Blog
BUFFERZONE® vs. Menlo Security
By BUFFERZONE Team, 31/07/2025
The Battle of Isolation: Remote vs. Local. Who Holds the Advantage?
Securing the browser is critical. As the most targeted attack surfaces modern endpoints, it demands robust isolation. Two main approaches exist: Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) and Local Browser Isolation (LBI).
BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace represents the LBI approach, providing on-endpoint (NoCloud®), AI-powered browser isolation for enhanced privacy, performance, and usability. BUFFERZONE® Protection By Containment™ isolation technology is fast and has low resource consumption fully working on your endpoint. In contrast, vendors like Menlo Security deliver RBI through remote cloud infrastructure where browser sessions are streamed to the user’s device.
Both models reduce exposure to threats like malware, phishing, and zero-day attacks. However, their design decisions result in different experiences for users, IT teams, and CISOs.
Isolation Architectures: Cloud-Hosted vs. On-Endpoint
🌐 Remote Browser Isolation (for example, cloud-hosted solutions)
In a remote setup, web sessions are executed in the cloud. The end user sees a rendered version of the webpage, streamed from a server. This architecture avoids direct exposure but introduces trade-offs such as:
- High bandwidth requirements
- Performance issues due to latency
- Limited support for interactive or complex web applications
- No support for offline use
- No protection for web file downloads
- Concerns over data routing through third-party servers
🖥️ BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace® Safe Browser (Local Isolation)
BUFFERZONE® keeps all browsing activity local. It runs the browser inside a secure containment layer directly on the endpoint. Memory, file access, and system interaction remain isolated from the real system.
Additional capabilities include:
- NoCloud® AI for real-time phishing protection
- SafeBridge® CDR to sanitize downloaded files on the device
- Support for modern browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
- Fast native performance with no dependency on external servers
BUFFERZONE® provides full web compatibility and strong isolation without requiring cloud infrastructure.
Security Focus: On-Host Prevention and Threat Neutralization
BUFFERZONE® uses a containment-first philosophy. Instead of redirecting risks, it neutralizes them directly on the endpoint. This includes:
- AI-powered CDR that disarms threats at the source
- Complete data privacy by keeping all content on the local device
- Real-time phishing detection through on-device AI engines
With BUFFERZONE®, your data stays protected and never leaves your infrastructure. Threats are detected and disarmed instantly, preserving both security and compliance.
BUFFERZONE® secure native application isolation delivers clear benefits over remote browsing proxies as the last line of defense, allowing organizations to:
- Save time and resources by empowering employees to safely download and open documents and executable files from known or uncategorized sites without additional verification steps by IT Security
- Defend against malicious downloads with verified native application performance and usability
- Stop unknown threats from malicious downloads that bypass existing layered defenses
Let Bufferzone secure and validate your downloads so users can do their work, safely download any web content, and click with confidence.
User Experience Comparison
Category | Remote Browser Isolation | BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace® |
Page Rendering | Cloud streamed, often delayed | Fast, native browser performance |
Web App Compatibility | Often limited or degraded | Full support for complex applications |
File Downloads | Scanned externally or streamed | Sanitized locally using SafeBridge® |
Bandwidth Usage | High, especially with rich content | Low, comparable to standard browsing |
Offline Access | Not available | Fully supported |
Privacy and Compliance | Requires sending data to cloud services | Data remains on the endpoint only |
BUFFERZONE® ensures high-quality web access, strong data protection, and fast performance in all environments.
Deployment Flexibility
Remote isolation solutions often require organizations to reroute traffic through proxies or use browser plugins. This creates operational complexity and may conflict with regulatory or architectural constraints.
BUFFERZONE® installs directly on any Windows endpoint. It integrates with existing browsers and works in:
- Online or offline scenarios
- Remote, hybrid, or air-gapped environments
- Regulated or sensitive environments with no cloud access
No additional infrastructure is needed.
The NoCloud® Advantage
BUFFERZONE®’s NoCloud® architecture brings intelligence to the endpoint. It avoids third-party cloud involvement while providing:
- On-device AI for phishing detection and spoofed site identification
- Local file sanitization with SafeBridge®
- Safe Data classification to protect sensitive content
All processing runs efficiently using modern endpoint hardware like CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs. This ensures excellent performance while meeting privacy and compliance requirements.
Summary: Why BUFFERZONE® Is Different
Category | Remote Isolation | BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace® |
Isolation Model | Cloud-based streaming | Local containment on endpoint |
Phishing Detection | May need third-party services | Built-in NoCloud® AI |
File Disarmament (CDR) | Requires external tools | Built-in SafeBridge® |
User Experience | Limited responsiveness | Full-featured and native |
Deployment | Dependent on proxies and cloud | Flexible, works online or offline |
Data Privacy | Data handled by cloud providers | All data stays local |
Cost Efficiency | Requires cloud infrastructure | Lightweight endpoint solution |
Final Thoughts
Cloud RBI solutions offer one approach to browser security. However, they often come with performance, compatibility, and data control limitations. BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace® offers a comprehensive on-endpoint alternative. It combines isolation, detection, and disarmament into a fast, private, and AI-powered solution.
BUFFERZONE® does more than isolate browsers. It protects against risky downloads, external devices, sensitive data exposure, and phishing, all in real time, all on the endpoint.
Choose BUFFERZONE®. Smart isolation. Zero compromise.