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The rise of cloud services and digital transformation has changed the traditional approach to network and endpoint security. The ability to communicate quickly, access SaaS applications, and work from home has made the browser the most common way to communicate and learn. However, this increased use of browsers also poses several security challenges that are difficult to manage and control.

Web-borne threats, malware exploitation, phishing, browser exploits, data leakage, and file downloads are some of the security challenges associated with using browsers. As a result, many companies have started developing enterprise browsers, either as extensions or dedicated Chromium-based browsers, to address these challenges.

Enterprise browsers offer two key benefits. First, they enable enterprises to manage their cloud services by providing access controls and different policy granularity. This helps accelerate cloud migration and reduces security risks. Second, enterprise browsers address the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and bring-your-own-personal-computer (BYOPC) problem by allowing remote workers and contractors to access network resources while enforcing security policies.

In addition to these benefits, enterprise browsers offer features like monitoring web sessions, detecting anomalies, preventing data leakage, and providing central monitoring and visibility of all web destinations, sessions, and data exchanges. These features help enterprises reduce risks and protect sensitive information.

Overall, the rise of cloud services and digital transformation has made the browser an essential tool for modern businesses. However, the use of browsers also poses significant security challenges that must be addressed. Enterprise browsers offer a promising solution to these challenges by providing enhanced security, access control, and policy management.

In today’s industry, there are several types of solutions available to protect user browsing activities:

1. Enterprise browser: This includes a dedicated custom browser, usually based on the Chromium project, which provides management and visibility. However, it enforces users to move to a dedicated browser, creating another dependency in the organization and lengthening the deployment process and integration maintenance.
2. Browser extension agent: This solution is deployed on existing known browsers and has minimal impact on performance. It is easy to install and offers higher user privacy but may have more limited security in terms of lower browser isolation, visibility, and complicated integration of advanced security features due to specific limitations of certain types of implementations such as chrome extensions.
3. Browser isolation: This includes Remote Browser Isolation (RBI), Virtual Machine browser isolation, and virtual application isolation. While RBI and Virtual Machine-based isolation may be difficult to configure and adapt, application isolation has many advantages and extends enterprise browser security solutions.

While enterprise browsers have several advantages in terms of management and secure access, other security aspects such as malware detection and phishing detection are also needed to protect the organization. However, this is not enough to ensure complete protection. When reviewing the organization’s need for secure browsers, it is a crucial step towards creating a Safe Workspace.

Safe Workspace is a broader solution that can isolate USB, Messenger applications, email attachments, web browsing, and file downloads. Since detection is not always 100% accurate, prevention based on isolation is necessary.

BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace™ is an advanced application isolation solution that can prevent auto-execution of USB files and safely open them inside a virtual container. It allows users to open attachments and browse with all known browsers and enterprise browsers, empowering enterprise security. By isolating browsers and enterprise browsers, organizations can receive the highest level of threat prevention with low resource consumption. By combining BUFFERZONE Safe Workspace and enterprise browser or browser extension agent, you can get the best of all worlds with a higher Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) protection.