cloud X and Naver Cloud infrastructure, we have already provided DaaS services to many customers including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety pilot project, KISA, IBK Industrial Bank, and EBS. Through diverse service experiences and this certification acquisition, we will support the stable adoption of DaaS in national and public institutions and the successful spread of government policies.”