Citrix 2009 Annual Report Download - page 37

agreement not otherwise amended or waived, the affected lenders could accelerate the repayment of any
outstanding principal and accrued interest on their outstanding loans and terminate their commitments to lend
additional funds, which may have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial position.
If our security measures are breached and unauthorized access is obtained to our Online Services division
customers’ data, our services may be perceived as not being secure and customers may curtail or stop using
our service.
Use of our GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting, GoToAssist or GoToWebinar services involves the storage and
transmission of customers’ business and personally identifiable information, and security breaches could expose
us to a risk of loss of this information, litigation and possible liability. If our security measures are breached as a
result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, and, as a result, someone obtains
unauthorized access to one of our online customers’ personally identifiable data, our reputation will be damaged,
our business may suffer and we could incur significant liability. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized
access to or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target,
we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If any
compromises of security were to occur, it could have the effect of substantially reducing the use of the Web for
commerce and communications. Anyone who circumvents our security measures could misappropriate credit
card and other payment information, personally identifiable customer information or cause interruptions in our
services or operations. Fines and liabilities can be significant for breaches of payment card data. In the case of an
actual breach of payment card data, we could incur potential fines at the discretion of the credit card companies.
These fines could include penalties for all compromised account numbers, the costs of any additional fraud
detection activities required by the card associations, costs incurred by credit card issuers associated with the
compromise and additional monitoring of systems for further fraudulent activity. A large breach of payment card
data could also put our ability to process credit card payments at risk. Computer viruses, software programs that
disable or impair computers, have been and continue to be distributed and have rapidly spread over the Internet.
Computer viruses could be introduced into our systems or those of our vendors, which could disrupt our network
or make it inaccessible to our Online Services division customers. If an actual or perceived breach of our security
occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed and we could lose
sales and customers for our Online Services division, and in the case of an actual breach we could incur fines and
other penalties under privacy and data protection laws, which would significantly adversely affect our financial
condition and the operating results for our Online Services division.
Evolving regulation of the Web may adversely affect our Online Services division.
As Web commerce continues to evolve, increasing regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies becomes
more likely. For example, we believe increased regulation is likely in the area of laws and regulations applying to
the solicitation, collection, processing or use of personal or consumer information. Additional regulation could
impact our business through increased costs and restrictions on our ability to process and secure customer data.
In addition, taxation of services provided over the Web or other charges imposed by government agencies or by
private organizations for accessing the Web may also be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Web
use or restricting information exchange over the Web could result in a decline in the use of the Web and the
viability of Web-based services, which would significantly adversely affect our financial condition and the
operating results for our Online Services division.
Regulation of our Citrix Online Audio business may adversely affect our Online Services division.
In October 2008, our Online Services division acquired Vapps, Inc., or Vapps, a VoIP-based audio services
company, to form our Citrix Online Audio products and services. Certain of these products and services are
subject to various regulatory requirements established by the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC.
FCC regulation may delay or hinder our ability to provide our planned services and products. The
telecommunications industry is highly regulated in the U.S. at the federal, state and local levels. Various state
29