Key Features of Enterprise Browsers
Unlike consumer browsers, enterprise browsers are specifically tailored for the risks of large, well-known corporations. They provide features such as integration with enterprise identity systems, robust security enhancements, comprehensive administrative controls, and performance optimization for enterprise applications.
Secure Access to SaaS Applications
Enterprise browsers can enforce zero trust policies for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications accessed through the browser. These policies can restrict access to apps based on the user’s predefined authority role, the device’s wider security posture, and the geographic location of an authentication attempt.
Protection Against Web-Based Threats
On top of verifying the authentication process, enterprise browsers are able to monitor the active connections that a user has open. Because they monitor the actions being taken through the browser, enterprise browsers are able to analyze what data is being transferred. For instance, many opportunistic, drive-by malware rely on directing the browser to a silent download in the background.
To prevent this, an enterprise browser is loaded with a number of protective measures such as sandboxing. Before a suspicious file is downloaded onto the device it’s run in an isolated environment where the file’s behaviors are monitored, to see whether it engages in any high-risk behavior – like attempts to access other files, or establishing a connection to unrecognized servers.
Sandboxing allows enterprise browsers to detect novel risks; however, it’s not the only feature offered by enterprise browsers. Content filtering and phishing protection measures are able to detect when visited websites are suspicious. This collates a set of data points like site reputation, what info is being requested, how the user ended up there, and what images and text are hosted on the site. Collectively, a site’s risk can be scored and access allowed or denied accordingly.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Thanks to the ring-side insight into user activity offered by enterprise browsers, they’re well-placed to integrate with DLP systems that your organization may already use. When information is pre-determined as high-risk or confidential, they’re able to block user actions like copying, downloading, or pasting. This is especially important in the era of AI tools and social media and preventing employees from accidentally leaking info on the public internet.
Compliance with Organizational Policies
Organizations in regulated industries like healthcare and finance can leverage enterprise browsers to enforce compliance policies right up to the edge. Modern regulations are increasingly demanding security by design – with a close focus on securing day-to-day operations. Enterprise browsers support this by generating detailed audit logs of user activities, enforcing encryption standards, and preventing data storage in unauthorized locations.
Streamlined IT Management
Enterprise browsers simplify IT operations by centralizing policy management. Administrators can configure settings, deploy extensions, and enforce security controls from a single dashboard, minimizing reliance on endpoint agents.
By placing web-based scripts at arm’s length from enterprise devices, enterprise browsers are able to strike a highly secure balance between enabling modern workflows and maintaining strict organizational security standards.
How Enterprise Browsers Enhance Security
Enterprise interfaces are increasingly complex: the ways in which employees authenticate and then act stretches across more and more applications, workloads, and files. Knowing which of these data points are cause for concern, and which are normal day-to-day actions, is far easier when you have a direct line of sight to the actions taken by each employee.
Alongside collecting this raw data, enterprise browsers represent a new definition of perimeter security, applicable wherever or whenever an employee is acting in the scope of their role. Furthermore, rather than being a bulky and sometimes frustrating addition like a Secure Web Gateway, they are streamlined and user-friendly.
Use Cases for Enterprise Browsers
Since enterprise browsers are so flexible, it’s worth establishing the use cases where they’ve made the biggest palpable difference.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Under a BYOD policy, employees utilize personal devices for work-related tasks. Enterprise browsers enable this flexibility by creating a secure environment that isolates corporate web use from personal activities. This approach protects company data on personal devices while enforcing a consistent security policy across all devices
Contractors
Contractors require access to corporate resources – but strong security measures must be maintained. Secure browsers enable organizations to provide access to essential webpages and SaaS applications, like the company’s Salesforce platform, while implementing advanced security protocols.
User Experience Continua
Secure enterprise browsers enable controlled access to both internal and external web applications, ensuring users can efficiently reach the resources they need. Like any good piece of security software, it should be essentially invisible to the end user.
Consider an organization that relies on a combination of cloud-based SaaS applications like Salesforce for their CRM, OneDrive for collaboration, and internally hosted tools for HR and finance. An enterprise browser can streamline access to these resources by integrating with identity and access management (IAM) systems, letting it act as a single sign-on (SSO) platform with all of the extra security measures.
Achieve Full Browser Security Without Workflow Disruption
The only lingering concern when deciding on an enterprise browser is the implementation: after all, uprooting such a central component of every team member’s daily workflow is daunting, and comes with risk. Not all enterprise browsers support in-depth security for all applications, either – finding this out post-implementation is a headache.
Check Point avoids the pitfalls of widespread architecture change with Harmony SASE’s browser security: this is installed into the pre-existing browser in the form of a nano agent. This way, there’s no third-party tool to extract, decrypt, and read user data – and employee behavior info is kept solely on the local device. See how it works.
The ease of use starts from implementation: install agents rapidly via your enterprise’s current management system, and keep all the benefits of a regular enterprise browser with Harmony threat extraction. To see how Harmony SASE’s browser security can fit alongside your current tools and processes, see our in-depth guide – or if you’d like to discuss your own requirements with an expert, schedule a demo.
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